The Bee Tree Folk School, operating under Co-Opportunities, Inc. (a non-profit 501 (c) 3 corporation) was organized in September 2107. Its mission statement follows:
“The Bee Tree Folk School brings together people with specific skills and knowledge with those seeking to learn in a non-competitive, non-judgmental, self-empowering environment that focuses on traditional and non-traditional arts an
d crafts, key living skills, music and theater, community building and sustainability.”
We are headquartered in two locations on the same block in downtown Weiser, Idaho: The Pythian Castle at 30 East Idaho Street and “The Bee Hive at 8 East Idaho Street. There are no passing or failing grades. Students are invited to explore new areas of interest or expand on those they already have. Students and instructors are encouraged to share experiences and knowledge with one another. Anyone having a hobby, craft, vocational skill or a musical instrument that they have proficiency in and want to teach is encouraged to contact us. Anyone having an idea for a class or an area they want to explore further is also welcome to contact us with suggestions. Classes will consist of a combination of week-end workshops, day or evening classes of one to two hours, six or nine-week once-a-week series, or intensive week-long classes. There is lodging and camping available for the intensive week-long classes so that folks living out of the area can have accommodations onsite. Meals will be available and will be catered by local businesses, helping our local economy. Cost for classes will vary, and there will be some scholarship opportunities offered. Pricing will be comparable to costs of instruction in other similar schools across the country, but will be adjusted to our local economy. In other words, we want to make it affordable to folks here in our area. There will also be free classes offered and there are programs for children and families being organized. As a start-up non-profit corporation, your support is very important to our success. Your donations of time, money, tools, materials, labor and love will help to keep us going as we continue to work hard to bring the whole thing together. It will grow organically, and that makes your ideas and input extremely important and valuable to us. We want to provide what you need. What would you like to learn? What have you always wanted to try and just never got around to doing? Let us know. Let’s build this together and make our community stronger and closer than it has ever been. We want Weiser to continue to stand out in Idaho as a great place to raise a family, retire, have a business, and most importantly, be a place where you know you will have the support of friends and neighbors when needed. We see the Bee Tree Folk School as a way we can help with those goals. The school’s name was not chosen because it sounds cute. It was chosen very carefully and with a bit of divine inspiration. We have long admired a beautiful old silver maple bee tree that stands near Slocum Hall on the grounds of the Intermountain Institute. Each year we watch as the bees that live within its ancient trunk work together, pollinating fruit trees and flowers, making honey, and occasionally swarming to establish a new hive. Honey bees work together within their community for the good of the entire hive. Each bee has a special job to do without which the hive fails to survive and thrive. We have observed the communication, efficiency and success of their co-operation and common goals. We like to think that we are just as capable of achieving some of that as folks who live in and love our community and the surrounding area. We invite you to be a part of that. One thing that brings folks together is good entertainment. By creating a great performance venue and classroom area we have named “The Bee Hive,”, we are able to bring musical and theatrical performances, movie nights for the family, lectures, educational and informative programs, and a fun meeting place to the community. We will be having regular performances as soon as it is feasible with our current Covid-19 situation. There will be food and beverages available, with proceeds going to help support the school. Our thanks and appreciation go out to everyone who has helped us get the dream from the back of our heads to reality and that includes our Creator, most of all!
