Learn a skill, or two, or three at Lakeridge High School Skill Fair

At one single event, you could learn to mend clothing, replace a flat tire (on a car or bike) and make your very own zine.

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

The first-ever Lakeridge Skill Fair is from 6-8 p.m. on Wednesday, April 3 at Lakeridge High School. All in the Lake Oswego community are welcome to come and learn a variety of skills from volunteer professionals.

“People don’t really know how to rely on each other to get their needs met outside of paying for it. People are so accustomed to transactional norms that they don’t really know how to help each other out for the sake of it. So I was like, ‘We should have some workshops on mutual aid and teaching how to build mutual aid networks in your communities,’” said Sevens Baertsch Kovalchick, a senior at LHS and organizer for the skill fair.

Baertsch Kovalchick said the idea grew from learning about mutual aid networks during the COVID-19 pandemic, when neighbors would assist their higher-risk community members with grocery shopping or deliveries.

“The goal I want to convey to people is that this state of sharing everything is our natural state as human beings and it does feel really good and it’s not work and it’s just probably one of the most joyful things that you can do,” said Baertsch Kovalchick. “It’s just going to be so fun. I talk about it all the time, at any opportunity.”

Some of the vendors include bicycle maintenance, handyman services, pasta making, Japanese postcard making, improv comedy, dance, knitting, needle felting, emergency intervention if someone is bleeding, basic electric appliance repair, embroidery and self-defense.

All of the volunteer stations are going to let people “explore that space,” according to Baertsch Kovalchick, and meet visitors where they are at any “breadth or depth.”

“I’ve got a technical engineer coming in; he’s going to teach people how to fix household appliances. That includes wiring in microwaves, phones and computers,” said Baertsch Kovalchick. “This is a really popular one: teaching people how to mend clothing. We’ve really got this anti-consumerism bent going on here which I like.”

Many of the skills that are included during the fair are things that high school students would like to learn more about. While some of the skills could be gleaned from YouTube videos or Wiki-How articles, the Skill Fair is meant to show how the community can help each other by building an in-person mutual aid network at Lakeridge.

“There’s just a larger sense of isolation at Lakeridge than a lot of other places I’ve been to. Right now as kids, we’re a lot more connected than our parents because we go to school in the same place with the same people every single day, so that naturally fosters a sense of connection. But adults, our parents, they’re the ones with the skills that people need,” said Baertsch Kovalchick. “I think it’s important to connect these skilled workers in our community to people who have unmet needs.”

Any Lake Oswego School District high schoolers who attend and participate in at least three lessons are eligible to earn a CRLE (Career-Related Learning Experience) that counts toward their diploma requirements.

“The least I can hope for is the skill fair to happen next year. And I have a lot of underclassmen friends who share my values, so I do hope for the skill fair to become an annual thing,” said Baertsch Kovalchick.