I spent 4 years at a permaculture school called Rancho Mastatal in Costa Rica. I originally went there for a renewable energy workshop with Solar Energy International; I fell in love with the place, came back as a volunteer a year later for 2 months, then the next year was going to be 4 months but I kinda never left. It's an amazing place that partners with other groups for classes (Aerie Backcountry Medicine for both WFR and Wilderness EMT classes), teachers from Yestermorrow for timber framing, and local experts for bamboo constructioim. They've gotten a talented core crew and teach many courses in-house now. They also offer year-long internships.
This isn't quite what you're getting at, but you and some subscribers might find Historicorps interesting: https://historicorps.org/ It's a program where you volunteer for a week at a time doing historic preservation/construction work; often carpentry, but other projects include masonry, painting, roofing, etc. Most of the projects don't require any specialized skills and frankly they are a lot of fun. I did one a couple of years ago where we spent a day removing old cedar shingles from an 1850s cabin and the rest of the week putting on new ones. It's completely free, they even provide the food and do the cooking, and a historic preservation professional runs the project and teaches everyone the skills needed for that week. I had such a great time I would happily do five or six a year if I had the time and more of them were on the East Coast.
North Bennett Street School here in Boston has classes in bookbinding, cabinet and furniture making, preservation carpentry, furniture making, jewelry making, locksmith, piano tuning , and violin making. They offer career programs as well as community classes and workshops and are located in the North End of Boston:
Love that. I feel like the locksmithing would be an outlier for some, but I actually considered trying to get a job in a locksmith shop for a short run just to learn their ways.
I understand the appeal of learning some locksmithing, for sure! We all need one at least once in our lives (some of us more than once, sadly). Thanks for starting this discussion; it’s so great to learn of all of these wonderful places!
Hadn’t heard of them. That place looks cool. I appreciate their women specific programming, and I really like that they go so far as to offer a four month carpentry program. There’s a lot of people, myself included, who would like to be pretty serious about carpentry in our own way… But don’t really want to try joining a conventional crew to learn it.
Especially when starting at the bottom means that you’re moving materials around more than you are learning carpentry.
It’s a very earthy/crunchy program outside of Asheville. I took their tiny home class, which was mixed gender. Honestly, I think it would have been better for me to have one gender because I did have men in the class who kept taking over. That said: It was very much hands-on and I learned a lot. Overall: It was a great experience, met incredible people, and though I didn’t feel quite ready to build after one class, I gained way more confidence. I’ve heard good things about their apprenticeship program—most of the classes fill up quickly. They were building a new timber-framed pavilion while I was there and it was incredible to watch them work. Many former students end up staying in the Wild Abundance community to learn more and work there.
I’m the training director for a Maine-based nonprofit, where I’m leading our first cohort through a high-performance/building science pre-apprenticeship. Our goal is to lower barriers to entry into the construction field while also strengthening registered apprenticeship opportunities across the state—so participants have a clear next step after completing our program. Alongside this work, we deliver trainings statewide, helping builders and professionals learn practical ways to meet (and exceed) code.
This may not be exactly what you’re looking for, but we’re finding the pre-apprenticeship to be a valuable stepping stone. We have eight members in our first cohort, six of whom come from non-traditional backgrounds. While I’d absolutely champion a one-off building class, this approach feels like it’s creating something more durable—an entry point that can grow into long-term career pathways.
I really appreciate this as a professional inroad. I think many people I've spoken with over the years have a desire to build, though not a career. And for them one-off workshops and classes are a helpful jumping off point or a chance to meet like minded people. That path is well worn. But for folks who have been looking for road toward a building as a job, I haven't had many places to point. This is helpful. You aware of anything similar on the west coast?
Thanks for that perspective — I completely agree that both paths are needed. What we’re doing here in Maine with high-performance apprenticeships feels pretty unique — a few things have come together at just the right time. I don’t have a good handle on high-performance pathways on the west coast, unfortunately. I’m always glad to share what we’ve been learning here and swap stories if that’s ever useful (passivhausmaine.org).
Oh man. Love that they do electrical, toilet, finish carpentry… all of it. And the women specific programming. I’ve gotten the sense that’s very much appreciated.
"Nice to see this. Yeah folk and craft schools are all over if you look.
There's a new school in Covington/Cincy (https://heritagetradesacademy.com/) and I think that one in Charleston is still running (https://acba.edu/). I heard LAP are not running classes anymore. Maybe they will from their new office at some point.
I spent 4 years at a permaculture school called Rancho Mastatal in Costa Rica. I originally went there for a renewable energy workshop with Solar Energy International; I fell in love with the place, came back as a volunteer a year later for 2 months, then the next year was going to be 4 months but I kinda never left. It's an amazing place that partners with other groups for classes (Aerie Backcountry Medicine for both WFR and Wilderness EMT classes), teachers from Yestermorrow for timber framing, and local experts for bamboo constructioim. They've gotten a talented core crew and teach many courses in-house now. They also offer year-long internships.
https://ranchomastatal.com/
Very cool. Never heard of them. Thank you for sharing.
