School gets folks back to the root of things
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TIM CALEBRO/TIMES ARGUS |
Toolbox
By SARAH HINCKLEY Times Argus Staff - Published: May 25, 2009
EAST CALAIS – While Nick Neddo weaved reeds into a basket next to an open fire, Andrew Danielsen hollowed out a gourd with the intention of making a bowl.
Neddo is an instructor and Danielsen an intern at the ROOTS School (Reclaiming Our Origins through Traditional Skills) high in the hills of East Calais off Route 14. The path to the school is traveled on foot, once one arrives by dirt road at the campus, through a classroom rife with learning opportunities: Skills such as tracking, crafting a bow and "knapping" flint.
Sienna Flanders brought her three children to the school site on Saturday to an open house.
"My husband's done primitive fishing here and I'm trying to interest my son," said the Woodbury resident about nine-year-old Taran Clammer. "This is ancient knowledge that we've had as humans and it feels kind of right to have (these skills)."
Modern amenities are sparse on the campus, which has a yurt and occasional tarp tied to timbers taken from the landscape to build a shelter. There are stations in which students learn to tan hides, build a bow, cook wild, edible plants over a flame and connect to the surrounding elements.
Founded two years ago, the ROOTS School's mission is to educate people of all ages and backgrounds in ancient living skills, traditional survival, and awareness and tracking. Instructor and co-founder Brad Salon earned a self-designed degree in primitive bow hunting at Goddard College and had attended wilderness schools to study tracking and survival. Instructor and co-founder Sarah Corrigan's focus is plants, from the wild edible and medicinal to use of natural fibers and dyeing capabilities of area flora.
At the open house, Corrigan explained that education at the school is about helping people feel more capable of doing things for themselves. In addition to the classroom spots scattered about the property, there is a spring used to draw water for drinking and other needs.
"We don't want to build a community, but be a part of the community at large," Corrigan explains.
Inside the yurt, Elias Clammer, 5, tried his skills at a pump drill, used for starting a fire, while his sister Neah, 3, looked over a table full of pelts. Taran showed his mother a knife carved from a bone.
When asked if he could make one himself, the boy replied, "I think I could if I tried."
Adults asked about summer camp opportunities at the school, while checking out the tools crafted for tracking in the wilderness. Corrigan fielded questions, connected to visitors who had similar experiences on the ocean or in other parts of the world. Traffic was relatively steady through the afternoon at the school in the woods.
"I feel like some really genuinely interested people have shown up to see what we're doing," said Corrigan about the open house.
To find out more about the ROOTS School and the courses offered, visit www.ROOTSVT.com. Contact the school for more information by calling 456-1253 or emailing Info@RootsVT.com.
Contact Sarah Hinckley at sarah.hinckley@timesargus.com.
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