Custom Classes and Workshops for Special Groups
The Driftless Folk School is an intergenerational community of teachers and learners spread across the Driftless Region and beyond. Our instructors are master educators with unique skills and knowledge that they are passionate about sharing. Many of these classes and workshops are a great fit for team building and hands-on learning for groups of different ages and backgrounds.
If you see a class or an instructor among our course offerings that would be a good fit for a custom session with your group or organization, please get in touch with us and we will work with you to meet your goals and needs. With enough lead time, we should be able to meet your group’s goals, budget, and location needs flexibly.
Custom Driftless Folk School classes and events are a wonderful fit for many different kinds of groups, such as:
Professional development and team building for businesses and organizations
Middle school, high school, and college classes and field trips
Homeschool or microschool groups
Clubs and community organizations - Scouts, 4H, Rotary Clubs, civic organizations
Family reunions, birthdays, anniversaries, bachelor/bachelorette parties
Groups of friends who want to spend time together and learn something fun and useful!
To get started, please complete this simple form:
Examples of Past Special Groups
The 11th grade from the Great River School, St. Paul, Minnesota visited Viroqua in 2024 and 2025 for an introduction to the Driftless Region and workshops with DFS instructors on cider making, needle felting, journal making, copper jewelry making, mushroom foraging, movement, ecological literacy, botanical drawing, and vegetable fermentation!
“Dear folk school students, staff, and volunteers—
Thank you so much for the amazing experience you provided us on our trip! The homemade food, amazing classes, and super friendly faces were truly so wonderful. Hope you all are well!”
— (Great River School student)
For the past several years, the Westby Area District has partnered with the Driftless Folk School to offer a series of professional development sessions for district faculty and staff. Workshops included winter ecology, botanical drawing, bowl making, theater games, and, most recently, basket making, taught by Martha Buche:
“Martha is a natural teacher and is able to connect with her students and meet them where they are. Even though the emphasis is on process over product, it was wonderful to have 100% of our class complete lovely finished items. Martha has clearly led this activity many times and was able to present this complex task in a way that was entirely accessible. I believe that the arts are an entrypoint for learning about other cultures. The activity we participated in allowed us to make a connection with other cultures in a hands-on way.”
— Dr. Steve Michaels - District Administrator, Westby Area Schools
