Adult Service Corps
Led by Laura McGee & Keith Hutchison & Barb Hutchison & Gerard Schwagerl
Adult Service Corps offers an opportunity to share your time and talent and unwind within the beauty and community that is Ghost Ranch. Unleash the joy of working with your hands and be enriched by the satisfaction of tasks completed. Discover how meaningful and inspiring it can be to “travel with a purpose” while making new friends who share your desire to see the ranch thrive.
As a member of the Adult Service Corps, you will help with ranch improvements and important maintenance tasks. Develop or hone your building skills with power tools, construction, and repair. Additional tasks on our list may include painting, gardening, and cleaning projects. In high season, we may be asked to support hospitality with tasks such as greeting arriving guests or tidying the dining hall. Each morning, we will meet as a group, choose our tasks and work in teams. You can choose to do what you already do well – or opt to try something new.
Adult Service Corps members volunteer a total of 22 hours of work to the ranch in exchange for a reduced weekly rate of $420 that includes tuition, room and board (and a t-shirt). Tasks may be in or outdoors and involve physical labor. Please let us know if you have a physical condition that prevents you from doing some tasks. We want everyone to be safe throughout the week. Please bring work clothes, work gloves if you have them, a hat or visor for the sun, closed-toe shoes for working outdoors or in the shop, sunscreen, and a water bottle.
Please click here for a brief overview and introduction from the Instructors.
As a member of the Adult Service Corps, you will help with ranch improvements and important maintenance tasks. Develop or hone your building skills with power tools, construction, and repair. Additional tasks on our list may include painting, gardening, and cleaning projects. In high season, we may be asked to support hospitality with tasks such as greeting arriving guests or tidying the dining hall. Each morning, we will meet as a group, choose our tasks and work in teams. You can choose to do what you already do well – or opt to try something new.
Adult Service Corps members volunteer a total of 22 hours of work to the ranch in exchange for a reduced weekly rate of $420 that includes tuition, room and board (and a t-shirt). Tasks may be in or outdoors and involve physical labor. Please let us know if you have a physical condition that prevents you from doing some tasks. We want everyone to be safe throughout the week. Please bring work clothes, work gloves if you have them, a hat or visor for the sun, closed-toe shoes for working outdoors or in the shop, sunscreen, and a water bottle.
Please click here for a brief overview and introduction from the Instructors.
Program Details
Start Date:
End Date:
Categories:
Adult Service Corps
Ghost Ranch Program
Date & Time Details:
3:00 pm Check in
10:00 am Check out
10:00 am Check out
Location:
Ghost Ranch
Address:
280 1708 Dr, Abiquiu, NM 87510, USA
Contact:
Programs
programs@ghostranch.org
505-685-1000
Email Us About Program
About the Leaders
Laura McGee
Laura McGee is a long-time ranch visitor, having first attended with her parents when she was in her twenties. She counts her Ghost Ranch summers by the art courses she has taken. Her mother Roz McGee’s participation in the Adult Service Corps inspired Laura to try this way of serving the ranch while enjoying the company of others.
Laura has substantial experience leading groups to learn, grow, and accomplish a goal together. She has engaged in local and regional church leadership. In her work life, she taught German at a regional state university, and was Head of Modern Languages. There she focused on creating a quality learning experience for students.
Laura plans to bring to ASC a kind and supportive manner in helping participants engage in their own best ranch experience while providing 22 hours of service. She and her partner Juergen Zirnstein are excited to welcome their participants!
Laura has substantial experience leading groups to learn, grow, and accomplish a goal together. She has engaged in local and regional church leadership. In her work life, she taught German at a regional state university, and was Head of Modern Languages. There she focused on creating a quality learning experience for students.
Laura plans to bring to ASC a kind and supportive manner in helping participants engage in their own best ranch experience while providing 22 hours of service. She and her partner Juergen Zirnstein are excited to welcome their participants!
Keith Hutchison
Keith Hutchison is a craftsman, teacher, tinkerer and problem solver. He spent most of his career teaching tech-ed in southern Wisconsin, where he led high school seniors to design and build 22 family homes in the community. Alongside local contractors, students engaged in carpentry, plumbing, electrical, concrete, and HVAC work. Since retiring from full-time teaching, Keith has spent several years designing and building exhibits for the Madison Children’s Museum. In this role, he has pushed his own boundaries as an artist and designer, using wood, fabric, metal and natural substances to build environments that inspire creative and experiential play. Playing outdoors is Keith’s other pastime–he and his wife spend many months a year biking, hiking, skiing, kayaking and camping throughout the Great Lakes and the West.
Barb Hutchison
Barb Hutchison is a friendly helper and lifelong learner, so being part of the Adult Service Corps (ASC) is a perfect fit. As a middle school teacher for over 30 years, her focus was to share knowledge thoughtfully and with enthusiasm. Newly retired, she now uses her background to help create a positive experience for ASC participants. She also gets to be a student herself, learning new skills (like using a miter saw!) as well as honing others. Barb and her husband Keith are grateful to have serendipitously stumbled upon Ghost Ranch and the ASC. We’re honored and delighted to be able to connect with so many wonderful people in the beautiful setting of the high desert.
Gerard Schwagerl
Gerard grew up outdoors in northern Minnesota. He has always been a creative type and problem solver – designing and building. He is comfortable with the messiness in life. He spent 15 years restoring an old house from the 1870’s. He has been an avid cyclist for decades and has designed, built, and welded bike frames. He enjoys gravel biking and bikepacking in remote woods. As an artist, he enjoys painting (all mediums) and writing poetry – all an exploration of curiosity. At home, the daily creative juices play out with gardening, transforming the yard into native wildflower prairie, and cooking. Gerard has enjoyed mentoring others over the years, encouraging them to take risks, learn from mistakes, and grow in their own skills and self worth. He is thrilled to help with the Adult Service Corps so he can live embedded in and contribute to a ranch culture that feels welcoming, where people work and learn together with generosity, kindness, and acceptance.