Welcome to MASW – Marc Adams School of Woodworking

Update 3-30-2020

MASW and the Coronavirus

First and foremost,

The largest professional group of people who attend MASW are by FAR Doctors and Nurses. Today I received an email from Dr. Rafi Israeli, an Emergency Room Physician at the Cleveland Clinic. His email read, “I hope we can get back to normal soon. Just wanted to let you know I’m thinking about you and all the staff. Stay safe.” Here is a man who is confronting the COVID-19 virus head on, placing his own life at risk with each patient he sees. Yet he took the time to let my staff know we are in his thoughts. Over the last few weeks, I have received countless letters from Doctors and Nurses with the same message. These people’s lives are defined by compassion. On behalf of all the MASW staff and alumni we want our medical community to know we stand behind them and will pray for their safety, strength and that they remain courageous during this fight.

March 30, 2020

Today would have been the first official day of our 2020 season. Our staff worked so hard this winter to prepare for this day. All the equipment has been tuned and polished, class materials have been cut and stacked and walls have come to life with new panels and artwork. We were especially excited to introduce our new world class chef. This energy and excitement will still be rolled out, just at another time.

I know the last couple of weeks have been a challenge for all of us. As we navigate the rapidly changing COVID-19 environment, we continue to make decisions focused on the health and wellbeing of our staff members, students and instructors. Our staff remain virus free and, as far as we know, the same holds true for our instructors and alumni.

Last night the President extended the social distancing order to April 30th, approximately 3 weeks longer than originally anticipated. As a result of this unprecedented pandemic and in line with direction provided by health experts and government officials, MASW will now officially postpone all workshops in the month of May. As of today, we are still planning on opening the first week of June, 62 days from now. But at this time, no one knows, or can predict, what changes tomorrow will bring.

As soon as it is safe to travel, we will reopen. Rest assured, all classes in the effected time of the travel ban will be rescheduled later this year and will be offered again next year. I will work with those instructors whose workshops were postponed to determine a replacement date — our plan is to give you as much advance planning time as possible.

Believe it or not, we are still getting signups for workshops later in the year. This is very encouraging. Rest assured we will not process any deposit money on those workshops, but will hold your spot. If you are currently registered for a workshop that has been postponed or want to sign up for a workshop later in the year, please feel free to do so on our web page. If you are transferring from one postponed workshop to a workshop later, there will be no transfer fee and your credit card will not be charged.

MASW is made up of a unique community of people. Thank you all for lessening my burden as we work through this together.

1

Today brings us one day closer to the end of this pandemic and one day sooner to getting us back to our normal routine. WE WILL GET THROUGH THIS! The economy WILL rebound.

2

Take time to go outside, breath the fresh air, listen to the birds, look at the new blooms on the flowers and start to think about mowing the grass. Turn your face toward the sun and the shadows will fall behind you. God always brings the spring after a rough winter.

3

This next one is important and remains unchanged from my first uplifting thoughts. We are all MAKERS; we love to make things. We have a gift and passion for making items from wood, glass, metal, clay, paint, resins and on and on. It’s this passion for “making things” that brought us together in the first place. Don’t let this down time go to waste—make something! Send me photos of your work or work in progress. We will post your work on our social media page or web page. It will inspire others. (Remember the machine can’t think, but you can—be safe!)

4

Wash your hands and say your prayers because Jesus and germs are everywhere! (I didn’t make that up, but it sounds good.)

Nearly all our alumni who are currently registered have expressed a “can’t wait attitude” to returning as soon as possible, either later this year or sometime next year. Nearly every student has deferred their deposits to the postponed workshops or into another workshop in the future.

Thank you for your support.

I would like to offer everyone who is currently signed up for a class in the period effected by the government-imposed shutdown to consider one of these options.

You can simply roll your deposit into future workshops, either for the rescheduled workshop in which you had originally enrolled or for a different workshop once the school starts back up, hopefully in the early part of this summer.

You can donate your money to the school. This money can be earmarked to any of the special causes the school supports, such as the RCMF. It could also be designated for other resources to help the school through these times.

You can consider using your deposit toward purchasing gift certificates that can be used over the next three years. These certificates can be applied to workshops, material fees merchandise, lumber, my book on The Difference Makers, any of my Technical Technique video series, or given as gifts to friends or family for future workshops.

It’s hard to explain or define the typical MASW student. I ask that everyone scheduled for workshops this year or alumni from the past take a minute and read my opening statement in our 2020 brochure. It will brighten your day!

Our office is currently shut down, as required. We are hoping to have Paula back in the office as soon as our Governor relaxes the stay at home order. Also, we have had some phone line issues in our area. The phone company is working on it, but has yet to completely resolve the problem. As for now we ask that students be patient until we can get back in working order. Once the school has returned to full swing, our regular cancellation policy will go back into effect.