Introduction | Volunteering | Children's Culture | Open Positions

Volunteering

The Teaching Drum is a fluid and evolving school-community with varied needs and opportunities that often depend on the seasons. There is much to learn and experience by sharing in the daily life and activities of the community. Those who gain the most from their time here say they enjoy the opportunity to work to a different rhythm among conscious individuals who are dedicated to healing. Volunteers work directly with staff and on solo projects, and participate fully in community life.

Below is a rough timeline throughout the year for various activities, but please keep in mind many of these are dependent on the seasons, plants, animals and other creatures involved and they may not happen exactly during your stay no matter how carefully you plan it. Let us know your interests and skills in your volunteer application (at the bottom of the page) so we can find where you can best serve and be served during your time here.

Duration of stay:

Typically one week to one month, with longer stays sometimes possible. We typically don't invite people for visits shorter than one week because it takes time to get accustomed to a new routine and get to know people. We like to integrate our volunteers as much as possible so that they know first-hand what the community has to offer.

Cost: We ask for an $11 per day ($77 per week) contribution to cover food cost.

About Food Processing:

Many of the activities listed below involve food processing. This means some combination of cutting, drying, blanching, bagging, or freezing food, and when we process, we PROCESS. If processing the food is time sensitive (such as leek leaves, or apples that don't keep well), we might take three or four days, or even a week, and drop almost everything else just to process a harvest.

One-time Projects We Need Energy For:

• Construction of large, passive solar food dehydrator.
• Gutting and rebuilding a bathroom.
• Finishing walls and ceilings in a house.

All Year	Library Maintenance	Entering books in our electronic catalogue, replacing books, library clean up.
	Book-Binding	Hand-binding copies of Tamarack's booklets for sale.
	Grounds Maintenance	Cleaning up and organizing around the school, helping to winterize buildings.
	Building Repair	Various carpentry, plumbing, electrical, and other building projects.
	Cooking	Cooking communal dinners.
	Knife Sheaths	Cutting leather, punching holes, and sewing knife sheaths for sale.
	Trash and Recycling	Helping load trash and recycling for transport, possibly coming along to help unload.
	Habitat Restoration	Removing human obstructions to habitat such as trash, concrete, etc.
March	Maple Sugar Camp	Tapping trees, gathering sap, gathering firewood, boiling sap, transporting and jarring syrup. Depending on the volume and our energy we may experiment with sugar-making.
	Smelt	Going to Lake Superior to seine-fish at night for smelt during the spawn; washing and processing (probably freezing, possibly smoking or drying smaller quantities). Lake Superior is a long drive away, so we place less emphasis on this spawn.
April	Leeks (leaves)	Transporting leeks from gathering site, processing (drying, blanching, freezing), storing. Gathering opportunities for volunteers will depend on our student population.
April-August	Firewood	Scouring logging sites for culls and transporting back to the school to cut, split, and stack. Transporting lumber scrap to the school and sorting for use in houses.
May	Early Greens	Regular gathering early nettles, basswood leaves, large-leaf aster, etc.
Early-Mid May	Sucker Fishing	Helping catch, gut, and process sucker fish during their spring spawn (catching requires a fishing license). If we have sufficient people-power we may do some traditional smoking.
June	Birch bark	Identifying logging sites, cutting, peeling, transporting, and flattening birch bark for lodge panels or baskets.
June-August	Hardy Greens	Regular gathering of milkweed, nettles, ox-eye daisy, etc.
June	Strawberries	Gathering strawberries to supplement our bought fruits. This is one of our least abundant fruit harvests, so emphasis will depend on our people-power and needs.
July	Raspberries, Blueberries, Juneberries, Gooseberries	Gathering and processing (drying, freezing) berries to supplement our bought fruits.
August	Cherries, Blackberries	Gathering cherries and blackberries to supplement our bought fruits. These are some of our least abundant fruit harvests, so emphasis will depend on our people-power and needs.
August	Beaked Hazelnuts	Gathering, drying, hulling, and storing nuts. There are not very many in our area (and the squirrels are stiff competition), so we typically don't do a harvest.
	American Hazelnuts	Gathering, transporting, drying, hulling, and storing nuts. The closest stands are a couple of hours away, so whether we harvest will depend on our people-power and if we have enough time to make a two or three day nut camp.
Mid August-Mid September	Wild Ricing	Transporting rice from gathering site, laying out rice to dry on tarps in the morning and taking it in the evening, storing, transporting to processor. If we have the energy this may include experimenting with traditional rice processing. Opportunities for volunteers to go ricing will depend on WI residency and our student population.
Late August-September	Marsh Grass	Gathering, bundling, drying, and storing marsh grass for lodge thatch. Gathering opportunities for volunteers will depend on our student population.
Late August-September	Bulrush	Gathering, bundling, drying and storing bulrush for lodge thatch. Gathering opportunities for volunteers will depend on our student population.
August-September	Apples	Gathering and processing (drying, canning, freezing) apples to supplement our bought fruits.
	Bear Fat	Transporting bear fat to and from processors, rendering for use.
October	Hickory Nuts, Black Walnuts	Gathering, transporting, hulling, drying, and storing. This harvest requires several hours travel and gathering in bulk, so whether we harvest will depend on our people-power and time available for a two to three day nut camp.
October-November	Leeks (bulbs)	Digging and storing leek bulbs (such as digging a pit).
	Cranberries	Gathering and processing (drying, freezing) cranberries. This is one of our smaller harvests, but if it's a good year and we have the extra energy we're perfectly willing to step it up!
Mid-November	Cisco Fishing	Catching, gutting, processing, and freezing cisco fish. Depending on our people-power we may traditionally smoke part of the catch. Participation in fishing requires a fishing license.
Late November (Rifle Hunting Season)	Deer Hides	Fleshing, salting, and bagging deer hides donated from hunters for storage to be used by our students.
December-March	Dreamwork	Dream sharing in the morning, identifying core feelings and connecting them to our daily lives, sharing perspectives.

To start the process of coming to spend some time with us, email us at balance (at) teachingdrum (dot) org.