This isn't quite what you're getting at, but you and some subscribers might find Historicorps interesting: https://historicorps.org/ It's a program where you volunteer for a week at a time doing historic preservation/construction work; often carpentry, but other projects include masonry, painting, roofing, etc. Most of the projects don't require any specialized skills and frankly they are a lot of fun. I did one a couple of years ago where we spent a day removing old cedar shingles from an 1850s cabin and the rest of the week putting on new ones. It's completely free, they even provide the food and do the cooking, and a historic preservation professional runs the project and teaches everyone the skills needed for that week. I had such a great time I would happily do five or six a year if I had the time and more of them were on the East Coast.
North Bennett Street School here in Boston has classes in bookbinding, cabinet and furniture making, preservation carpentry, furniture making, jewelry making, locksmith, piano tuning , and violin making. They offer career programs as well as community classes and workshops and are located in the North End of Boston:
https://nbss.edu/
Love that. I feel like the locksmithing would be an outlier for some, but I actually considered trying to get a job in a locksmith shop for a short run just to learn their ways.
I understand the appeal of learning some locksmithing, for sure! We all need one at least once in our lives (some of us more than once, sadly). Thanks for starting this discussion; it’s so great to learn of all of these wonderful places!
Wild Abundance in North Carolina
Hadn’t heard of them. That place looks cool. I appreciate their women specific programming, and I really like that they go so far as to offer a four month carpentry program. There’s a lot of people, myself included, who would like to be pretty serious about carpentry in our own way… But don’t really want to try joining a conventional crew to learn it.
Especially when starting at the bottom means that you’re moving materials around more than you are learning carpentry.
It’s a very earthy/crunchy program outside of Asheville. I took their tiny home class, which was mixed gender. Honestly, I think it would have been better for me to have one gender because I did have men in the class who kept taking over. That said: It was very much hands-on and I learned a lot. Overall: It was a great experience, met incredible people, and though I didn’t feel quite ready to build after one class, I gained way more confidence. I’ve heard good things about their apprenticeship program—most of the classes fill up quickly. They were building a new timber-framed pavilion while I was there and it was incredible to watch them work. Many former students end up staying in the Wild Abundance community to learn more and work there.
I’m the training director for a Maine-based nonprofit, where I’m leading our first cohort through a high-performance/building science pre-apprenticeship. Our goal is to lower barriers to entry into the construction field while also strengthening registered apprenticeship opportunities across the state—so participants have a clear next step after completing our program. Alongside this work, we deliver trainings statewide, helping builders and professionals learn practical ways to meet (and exceed) code.
This may not be exactly what you’re looking for, but we’re finding the pre-apprenticeship to be a valuable stepping stone. We have eight members in our first cohort, six of whom come from non-traditional backgrounds. While I’d absolutely champion a one-off building class, this approach feels like it’s creating something more durable—an entry point that can grow into long-term career pathways.
I really appreciate this as a professional inroad. I think many people I've spoken with over the years have a desire to build, though not a career. And for them one-off workshops and classes are a helpful jumping off point or a chance to meet like minded people. That path is well worn. But for folks who have been looking for road toward a building as a job, I haven't had many places to point. This is helpful. You aware of anything similar on the west coast?
Thanks for that perspective — I completely agree that both paths are needed. What we’re doing here in Maine with high-performance apprenticeships feels pretty unique — a few things have come together at just the right time. I don’t have a good handle on high-performance pathways on the west coast, unfortunately. I’m always glad to share what we’ve been learning here and swap stories if that’s ever useful (passivhausmaine.org).
That’s very cool. And totally worth drawing some attention to. Haven’t heard of anything like that before. Thanks for sharing.
I would come to your class and also join you for a pedicure, just saying.
I enjoyed it!
I love this persons school!
https://hammerstoneschool.org/
Oh man. Love that they do electrical, toilet, finish carpentry… all of it. And the women specific programming. I’ve gotten the sense that’s very much appreciated.
From a commenter:
"Nice to see this. Yeah folk and craft schools are all over if you look.
There's a new school in Covington/Cincy (https://heritagetradesacademy.com/) and I think that one in Charleston is still running (https://acba.edu/). I heard LAP are not running classes anymore. Maybe they will from their new office at some point.
There's a new high performance building center in Mass with workshops, https://www.studiohpdc.org/
Helm runs workshops, more management/culture oriented: https://www.buildhelm.com/.
I think NESEA runs workshops. Also you can find them through the NWEBG sometimes."
Cashius Econopouly sent in the Wild Abundance tiny house workshop: https://www.wildabundance.net/in-person-classes/tiny-house-workshop/