Classes & Events
Gift Certificates
Here’s a fun gift idea: buy a gift certificate for a friend to use to take a class or attend an event at Ely Folk School!
Private Classes &
Space Rental
The Ely Folk School would be glad to host a private event for your class or group! Our space is also available to rent on a case-by-case basis.
Important Things to Know
Cancellation Policy: Class fees are fully refundable 14 days before a class starts, and are refundable minus a 25% administrative fee up to seven days before a class starts. Because instructors must arrange their schedules and order materials, cancellations in the last week before a class starts will not be refunded except in the case of true emergencies.
Family: Taking a class but have a kiddo in tow? We understand! A folk education is for everyone, no matter your age or ability to find childcare. Many of our classes are suitable for people ages 14 and up, and we can be flexible, depending on maturity and attention to detail. Kids under 8 are welcome to come with a guardian. Staff can help set kids up with an age appropriate craft while you focus on your class.
Financial Accessibility: The Ely Folk School offers a sliding scale payment system for most classes. We do not offer scholarships. Read more about our sliding scale system here.
MEET YOUR INSTRUCTOR - OUTDOOR EDUCATION
Alexia Springer
In addition to teaching outdoor education classes in canoeing and bicycling, Alexia enjoys a number of crafting hobbies including basketry, porcupine quill jewelry making, mending, and rock painting. Alexia has worked for various college outdoor programs including serving as Program Coordinator of Outdoor Education at Earlham College. Classes: Backcountry Baking, Origami Ornaments
Community Events
From our winter and spring bonfires, to our community Thanksgiving potluck, we host a variety of free community events that all are welcome to attend.
Sign up for our newsletter and follow us on social for the latest on community events!
Birch Bark Canoe Project
We respectfully honor the Anishinaabe origin of the birch bark canoe and share its tradition to help preserve and revitalize cultural knowledge. Crafting and paddling birch bark canoes together help connect and empower our diverse communities.
The birch bark canoe has historically played an important role in the lives of Indigenous peoples in all the Tribes living throughout the boreal forest region of North America. Where natural water travel routes and birch trees are found, the birch bark canoe has historically been the preferred vessel of transportation.
In the 1700s and 1800s, Anishinaabe birch bark canoes were enlarged by French, British, and American fur traders for greater cargo-carrying capacity although most of these fur trade canoes were made by Native builders. Clearly, the birch bark canoe is an Indigenous technology of North America that was utilized extensively by European Americans.
Following the Fur Trade came European settlement and colonization of the United States and Canada that created extensive changes in Native lifeways. These changes were forced upon Native peoples through tragic periods of genocide, relocation, and assimilation. The effects have been a significant loss of Native culture, language, and identity. By the mid-1900s, very few Native builders of birch bark canoes remained yet the knowledge was retained and shared through generations and kept alive.
Paddle a Wiigwaasi Jiimaananike (birch bark canoe) at our annual summer events!