Yestermorrow Design/Build School

While you're here the basic schedule is Monday to Friday 8:00 to 5pm with occasional evenings required to set up for classes. Interns and staff take turns covering the office on the weekend (which ends up being about every 6 weeks). Interns also rotate on dish crew after dinner (1 night a week each).

Interns share the general duties of maintenance and cleaning in rotating chores which change from week to week. The design/build interns meet every day after chores from 9:00-9:30am, go through the day’s tasks, and then delve into the larger projects for the day or week, which range from building projects here on our campus to preparing for classes coming up, to finishing class projects that classes didn't quite finish. The daily schedule is a mix of "must do" time-sensitive things that just have to get done, and projects which are more self-motivated according to your interests and goals.  The community outreach, woodshop and kitchen/garden interns are more self-directed depending on their specialization.

You can take one week of workshops for each month of the internship session, plus weekend workshops on a space-available basis. When you’re in a class you’re considered a student like everyone else. Interns are not expected to be a teaching assistant, although occasionally an instructor may ask for help locating a certain tool, or driving the van. During other classes that you're not actively taking, you sometimes can sit in on evening lectures or join on a house tour, but we don’t want to disrupt the flow of the class.

We seem to attract interesting folks both as students, staff, interns and instructors. Some students and most instructors stay on campus while they're in class- we have dorms, cabins, etc. so there's often another community of folks around as well. This is a big part of the intern experience- welcoming and socializing with the students and instructors who come through every week- at meals, after dinner around the campfire, and in your day-to-day interactions.  It can be inspiring and also exhausting. We’re right on the border between Waitsfield and Warren, two small Vermont towns of about 2,000 people each, but there are convenient grocery stores, hardware stores, banks, post office, etc within 3 miles of Yestermorrow.

This is a beautiful area to be in; if you're a skier, then winter brings plenty to do with skiing, snowboarding, snowshoeing, etc. In the summer there is a swimming hole across the street, great cycling, hiking, live music a few nights a week at different local venues, and Montpelier (movies, bowling, etc) is only 30 minutes away. If you're taking a lot of weekend workshops it can feel a little overwhelming with the time commitment, there's definitely not a ton of free time, but in the evenings interns have access to the woodshop (if classes aren’t in session) and often come over to the school to work on their computer, build small stuff in the shop, watch a movie, or just hang out.

Your housing and meals are covered, but it definitely helps if you have some savings before you start the internship. Some folks who are low on cash are able to get side jobs on nights or weekends; we often get calls from local residents looking for help painting their house, or who need an extra hand doing some renovation work. Some interns have also worked nights waitressing or bussing tables at local restaurants. It's not easy, due to the full schedule of an intern, but it is possible.

It’s difficult. Due to the nature of the work here and a variety of reasons, we require interns to have health insurance while they're here. If you establish Vermont residency, you can usually qualify for free health insurance through Vermont Health Assistance Program (VHAP). Some interns are able to get coverage through their parents if we provide them a letter stating that they are a full time student intern. Others choose to pay COBRA or some continuation of their previous insurance, which is typically a few hundred dollars per month.

During the first 2 weeks of each internship session we plan a comprehensive orientation to the campus, the staff, and all aspects of the School. Therefore, we ask all applicants to be able to commit to the full internship session when they apply as we feel it is critical to have the whole group together for the orientation. If for some reason your schedule would require you to leave before the official end date of the internship session, please notify us in your application. If you have any questions about the specific session dates please call or email before applying.

We have had interns as young as 19 and into their 50s.  On average, Yestermorrow interns are usually in their mid and late 20s, post-college, with some work experience outside of school.  We do not accept applicants under age 18.

The housing for interns is simple and reminiscent of a shared house for college students (depending on who's living there, it can get a little messy). Upstairs there are 2 bedrooms, each with 2 twin beds, a bathroom, kitchen and living area, and downstairs has sleeping space for 3 more people, a bathroom and living room. We typically have 7 interns at any given time, and about half in doubles and half in singles.  The intern house (we call it the "Chalet") is located just on the other side of our parking lot, so it's a quick 2 minute walk to the rest of campus.

No.  We have a no dogs and no pets policy for the campus.

Yes and no.  Yestermorrow is located in a rural area, so without a car your opportunities for getting off-campus are limited.  However, you do have access to use Yestermorrow vehicles for short trips around town to do errands if you work around the schedule of classes and staff.  A bike is a good alternative to a car- in the summer it's a great area for cycling.  Typically at least a few of the interns have vehicles on campus and there are often opportunities to carpool.

The design/build and woodshop interns work under the supervision of the Facilities Manager.  The community outreach intern and the kitchen/garden intern work under the Executive Director.

Yes, we welcome applications from couples.  However it is rare that we find a couple in which both parties are qualified and motivated to commit to the internship program.  We do not have housing space on campus for spouses/partners who are not participating in the internship.  We also do not have housing for children.

We understand that it is not feasible for folks spread all over the country (and the world!) to visit before they apply. We recommend it simply because we feel it’s the best way to get an idea of what Yestermorrow is like. Alternatively, you can view photos of our campus on our website, call with questions, or email Executive Director Kate Stephenson (kate@yestermorrow.org).  The best time to visit is usually Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday at 1:30pm when we have tours scheduled, however with advance notice we can schedule tours at other times.  Plan to stay for at least an hour, and one of our current interns will show you around the campus and try to answer any questions you may have.  If you are planning a visit, if at all possible we recommend that you come before completing your online application as we believe it will help inform your responses.

Yestermorrow internships are extremely competetive.  While it depends on the session, we typically receive over 100 applications for each round, and are only able to accept 2 or 3.

Due to the volume of applications we receive, we prefer to not receive any additional materials.  If you have a website or online portfolio, feel free to include the address in your application, however it is not required.