Saint Maud’s in Iron County started with Karl Zinsmaster converting the old church in Pence into a maker space.
It then started offering the Slöyd Experience to kids in the area.
Slöyd is an education system developed in Finland in 1865 and is still widely used in Scandinavian countries.
It’s a series of woodworking projects, each one introduces a new skill and gets progressively harder.
“That's just become the heart and soul of it all, and we decided to make that officially the heart and soul of it all,” said Zinsmaster, who is now the President and Director of Saint Maud’s, the recently formed non-profit educational organization.
Saint Maud’s recently received a $33,000 grant from the American Scandinavian Foundation so that more kids can get involved in the program.
Zinsmaster says the recommended rate for Slöyd classes is $30 per kid, per class.
Because the Gogebic Range area is lower income than other areas of the country that offer the Slöyd Experience, Zinsmaster has only been charging $10 per kid, per class.
The grant helps make up that difference so Saint Maud’s can afford to offer 9 classes per week.
“My goal was to make it as accessible as possible. I want everybody that has any interest in coming by to be able to come in and take classes and not have just the price tag be the barrier,” said Zinsmaster.
While it was still in the process of getting its non-profit status, The Gogebic Range Health Foundation served as the fiscal sponsor for the grant.
Executive Director Kassie Huotari says they’re happy to help organizations in this way when they fit in with their funding priorities of building a healthier community.
“You have that sense of belonging when you're part of Saint Maud’s out there, and you're definitely learning as well. That's very important for the youth engagement piece,” said Huotari. “That sense of belonging is important for the youth mental health piece. It really aligns really well with our mission and vision, and especially with our funding priorities coming into 2025 here.”
Zinsmaster says the community support for the program has been amazing.
“It was a kind of a wild card decision to start a community workshop, makerspace, Folk School type thing, I think,” he said. “I think it's kind of proven, to me at least, that there's real excitement and interest in taking part in what we're offering.”
Zinsmaster has been able to pay some instructors, train some more, and improve the facility to have more kids in class at one time.
He’s meeting with local school districts and hopes to collaborate more with them in the future.
Saint Maud’s has also been doing a lot of work with Iron County 4-H and the Superior Homeschool Co-op.
For 2025, Saint Maud’s has an agreement with the Co-op to teach 16 kids every other week and give them space for other classes like robotics and sewing.
Zinsmaster believes the kids have been so invested in Slöyd because it’s something tangible, especially after having been doing all their learning through a screen during the peak of COVID.
“You're able to work directly with your hands, with tools and materials, to produce something that's your own, that you've got ownership of, that you can take pride in, and that's tangible, right?” said Zinsmaster. “It’s something that you can keep and pass down someday even. I mean, these kids, even at five years old, are producing stuff that, in my mind, and I think hopefully theirs, is kind of an heirloom.”
Saint Maud’s is still a makerspace and offers different classes for adults like spoon carving and knife making.
You can learn more about Saint Maud’s and the classes being offered on its website.
