William Holland FAQ

The Lapidary Arts are the methods and knowledge needed to identify and work with stones, minerals, and gems. In large part, the classes taught at William Holland focus on jewelry making using these skills.

A Lapidary is a person who cuts stones and a Rockhound is one who is very enthusiastic about rocks, gems, and minerals. back to top

If you are visiting or staying at William Holland, you will find that we keep many brochures for local attractions available in our dining room. You will also find that there are several destinations local to William Holland on our links page. We are also near Dahlonega, Blue Ridge, Jasper, and Helen in Georgia, Franklin in North Carolina and Chattanooga in Tennessee. These are all fun and exciting places to explore during your visit or stay. You can find even more information about Young Harris and its surrounding area at our local chamber of commerce website. back to top

If you do happen to be in our area during our season, you are welcome to contact us ahead of time and make an appointment to visit our campus. We especially encourage visitors to come during the Friday Show and Tell so that they can see the beautiful work done by the students that week. During our off season we do not allow visitors to our campus as there are no staff on duty. back to top

We welcome visitors to join us for Tailgating, Auction, and Show and Tell. It is not possible for you to sell items at Tailgating, however, you can purchase items at both events. We do require that all visitors who attend Auction pay by check or with exact change.

Show and Tell is also a great time to visit our campus because it will afford you a chance to see the work done in all of the classes that week. For more information on times and what happens at each of these events, see our Policies and Guidelines and remember to contact us before arriving so that we know you are coming. back to top

In general the spring at William Holland is chilly and rainy up until around mid-May. The summer months (June, July, and August) are often very hot and dry but also have the potential for severe storms. The fall is usually warm during the day with cool mornings and evenings, with leaves turning in mid-September and temperatures getting colder into late October and November.

It is very unlikely that there will be any snow at any time during the season. For more information on weather, we recommend you try your favorite online weather source. Current forecasts are available from on our home page. back to top

As a non-profit organization our mission is made possible primarily through your donations. We accept monetary donations as well as donations of Lapidary related items and raw materials. In all cases, we can provide you with letters acknowledging your donations that will allow you to deduct the amount of your donations on your taxes.

If you would like to donate to our Auction, you are welcome to donate anything that comes to mind, not just Lapidary related items. We have sold everything from quilts and certificates for free massages to candy in the Auction. Remember that all donations to the Auction raise money to upkeep and stock our classrooms.

For more information on donation to William Holland visit our Donations page or contact us. back to top

In most cases, if you did not recieve a catalog and should have, it is because your address has changed since you last provided your information to us or you have not been a student here in over three years.

If you have been a student at William Holland in the past three years, have requested a catalog in the past year, or just want a catalog for any reason and have not received one, please let us know so that we can get a catalog on its way to you as quickly as possible.

Once catalogs have begun mailing, it is always possible for you to download a copy directly from our website.

We do encourage everyone to make use of the information we provide here online rather than requesting print catalogs, as the website is kept constantly up-to-date with the latest updates to our schedule and news about the School. back to top

All packages/mail sent via the USPS should be sent to:

[Your Name]
C/O William Holland Retreat Inc.
PO BOX 980
Young Harris GA 30582

All packages/mail sent via third-party parcel delivery service (UPS, FedEx, etc.) should be sent to:

William Holland School of Lapidary Arts
ATTN: [Your Name]
230 Lapidary Ln
Young Harris GA 30582

Please note that any items sent via USPS addressed to 230 Lapidary Ln will most likely be discarded by the Postal Service as no mail receptacle exists at our physical address. back to top

Here at William Holland, our focus is on providing a good place for our volunteer instructors to teach their students the skills they have accrued over lifetimes of practice and artistry. We do not provide repair services nor do we take commissions to identify stones, cut stones, or make jewelry pieces. Our instructors do often do these things in their own businesses, so if you see someone listed in our Instructor Biographies, that seems like they would be able to help you, we will do our best to put them in touch with you. back to top

As of the 2012 season we are seeking to tighten our budget in order to continue to keep rates for classes as low as possible.

