Education Level
All levels, anyone can attend/teach classes.
Location
The school is decentralized— there is no main campus or office. Classes are held in public spaces, reserved community areas or private residences.
Current Organizing Hub
Dome 12&13 at the Domes Click for map.
E-mail
[email protected]
Phone
(530) 341-2373
Websites
Facebook
Twitter (Currently inactive)
Established
Winter 2007

Announcements

Davis People's Free School presents...

Hello community members! We are pleased to announce that the Davis People's Free School is starting back up again. We are starting up slowly, but with a lot of heart and soul into this project. Below is the calender for the rest of the month of April. We are organizing, planning, and preparing for many more amazing classes!

Spanish Conversation

Instructor: Sonia Ferrandiz

Time & Location: 7:30pm Thursday nights at Delta of Venus Cafe 122 B St, Downtown Davis

Hola, chochachos! If you are searching for a weekly opportunity to exercise your espanolwith a group of awesome folks of all Spanish levels, look no further! We have fabulous conversations while lounging around the glorious Delta, sipping on frosty cold ones (or balmy hot ones, whatever your fancy) while we get our Spanish on. Come and practice! Es muy, muy divertido. Contact Sonia Ferrandiz for more information at: [email protected]

All Levels Yoga

Instructor: Nina Vuoso

Time & Location: 9am on Friday mornings at the Domes Yurt

Come join us for an enjoyable all levels yoga class taught by Nina Vuoso. Stretch your body and your mind while starting your weekend off right. Class will be taught outside weather permitting. Please bring a yoga mat! Contact Nina Vuoso at [email protected] for more information.

Songwriting on Guitar

Instructors: Renata Langis and Mica

Time & Location: Sunday April 22nd at 4pm at the Domes Yurt

This will be an intermediate class for guitarists interested in expressing themselves through song composition and vocal harmonies. We will cover basic visual theory on the fretboard to advance song writing using simple chord progressions. Then we will discuss the poetry side, of adding lyrics and integrating vocal melodies that evoke the essence of the chords. Please bring a guitar and a notepad. We will be writing and performing a song as a group exercise to practice these skills. Contact Renata Langis at [email protected] for more information and to RSVP.

Beginner Guitar Lesson

Instructor: David Hiss

Time & Location: Tuesday April 24rd at 5pm at the Domes Yurt

A small group beginner guitar lesson with Davis Hiss, an advanced guitar player. Please meet in front of the Yurt at the Domes and bring your own guitar. More advanced levels are welcome if the level of the students allows for faster progression. Please email Davis Hiss at [email protected] for more information and to RSVP.

Critical Conversations in the Yurt

Speakers: Mark Van Horn and Damian Parr

Facilitator: Kase Wheatley

Time & Location: Wednesday April 25th, Presentation following 7PM dinner

First part of a spring seminar series to be held in the Yurt. Discussions will precede or follow a '7PM potluck dinner' at the Baggins End (Domes) community yurt, which is located on the property commons. Please bring something to share. The Domes property is located on the southwest corner of Orchard Park Drive and Orchard Park Circle, west of the ARC and east of West Village.

"Mark Van Horn, director of Student Farm for over 20 years, and Damian Parr, UCD alum and crucial partner in the creation of the new undergraduate major, Sustainable Agricultural Farming Systems (SAFS), will discuss student initiated endeavors in the context of their work with Student Farm and SAFS, including structures and protocols to ensure student agency and voice in the development process for future projects, such as the Domes. Contact Veronica at vlpardo@ucdavis for more information."

Sourdough Wholegrain Breadmaking

Instructor: Renata Langis

Time & Location: Friday, April 27th at 4pm in Dome 10

This is an introductory class on wild yeast fermentation and the basics of bread biology and process. We will cover mixing, shaping, fermentation, proofing, and baking of two types of bread: a country loaf and a fast foccacia, both whole wheat. Contact Renata Langis at [email protected] for more information and to RSVP.

Ultimate Frisbee

Time & Location: Russell Field on 5th St

The Ultimate Frisbee workshop will cover (a) developing/improving throwing skills for fundamental and more advanced throws in Ultimate, (b) the game rules, (c) tactical play and strategies on an individual and team level and (d) spirit of the game, a set of ethical rules to enrich the quality of the play. Improving throwing skills will be more pronounced in the first weeks, with actual game play and scrimmaging replacing it as students get more advanced. Contact [email protected] for more information and to RSVP.

ORGANIZING

"If you are interested in teaching a class, or have general questions concerning the Davis People's Free School please contact Elli Pearson at [email protected]" — Hello lovely peoples!

Tonight, eight of us met in the Yurt to discuss organizing the Davis Peoples Free School again. We are trying to focus on offering 10 or so classes for Spring and doing them really well. We want to establish a calender on the Wiki as soon as possible so we can start with outreach materials.

First action item!

When/where/how often would you like to teach your class?

Second action item!

Could you please type a concise paragraph description of your class?

The type of classes will be advertised on all of our fliers, and (assuming it is okay with you) your email will be provided on the Davis Wiki for people to inquire specifically about YOUR class. Others will be handling general inquiries about the school.

We are all entirely to get this going up again!!

Much love and enjoy the sunshine!

Elli Pearson, 4 April 2012

** Do you love the Free School? Want to help organize it? We need your help. **

The Davis People's Free School seeks to create an alternative space to the inaccessible modern educational system by promoting free, accessible, community-inspired and community-driven education. The Davis People's Free School was created out of the Tri Co-ops Lecture and Workshop Committee in the winter of 2007 with the aim of bringing free and accessible education to the people of Davis. For more information on other free schools, click here.

Teachers are needed! Your participation is essential to this project. There is generally a workshop or event at least twice a week. This web page is updated daily with the most current postings and changes to classes and events. If you are interested in seeing a workshop on a particular subject or teaching one yourself, fill out this quick interest survey or email us at [email protected].

Note: workshops, events, jam sessions, pick-up sports games, book clubs, etc. all count! Any way you learn we will consider for inclusion in our calendar.

CURRENT CALENDAR

Click here for calendar page.

Mission Statement

Click here for our Mission Statement.

What does "free" mean?

  • Teachers and the school may not charge except for the exact cost of materials (e.g. the raw metal for a metalsmithing class). Students can pay the teachers with the fruits of the prosperity that their new-found education has brought them. Better yet, pay it forward!
  • On events such as field-trips for "learn how to backpack," all costs (gas, food, etc.) will be shared equally among students and teachers. No additional costs may be charged for teaching, guiding, etc.

Why Free?

The point of keeping it free is to ensure that everyone involved wants to be present solely to teach and to learn, and not to deliver the minimum product to be paid. We intend to change the paradigm (at least for a few hours a day) from "What can I get out of this?" to "What can I give?" Hopefully, this cultivates a safe space for sharing skills, knowledge, and a good time!

Useful Links

Publicity: Help us get the word out!

  • Get friends, family, professors, milk man&womyn, yoga teachers, and everyone you know excited by word of mouth!
  • Print out and post these fliers and business cards in the lunch room, your housing, the community center, bathroom stalls, Safeway, Starbucks, Delta Venus, etc.!

University flier.pdf poster with pull offs.jpg small business cards.pdf color flier.jpg

  • We currently post in the Aggie, the EC catalog, the Davis Food Co-op monthly newsletter, etc. If you have ideas for more places, let us know! [email protected]

Historic Documents & Past Classes

"You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete."

-Richard Buckminster Fuller

"I am beginning to suspect all elaborate and special systems of education. They seem to me to be built up on the supposition that every child is a kind of idiot who must be taught to think."

-Anne Sullivan

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