Wood, metal, engines — real work with real consequences.
In-person. Allotment compatible. School-agnostic.
Ember & Oak Institute is a local educational institute serving the Mat-Su Valley homeschool families. We blend timeless wisdom with modern, hands-on, Socratic learning. All programs satisfy both State and Federal requirements.
Founded by Richard Garrick and Aimee Loomis. In-person gatherings in the Wasilla area for ages 10–17.
There is dignity in making something with your hands that will outlast you. We work with wood, metal, small engines, and basic electronics — tools that keep life running in the Mat-Su Valley.
Build a sturdy bench that can hold a family for decades. Learn to choose good wood, cut true, join strong, and finish with care.
We teach 3D printing as a core part of this path. Students design objects on the computer and watch them come to life layer by layer — learning both the machine and the patience it demands.
We use AI tools to help students design and learn CAD. The models suggest ideas and catch mistakes, but the student still has to understand the real-world constraints of the machine and the material. It speeds up the learning without replacing the craft.
Rewire a simple circuit and understand how electricity moves through a home. Safety, troubleshooting, and the satisfaction of fixing what is broken. Sharpen their own tools — knives, axes, saws. A sharp edge is respect for the work and for the person using it.
We also talk about the economics and ethics of the trades — why real skill is still one of the most reliable forms of freedom, especially here where winter demands competence and self-reliance.
Typically 8–14 students. In the Wasilla area. We meet around workbenches and sometimes around real fires. The tools are real; the consequences are real.
We still work with wood, metal, engines, and each other face to face. Technology is a powerful servant here — never the master. In Alaska, self-reliance is not abstract.
Most of the real learning happens while listening to someone else. We deliberately slow down so every voice can be heard — including the ones that take longer to form.