We still provide catalogs for free upon individual request, however, we will be delivering rack cards and/or business cards to shops, mines, and other venues as they are much more cost effective for us and take up less space for the shop owner. back to top

All classes last for one week. They run Monday - Friday, 9 am to 5 pm EST. Wednesday is usually a half day when students are encouraged to go out and enjoy the attractions and see the sites in surrounding areas. Many instructors will hold class Wednesday afternoon if enough of their class is interested in staying. Fridays are also generally half days with Show and Tell right before lunch. Students are asked to use Friday afternoons to help their instructor clean and ready the classroom for the next week. back to top

Due to the hands-on, intensive nature of our classes, it is only possible for each student to take one class per week. back to top

Please refer to our Policies and Guidelines for a summary of room, board and tuition charges. Each class description lists charges due to the instructor if the instructor provided us with the information. back to top

Deposits for all classes are due at the time you send your print application, or for online applications, within one week after we send the acknowledgement that we received your online application.

Balances are due at the time you check in for your class and will be due for all consecutive weeks of class at that time.

Lab fees are paid directly to the instructor when you are attending their class and are not handled by William Holland. back to top

Commuter students are strongly encouraged to attend Check-In the Sunday before their class and share the evening meal with us as there is an orientation meeting for most classes held that night after dinner.

Commuters will want to arrive toward the end of Check-In so that they do not have long to wait before dinner. Sunday dinner is included in the price commuters and campers pay. back to top

When you check in, you will be given a menu and a signup sheet for meals. We ask that you return this as quickly as possible. You will pay for meals at then end of the week along with any auction purchases or store purchases you have made during the week. back to top

It is always possible for you to arrive after 3:00 pm EST the Saturday before your class; however, you must make us aware that you will be doing so on your application so that your room will be unlocked. All of our lodge rooms are locked and, unless you have made prior arrangements with us, remain locked until you are given a key at Check In. If you do arrive before Check In you will need to make arrangements with a third party lodging provider for Saturday night and/or wait until you receive your key to begin settling into your assigned room.

It is generally not possible for students to arrive before 3:00 pm EST on the Saturday before their class or stay after 9:00 am EST on the Saturday following their class. If you need to do either of these, contact us and we will see if it can be made possible.

Those staying in our campground must also register for early arrival if they plan to arrive before check-in for their class and are asked to adhere to the same timeframe for arrival as students staying in the lodges. This allows us to make sure your site is prepared and that all hookups will be available when you arrive. As we have a limited number of spaces available in our campground, it is also requested that all campers adhere to the same check out schedule as those in the lodges.

Any student staying in our campground or lodge that has not vacated their room/site by 9:00 am EST on the Saturday following their class may be subject to extra fees for late departure. Any student arriving before check-in starts will be subject to the outlined early arrival fee if they wish to have access to their lodge room or if they have already moved into their campsite.

Instructors are not charged for early arrival, however, they must adhere to the same guidelines as students regarding arrival and check-out times times. back to top

All classes offered through William Holland are offered at our campus in Young Harris, GA. We do not offer classes in any other location or online. Many rock and gem clubs do offer workshops of their own, however, so you may want to check with your local club to see if any such opportunities exist. back to top

No. At this time we do not offer any night or weekend classes nor do we offer any classes outside our regular season. back to top

In general, if you think you will need it during your stay, then you should bring it with you. Our Policies and Guidelines detail what is provided in our lodges as far as bedding, amenities, and toiletries. Your instructor will usually list items you may want to bring for your class in their class description, or contact you with a list of things you will need to bring.

