The Ely Folk School’s mission is to “build community by providing learning experiences that celebrate the wilderness heritage, art, history, culture, and craft of the people of northern Minnesota.”
EFS offers a variety of classes for adults from blacksmithing to Slovenian potica pastries. In addition to their adult programs, EFS has a thriving youth and family program, led by Jen Toddie. Toddie’s background is in education, and she has over 30 years of experience working with children.
On July 3, Toddie taught a creative kids: bake bread class with 10 participants. Hudson Kingston, who is an environmental lawyer, Brainstorm baker and Fall Lake Township supervisor, assisted Toddie in teaching the class. Adam Nienkark and Kathleen Miller, EFS volunteers, were also on hand to help.
“I’ve been teaching the sourdough class for adults, so they asked if I would be interested in doing a class for kids…there’s a lot of things we do in the adult class that are too boring for little kids, and there are a lot of things I get to do in this class that are too much fun for serious adults and sourdough,” said Kingston.
The class began with a demonstration of what ingredients go into a loaf of bread. Water, salt, flour, yeast and one child’s imaginative answer of “dough!” were among the answers provided by the class.
Three massive pots of pre-made dough were cut into roll-size pieces and distributed amongst the children to knead. Participants went home with enough bread for themselves and their families.
“It’s sort of my dream job to work with kids in a less-structured environment than school, where we can be so driven by wonder and curiosity,” said Toddie.
She has been leading the youth program for four summers, and her favorite part of the job? “Just being with the kids, telling stories, watching them experiment, make new friends, and try new things.”
Community-building is the main goal at EFS, and the kid’s classes are no different.
“The way we create community… the kids really feel a part of the community as a whole, even the littles who are just here for the summer.”
Upcoming classes for kids at EFS include: chickadee club on July 24 and Aug. 7 and creative kids: naturally dye fabric on July 25, build a treasure box on Aug. 8, and make jewelry pendants on Aug. 13.
The classes are aimed at ages 6-12, and each class has sliding-scale tuition to make learning as accessible as possible.
Sign up is available online at https://www.elyfolkschool. org/classes, over the phone, and also in person during EFS business hours of Tuesday to Saturday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
