Student Volunteer Residency
WHEN
October 31 - November 19 2024
WHERE
Terlingua, TX
COST
Free
We are opening applications for our 6th student volunteer program. Student volunteers get a combination of hands-on experience and formal instruction in the many aspects of regenerative design and building while living on our campus in beautiful Big Bend. The education, meals, and lodging are provided free of charge. In turn student volunteers help build facilities for the benefit of the next generation of students. This “teach through building - build through teaching” approach allows us to make high-level, experience-based education available at no cost to more students every year. Student Volunteers are the heart of SCA’s self-sustaining, free-education model and essential to realizing our mission. Join us today!
Dates
October 31 - November 19, 2024
Activities
This year we are expanding our curriculum. Work throughout the program may include finishing our outdoor bath house, applying lime-clay plaster, preparing the library for the masonry vault, installing a trombe wall, and greywater systems, and practicing drylands restoration and agroecology techniques. Students will also participate in laying compressed earth block walls at a community build workshop with our neighbors in Marathon, TX.
In addition to this hands-on education, presentations will be given on the various aspects of regenerative design and building including:
-
Natural and Recycled Materials
- Sun, Wind, and Water to Power, Heat, and Cool
- Whole Cycle Waste and Water Systems
- Building with the Land - Agriculture, Integration, and Land Repair
Location
The Big Bend region is ecologically and culturally rich. Our campus is located between Big Bend National Park and Big Bend Ranch State Park, in an international biosphere reserve, within the largest dark sky preserve in the world. In the past, we have facilitated field trips to Marfa, the Chinati Foundation, the McDonald Observatory, and to significant earthen buildings in the region. We have led activities such as an adobe-making workshop in Estación, Mexico, and overnight backpacking trips in Big Bend National Park, and Davis Mountains State Park. These outside trips are optional and are chosen on a case by case basis with each group of students. Aside from any group trips we will help facilitate individual exploration of this magnificent place.
Accommodations
Provided accommodations are simple and rustic as we are in the process of building our campus. Students sleep on cots in large canvas tents and share outdoor showers and basic composting toilet facilities. A well provisioned communal kitchen and living space is set up in another large canvas tent. Tents are equipped with wood-burning stoves for heating. Food will be provided, and students and staff will all take part in cooking communal meals. Living in a communal setting, close to the land with simple accommodations is part of the educational experience. That said, we have plenty of space and students are welcome to bring their own tents, campers, trailers, RV’s, or other accommodations to make life more comfortable. If your application is accepted we will contact you directly to discuss specifics and will work to accommodate your specific needs or concerns.
For more information, please contact us.
The School of Constructive Arts is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. We support resilient communities and encourage individuals to study, experiment, and advance models for building and living in healthy relation to the natural environment.
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