For all classes that are not marked II, III, Int., or Adv. the instructor works with us to provide all materials and tools that you will need in the class. If you are unsure what to bring, contact us and we will seek to put you in contact with your instructor to make certain what you will need. back to top

Yes, all of our lodges and our dinning facilities offer WiFi access. Lodge WiFi access is secured with a password which all students recieve at Check In. back to top

Instructors begin to be provided with your contact information five weeks before the date of your course. If it is less than five weeks before your course and you have not heard from your instructor, let us know and we will do our best to put you in contact with them. back to top

When you arrive, all rooming and camping assignments are posted in the second floor lobby of Sparks Lodge. It is recommended that, if you are cleared to arrive on Saturday, you check your room assignment here and then settle into your room. You will be provided with your key and check in along with everyone else on unday.

If you are arriving on Sunday we recommend that you arrive during Check In so that you can check in immediately and receive your room assignment from our staff. back to top

If you have requested a private room or handicap accessible accommodations and you do not receive any contact from us saying we are not able to accommodate your needs, then we have been able to comply with your request. If we are not able to provide a private room or handicap accessible accommodation we will contact you and do our best to make a suitable arrangement with you.

Other preferences such as requested roommate, lodge preference, or room preference are not guaranteed and we will only contact you if, in our estimation, we are not able to accommodate your preference and this will cause a noticeable variation of service as defined in our Policies and Guidelines. back to top

As soon as we do. If an instructor must cancel a class for any reason, we contact the students in that class as quickly as possible after we have received the cancellation request from the instructor. back to top

There are shower and restroom facilities provided for campers nearby the campground in the Seabolt Building. Campers must furnish their own towels and toiletries. back to top

The William Holland School of Lapidary Arts is not affiliated with any other educational body or any state or federal institution nor are we accredited in our own right. We are a small, non-profit school dedicated to providing quality Lapidary, Earth Science, and Jewelry Making classes to the widest range of hobbyist students possible. back to top

Because we are not an accredited or governmental institution, we do not deal directly with any sources of outside funding or financial aid.

If you are applying and do have such a source of funding, you will need to either receive the payments yourself and then pay us or make sure the paying organization directs their payments to us along with documentation that it is being provided on your behalf.

Many rock and gem clubs, as well as the new Alumni Association for William Holland Students, offer their own scholarships for students coming to William Holland. In these cases, the student will need to submit their own application and then the granter of the scholarship will need to send the full payment for the student's classes as the deposit. back to top

No, we do not. Because our mission is to provide quality Lapidary, Earth Science, and Jewelry Making classes to the widest range of students possible, we always focus more on keeping our overall fee structure as low as possible than on making opportunities that will only be available to some students.

As stated above, you may want to check with your local rock and gem club or with the Alumni Association as these organizations do offer scholarships to those attending William Holland. back to top

You will want to visit the Application Instructions portion of our website or look at this information in the print catalog. back to top

At this time, you will want to contact us before applying so that we can give you this information.

We are currently working on making class availability information a part of our online schedule and online application. back to top

It really depends on the class and the week it is offered. Some classes fill up the same day registration begins and others, even in the same subject will be available right up until the last minute. It is always best to apply as quickly after the open of enrollment as you know which classes you are interested in and will be available to attend. back to top

During the weeks reserved for the Southeast Federation of Mineralogical Societies we do not offer any classes. These weeks are reserved for the SFMS to offer their own workshops. If you are interested in attending these weeks, you will need to contact their registrar. back to top

The upcoming season's schedule becomes available here online on the same day that the print catalogs begin mailing. This usually happens shortly after Thanksgiving each year. back to top

The date for beginning enrollment is available via our online application and is published in our print catalog. We will note the date to begin enrollment in the 'Schedule Updates' section of our homepage as well. back to top

Before submitting any further applications, please contact us with your corrected information. It is also helpful if you provide the previous information so that we can use it when verifying your intent to update your personal information. back to top

William Holland welcomes all students regardless of race, nationality, gender, sexual orientation, etc.

