IMPORTANT NOTICE: Two-week cancellation of all Folk School classes and events.
Dear Folk School Community,
As you know, the new coronavirus that causes the COVID-19 illness is a major and growing health threat around the world. The board and staff of The Folk School have been watching the developing situation over the last several days, out of great concern for our students and instructors and everyone. We have a vibrant community, and fervently want to see it stay that way. Everyone’s health and well-being are tremendously important to us.
Alaska has now seen its first confirmed case of COVID-19. Although that is a transient crewmember of a cargo plane, it appears inevitable that more cases will appear in the near future, because we enjoy visitors from around the world and enjoy traveling the world ourselves.
Alaska is at a crucial point in the spread of the coronavirus, and The Folk School needs to do its part to help slow the infection rate. As a result, we are following the lead of several of our partner organizations, as well as UAF and the school district, and are canceling all classes for the next two weeks, though Sunday, March 29.
Hopefully we can reschedule the classes. If that isn’t possible or you can’t make the new date, we’ll of course issue a full refund. Please give us a little time to sort all this out; this is new ground for us.
For continuing classes–Woodworking for Kids, Basic Home Repair for Women–watch for more information as we work with those instructors. We don’t yet know if we will make up those classes later or make other accommodations.
We will continue to monitor the situation as well as any directives from the state and federal government, and will re-evaluate the situation to decide what other steps to take, including whether to resume classes after the 29th or continue the closure.
This is a painful decision to make, but hope that you understand the reasons for it.
In the meantime, please consider donating to the following local organizations who will likely be called upon to help with the response and care of our most vulnerable community members when COVID-19 hits Fairbanks:
And please follow the recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to protect yourself and your loved ones.
Thank you,
Gordon Williams
President, Board of Directors