Upcoming Weekend Workshop Class: Learn to Wire Your Home

Electrical terms sound familiar, but how they work in your home might be a bit of a mystery: Amp, volt, 100, 220, three pole, four pole, wire gauge, and on and on. But the fact of the matter is that with a little bit of time and instruction, you can learn how to do most electrical projects in your home and manage them safely. This is an opportunity to become competent and confident about wiring. It's actually safer than driving once you understand a few little principles.

Mystery revealed.

Shelter is offering a Home Wiring course on Saturday, June 1st, 2013 with instructor Pat Hennin, who has been teaching wiring for nearly 40 years. He shares the how of electricity, so you can understand the why. He will describe electricity and how to control it in simple, non-technical language.

Learn How Electricity Works and Wire Your Entire Home

Spend the day at the Shelter Campus, and learn how to wire your entire home. Whether you want to build your own home, be your own general contractor, or have a home that you want to understand better, this class will give you a comprehensive understanding of home wiring. You can make changes to your home and effectively deal with any problems that occur.

We will discuss residential wiring and how to wire a house that conforms to the National Electrical Code. This is followed by a discussion of how electricity actually ends up in the house. Finally, we break into small groups to practice wiring sample panels, switches, and lights. This is a small investment that can save you a lot of time, money, and worry.

Date: June 1, 2013
Time: 9:30-3:00
Tuition: $95.00 per person
Register online.

New Veteran's Benefit for Design Build Class

Congress and the President recently signed into law the VOW to Hire Heroes Act of 2011, which includes additional financial assistance to unemployed vets through the Veterans Retraining Assistance Program (VRAP). Shelter's Design Build class qualifies for this program.

According to the VA website:

VRAP offers up to 12 months of training assistance to unemployed Veterans. The Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) and the Department of Labor (DOL) are working together to roll out this new program on July 1, 2012.

The VRAP offers 12 months of training assistance to Veterans who:

• Are at least 35 but no more than 60 years old
• Are unemployed
• Received an other than dishonorable discharge
• Are not be eligible for any other VA education benefit program (e.g.: the Post-9/11 GI Bill, Montgomery GI Bill, Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment Assistance)
• Are not in receipt of VA compensation due to unemployability
• Are not enrolled in a federal or state job training program

The program is limited to 45,000 participants from July 1, 2012, through September 30, 2012, and 54,000 participants from October 1, 2012, through March 31, 2014.

The program application is available on the VA website. The next Design Build class at Shelter is July 9-20. Enroll now to reserve your spot.

Shelter is DownEast Magazine's Choice for Best Working Vacation

Shelter is featured in the July "Best of Maine" edition of DownEast Magazine. We're the Editor's Choice for Best Working Vacation. Here's what the editors had to say:

For some vacationers, lying on the beach just isn’t their definition of relaxation. The one- and two-week courses offered by the Shelter Institute represent a great way to enjoy the Pine Tree State and gain some valuable skills at the same time. The one-week Purely Post and Beam class, to be held August 7-12, teaches up to twenty-two students how to build a 24’x24’ post-and-beam cabin. (There were still a few spots open when we checked, but don’t wait to book your spot!) The class also gets to enjoy off-hours events like a lobster bake on the banks of the Sasanoa River. This might be one vacation you can actually claim as a deduction!

We're very honored to be recognized by such a fine magazine.

If you've already made summer plans, remember that Shelter offers classes year-round. (Visit our website to see our current schedule.) Summers in Maine are fantastic, but our winters are special. (If you don't trust us, read this essay in The Atlantic by Paul Theroux on the virtues of Maine winters.)

In the summer, students enjoy a fantastic lobster bake, campfires in the woods, and spend their free time sailing or kayaking. In winter, you'll have access to snowshoeing or cross-country skiing on the quiet trails around Shelter. We have a large indoor production facility at the Shelter campus, where the January Purely Post and Beam class builds a timberframe.

It's a great vacation, but it's also an extraordinary opportunity to learn valuable and life-changing skills.

Two-Week Design Build Class Highlights

Design Build students and their
cardboard model competition entry

This summer's two-week Design Build class ended recently. Students came from near and far to learn about a house as a complete system. Some will venture off to design and build their own home, others will engage with builders and contractors with a greater understanding of the building process, but everyone will leave with confidence—knowing more about the complex but understandable places we call home.

One of the highlights of this summer's class was an opportunity for some hands-on experience framing a 12 x 16 building in the woods near Shelter. (See photos of the students building the frame on our Facebook page. While you're there, "like" us to follow what's new at Shelter.)

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A Few Spots Left for Two-Week Design Build Class: July 11-22

Need something to do during your July vacation in Maine? There are a few openings left for our July 11-22 Design Build class. Call us today or register online.

Our August Purely Post & Beam class is full and closed to new registrations, but you can register online now for our one-week Purely Post & Beam winter session (January 22-27).

Why should you take a Design Build course? Building or renovating a home involves so many decisions. Our Design Build course gives you the foundation for making those complex decisions. More than 20,000 women and men have taken this continually evolving course. The class is carefully crafted to teach building concepts from site planning through foundations, alternative energy, value, framing, wiring, plumbing, insulation, weatherization, roofing, and more to foster the ability to make wise judgments about the myriad alternatives facing prospective home owners today. Timber frame? Straw bale? Truss? Air Concrete? Foam? Stone? Steel? Photovoltaics? Stick frame? Which one, where and why? What works, what makes it work better, where does the truth lie?

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