Unfortunately, as we are a small, non-profit organization we cannot offer any special help to international students. We will do our best to communicate with you in a timely fashion, however, all students must make their own travel arrangements and we cannot help you with any travel or immigration concerns you may have.

All payments must be made in US Dollars via first-party check drawn on a US bank or via international money order made out in US Dollars. back to top

William Holland is committed to providing the best service we can to the widest range of students possible.

To this end, we encourage you to use the appropriate places on our application to indicate any dietary and/or physical needs you have that may affect your stay with us and we will do our best to accommodate you within the limitations of our staff and facilities.

If we are unable to accommodate your needs we will do our best to let you know so that you can make an informed decision about scheduling classes with us. back to top

If you have a deposit on hold, you will need to make a note on the back of your paper application or in the final step of your online application. Otherwise, we may not be aware that you would like to place your held balance toward your current classes. back to top

As with deposits on hold, you will need to make a note on your application so that we can make sure to take this into account. When you check in for your class, you will be required to present the original certificate in order to receive credit toward your balance. back to top

Deposits on hold, gift certificates and free class certificates are valid for the season they are issued as well as the following season.

In general it is not possible to use any of these beyond this time period. If you do need extra time to use these, contact us so that we can see if it is possible to extend your time limit. back to top

If you have already registered for a class and would like to change to another class or cancel a class always contact us as quickly as possible. If you wish to change to another class we will need to make sure your new class is available before switching your enrollment.

Cancelations and class changes are subject to special rules found in our Policies and Guidelines. back to top

It is usually possible for a student to bring one guest with them when attending classes. If you will be bringing a guest and using the print application, make sure you note the person as 'Student B' and, instead of marking a class for them, write 'Guest' in the space for their class.

When using the online application, you simply need to choose 'Guest' instead of 'Roommate/Sitemate' for each week your guest will be attending with you and put their first and last names only into the field provided.

Those staying in the campground can bring one guest at no additional charge and add additional guests for a small fee. Guests staying in our lodge pay the same fee as if they were taking a class. See our Policies and Guidelines for more information. back to top

If you apply to stay in our lodge and do not elect to pay the extra fee for a private room or no more private rooms are available, you will, in all likelihood, be assigned a roommate. We assign roommates of the same gender and we endeavor not to assign anyone who smokes with anyone who does not.

We do not assign roommates based on snoring, use of cpap or other medical equipment, or other such concerns. In these situations, we encourage students who have trouble with noise or light to purchase and use earplugs and/or sleep masks.

If you have any concerns regarding your assigned roommate please let us know and we will do our best to resolve them in a manner satisfactory for both parties. back to top

Both the print and [online applications]((http://www.lapidaryschool.org/application.php) have places made available to you for expressing these preferences. We will do our best to make your requests possible, however, we cannot guarantee which lodge or room you will be assigned as housing must be assigned to best accommodate the needs of all of our students and instructors. back to top

Especially during our off season it may take up to one week to process and respond to your request or deposit. If it has been longer than one week, please contact us again in order to be sure we have received your request.

If you do not contact us when you do not receive a response, we most likely will not know you were trying to contact us at all. back to top

Once you have submitted your online application, please wait for us to contact you back.

Do not send a deposit before we have confirmed receipt of your application, availability of the classes you have applied for, and the amount that you owe as a deposit. This will make the application process run smoothly for everyone and increase your chances of getting into the classes you request. back to top

During the season, you are welcome to drop by our campus to pay for any charges you have with Visa, MasterCard, Discover, or American Express.

We cannot, however, accept credit cards over the phone for any reason. This is for your security as well as ours. We are working on taking credit card payments in conjunction with our online application, however, this will take some time to implement. back to top

Wait. Unfortunately, if the class you applied for is full, we can only offer you a position if it becomes available. When you are placed on the waitlist for a class, we take down your contact information and, if and when someone cancels their reservation in that class, we contact those on the waitlist starting from the first person on the list and award the open position to the first person on the waitlist who still wants to take the class. back to top

If two people are applying and would like to be roommates, they may apply as 'Student A' and 'Student B' on the same print application. Otherwise, each student should submit their own print or online application indicating their preference in roommate in the appropriate place on the application.

