It’s taking shape! On land near the Retreat Center, the buildings of IMS’s new Teacher Village are going up. Two of four accommodation duplexes are almost complete, with solar hot water panels installed. The Commons House – a dedicated meeting space for teachers – is also at the finish-work stage. The third duplex is framed and the fourth will be going up shortly. The project’s design reflects IMS’s commitment to move toward full sustainability.
The Teacher Village will solve several pressing challenges. In coming years, many of our original faculty will be reducing their teaching commitments or retiring altogether. Before then, it’s critical that they spend time mentoring our newer teachers and trainees, ensuring that the breadth and depth of the Buddha’s teachings at our centers continue long after they are gone.
As we plan for this succession, larger teaching teams are essential, making our current teacher housing and the lack of a faculty meeting area unworkable for the longer term.
The Commons House is a first for IMS. It will give teaching teams the space to review the unfolding of their retreatants’ practice, confer about effective teaching approaches and the challenges and joys that arise during a course, as well as privacy for lead and senior faculty to mentor trainees.
An important additional benefit of this endeavor is that existing teacher accommodations will soon become available for much-needed staff housing.
This significant venture is the focus of our current Spring Appeal. We invite you to join us in the creation of this very special space to support IMS’s growing community of Dharma teachers. Our goal is $2,185,000 – and thanks to our community’s support, we are delighted to be already over 87% of the way there. To date, more than $1,913,000 has been raised.
Please feel free to contact Executive Director Inger Forland or Development Director Gyano Gibson if you have any questions or are interested in partnering with us to bring this exciting project to completion.