For those wanting to stay 3 to a room in our lodges or more than two applying to be in the same campsite, you should indicate the first two roommates/sitemates as described above. The third person should indicate they want to room with one of the other two students who have already applied to stay in the same room or campsite. We will then contact the indicated roommate to make sure they want to stay three to a room or three or more to a campsite.

We cannot make bookings that are contengent on the enrollment of other students and so it is advisable that all persons in a group contact us before hand and make sure the lodging and classes they will be requesting are available so that the group can make an informed decision. back to top

If you do not wish to be assigned a roommate, you can check into third-party lodging providers in our area and register as a commuter. We do have a short list of some of the lodging providers other students have used in the past. We can also assign you to a room in the lodge and assign a roommate for you if you so desire. In this case, if you would like to move to a private room when you arrive, we will accommodate you if an open room is available.

If you do not decide to take your class and you were not assured a private room was available before you applied, you are not eligible to have fees waived if you decide to request a refund or to receive a refund if it is less than three weeks before the date of your class. back to top

First, you should follow the Application Instructions so that this situation does not arise. However, in the event that you do request two classes, and one happens to be full, we can place you on the waitlist for the full class. We cannot, however, hold your spot in the open class unless you go ahead and pay the deposit on that class. back to top

This question has come up several times in the past years.

The fee structure for the campground is not the same as for those staying in our lodges. They are based on two totally different kinds of accommodation provided and, as such, are not related in any way. The fees for the campground are not designed to be cheaper or more expensive than the fees for staying in our lodges. They are designed to cover the cost of providing camping facilities to those who would like to use them.

In the lodge, a student pays for their own tuition, room, and meals. In the campground, the basic fee builds-in one student, one guest, and utilities during your stay as well as access to shower and restroom facilities. back to top

It is important that you first review the class schedule to find classes you are interested in and review their class descriptions thoroughly. You should also ready and understand our Policies and Guidelines before beginning your application process.

The next step is to contact us via email preferably, or phone if you do not have access to email, and ask to be penciled in to the classes you have chosen. This will ensure that space is available in those classes when you apply.

After that, you may use our online application to submit your class choices and all relevant information via our website. We will then contact you back and advise you of how to pay the deposit on your classes.

If you choose to use our print application form instead, you should fully read the Policies and Guidelines and the print application itself then complete the print form and send it with the amount of deposit you owe, based on the information on the application and in the Policies and Guidelines and return it to our USPS Mailing Address.

Please do not submit a paper or online application unless you have been penciled into the classes you are applying for as this will put you at a higher risk of not getting into the classes that interest you.

Any deposits made for classes you were not penciled in for are subject to the same refund policy as if you had been enrolled in a class and decided to cancel.

Once you have contacted us, please let us have time to respond. We will process your request as quickly as possible. If you have emailed us or left a phone message, please be patient. Contacting us again and duplicating your request is likely to cause your request to take longer to process or to be processed incorrectly. back to top

Contact us. Make sure to let us know your name, the date and the title of the class you are cancelling and if you would like to place your deposit on hold for another class or, if you are eligable for a refund under our Policies and Guidelines, that you would like to seek a refund of your deposit.

Once you have contacted us, please let us have time to respond. We will process your cancellation as quickly as possible. If you have emailed us or left a phone message, please be patient. Contacting us again and duplicating your request is likely to cause your request to take longer to process or to be processed incorrectly. back to top

No, William Holland does not offer any online or distance learning classes. If an opportunity does arise to do so in the future, we will be considering it. back to top

Contact us. During our season we are in the office Monday-Friday 9 am to 5 pm EST. We will be happy to walk you through the steps to complete the application. During the off season our office is not staffed and so you will want to go ahead and follow the Application Instructions and submit a print application. back to top

Let us know. We test our website extensively; however, there will always be some combination of browser, operating system, and add-ons that breaks a website. If you let us know, be sure to have a screenshot of the issue as well as the version of your browser and operating system on hand so that we can review these and do our best to resolve the issue if possible. back to top

Everyone makes a mistake every once in a while, and if you have caught one of ours, we would be happy to hear about it.Just let us know the specific area of the website where you found the mistake and the mistake you found so that we can get things fixed.

We strive for excellence in all areas of our operation and we cannot thank each one of you enough for helping us to catch the mistakes so that we can maintain the highest standard possible. back to top

It is a lot of work to program and style the information you find on a website and even more work to create and proof all of that information. We do our best to make sure that the greatest amount of people will find the information we provide helpful and be able to view it as intended.

Unfortunately, as stated above, each and every browser is different and each person has a different collection of add-ons and toolbars. This means that we go through a very long and arduous testing process just to support the browsers that we do.

Many companies have tens and even hundreds of employees devoted to testing, proofing, and coding their website. We are a very, very small organization. Our primary goal is to reach the most people and so we support current versions of all major browsers.

We have no plans to support IE 6, Firefox 2, or such older browsers as they simply do not supply sufficient technology to allow even most of the features of our site to function properly.

With this current update, we have introduced support for IE 7, however, this browser is still heavily limited and does not render some portions of most modern websites correctly and also has some small problems rendering our website. It is highly reccomended that users of IE 7 upgrade to the highest version (8 or 9) available for their computer through Windows Update. back to top

Although we have done extensive testing, some browsers and browser configurations simply do not support the technology that is used to run our website. This is often because the browser is not a current version or because communication between our servers and your computer is not reliable for one reason or another.

If our contact us section does not contain a contact form or you get continual errors when using the form, you, we encourage you to copy our email address from the contact us section and use it to send us an email from your favorite email program.

If you have had trouble with our contact us form or any other portion of our website, be sure to let us know so that we can attempt to correct any issues that we may not be aware of. back to top

No and we will not be adding one at any point in the near future. We are sure that all of you have had the experience where you keep getting email from an organization long after you have forgotten who they are, why you requested it, or even how to unsubscribe. It is quite frustrating.

Here at William Holland we believe in allowing you the choice to request information from us and the freedom from SPAM and annoying email whenever possible. Check out our Privacy Policy for details on when and how we contact those who contact us.

We do, however, offer RSS feeds that visitors can feel free to subscribe to receive notifications of changes to our class schedule, school news, and more. Those who are interested can also receive this information by following us on Twitter or subscribing via Facebook. You can find links to seperate feeds for news, schedule, and other posted information by the section reserved for this information on our home page and a link to a combined feed as well as our Twitter and Facebook profiles at the bottom of every page. back to top

In order to protect copyright holders and student/instructor jewelry designs, we do not allow printing, saving or reproduction of images from our website. If you would like to get a copy of an image from our website, you are welcome to contact us and inquire if you can be allowed to use the specific image. back to top

Again, all content on this website is either the sole property of William Holland Retreat Inc. or of the respective rights holder. We have obtained rights to any third-party content on this site. If you would like to reproduce any content on this site you are invited to contact us and we will advise you as to rights information. back to top

If you suspect that any information on our site infringes on a copyright or trademark of a third party or if you suspect that someone is infringing on our intellectual property, please contact us. For all requests of this nature we will need you to be ready to provide proof of who holds rights to the content, exactly which content you are referring to, and who we should contact for more details.

We seek to comply with all legal removal requests that are properly submitted to us in writing. We reserve the right to ignore any requests that are not made according to legal requirements in the United States of America and our own policies. We also reserve the right to defend our own intellectual property to the full extent allowed by all applicable legal codes. William Holland is committed to complying fully with any governmental agency or governing body investigating intellectual property violations. back to top

Most likely not and most likely we will not be even if you invite us. We have a very limited number of people on our staff who deal with a very large number of duties here at the School and so it would be very difficult for us to maintain a meaningful presence on a large number of social networks. William Holland is a member at Facebook and Twitter currently and we will add icons to the bottom of our website when and if we are able to join other social networks. back to top

Let us know you are interested and believe that your website would interest our students and instructors. We will do our best to consider all requests and will incorporate those we fill will provide the most value for our audience. back to top

Often, this message appears when your internet connection is particularly bad and so causes an interruption in your contact with our site or if you or a program on your computer chooses to clear cookies or your browser cache while using our application form. It can also be caused by incorrect privacy settings for cookies in your browser.

In this situation, you will want to go ahead and check your browser's setting having to do with cookies and make sure that these are set to allow session and first-party cookies. This varies from browser to browser so you may want to find help with this using your favorite search engine.

If you have tried several times and still get the same message when using our online application, you will want to go ahead and use the print version of our form available via the link below the online application.

As always, before you submit any kind of application, be sure that you have contacted us first so that we can make sure the classes you are applying for are available. back to top

If you have your own tools (such as and Opti-Visor or similar magnifier, jewelers pliers, etc.) that you wish to work with, we encourage you to bring them.

We encourage all beginning students to wait when purchasing tools as the School provides tools for beginning level classes and instructors make all materials you will need available for purchase in the classroom.

Sometimes, your instructor may ask you to bring or buy certain tools or materials in their class description or when they contact you before the class, you will need to purchase or bring these items in order to participate in the class.

We do have many quality tools for sale at good prices here at William Holland, including Opti-Visors, in case you find you need a tool you do not have.

If you already have any stones or materials you are looking to learn to use or identify, you are encouraged to enquire with your instructor about bringing those as well.

It is almost always a must to bring a pencil and notebook for notes in class and you always want to bring your Opti-Visor if you have one. back to top

The School provides one set of towels per person (which are changed mid-week) and one set of bed linens in each room including one pillow per person and one blanket per bed. Each room also includes one full and one twin size bed as well as an air conditioner, lamps, small table, and bathroom.

Each room is supplied with two small bars of soap and toilet paper. If you need any other toiletries or other items, you will want to bring them with you. You may want to bring such items as ear plugs, sleep mask, night light, radio, flashlight, alarm clock, and extra towels or blankets. back to top

Dress for all activities is very casual; blue jeans and shorts are okay for many classes, however closed toed shoes must be worn at all times for your own safety and long pants are a must in any class that works with hot glass or metals.

The weather here in the mountains can be cool at night even during the summer so you may want to back a light jacket or sweater, you can also check our current weather before packing on our homepage. back to top

All students, instructors, and visitors are invited to participate in our Tuesday Night Auction. All proceeds from Auction go toward upkeep, supplies, and maintenance for our classrooms. We encourage everyone to bring an item to donate to the Auction.

This item does not have to be Lapidary or jewelry related. In the past we have auctioned off everything from quilts to bags of candy and even tickets for free massages. Auction is always a lot of fun so we encourage all students and instructors to join in, have fun, and help support William Holland.

Visitors are welcome to buy items at Auction, however, they should be prepared to pay with check or exact change directly after the Auction closes. back to top

Thursday night Tailgating is your opportunity to sell Lapidary and Jewelry related items. Current instructors and students in class that week are invited to set up their wares in our dining facilities and to buy and sell whatever raw materials, finished goods, or other Lapidary and Jewelry related articles they have brought. We do ask that students bring and use a table cover when placing heavy or abrasive objects on our tables.

Guests and visitors are welcome to attend and buy items at Tailgating; however, they are not allowed to sell items. Some approved local vendors may attend Tailgating from time-to-time. back to top

No and no. The lists below are for illustrative and informative purposes only. In most cases, many of the tools or supplies mentioned are supplied, either by the instructor or William Holland. Because of the variety of instructors, methods, and subjects taught at William Holland, it is not possible for us to keep a list of every item you may want to bring or use in a class. The items on these lists should give you an idea of what tools that you may have that would be appropriate for your class and skill level.

Remember that instructors do list important and required items and materials in their class descriptions and/or in their contact with you before the class. back to top

• Fine-pointed Tweezers
• Medium Flat Files
• Round and Flat Nose Pliers
• Saw Frames and Blades
• Small Pointed Scissors (embroidery type)
• Small Round Sable Brush back to top

• Bezel Setting Tool Kit
• Burnisher(s)
• Charcoal Soldering Block
• Flush Cutters
• Measuring Tools
• Pliers: Round, Chain, Flat, Needle Nose, Flat/Half Round, Forming
• Ring Clamp
• Saw Frame/Blades
• Scriber
• Setting Tools
• Solder Cutting Shears
• Solder Pick
• Tweezers back to top

• Half-Round File
• Apron
• Beeswax
• Burnisher (curved)
• #50, #55 Drill Bit
• Needle Files
• Pliers: Chain, Flat, Round
• Punch (a nail will do)
• Shears/Cutter
• Solder Pick
• Steel Block (small)
• Steel Inch and Millimeter Ruler
• Sterling Stamp
• Tweezers (Sharp & Insulated)
• Wire Cutters
• Wood, Plastic or Leather Mallet back to top

• 1mm Slats for Rolling Clay Sheet
• 35mm Film Canisters
• Badger Balm or Similar Hand Protector Oil/Ointment
• Burnishing Tools
• Clay Roller
• Clay Tools, Craft Knives, Dental Tools
• Drawing Paper
• Drinking Straws
• Hair Dryers
• Paint Brushes (1 flat, 1 small pointed)
• Plastic Food Wrap
• Plastic Work Sheet
• Pliers: Round, Chain, Flat
• Poster Board
• Post-It Notes
• Rawhide Mallet
• Ring Sizers
• Sandpaper: 600, 1000 & 1200 grit
• Scissors
• Sheet Protectors
• Stone Setting Tweezers
• Tape (Cellophane or Masking)
• Texture Material: lace, rubber stamps, textured plates
• Wire Brushes
• Wire Cutters
• Wooden Ring Mandrels back to top

• Dowels or other Forming Tools
• Emery Paper (very fine)
• File
• Flush Cutters
• Masking Tape
• Permanent Marker (very fine point)
• Pin Vise
• Pliers with Smooth Jaws: Chain, Flat, Round, Forming
• Pocket Knife
• Polishing Cloth or Rag
• Ruler, English and Metric
• Scissors
• Solvent (lighter fluid or fingernail polish remover)
• Telephone Wire (if you use it to bind your wire bundles) back to top

Contact us and we will send you a packet of information as well as an application. After you return these, we will present your request to our Board of Directors at one of their regular meetings and will contact you once they reach a decision. back to top

If it is less than five weeks before the date you are scheduled to teach and you have not received your class contact list, check your email SPAM folder and then contact us to that we can get your student's information to you as quickly as possible. back to top

If, for any reason you find that you need to cancel a class you are scheduled to teach, please contact usas quickly as possible. We will take care of notifying students of the cancellation and attempting to find a substitute instructor if current enrollment in the class warrants. If you do know of another instructor that would be able and wiling to take over your class, let us know and we will do our best to work with them to make this possible. back to top

It is entirely up to the instructor to determine their own minimum enrollment needs. If you do not feel that your class has met your own minimum enrollment requirements, contact us as quickly as possible. We will cancel the class and attempt to reschedule any students already enrolled. If you choose to keep your class open until the Sunday it is scheduled to start and no students are enrolled, we offer both yourself and your approved relative/significant other the chance to take a class for free that week or to use the classroom assigned to your class for your own work. back to top

No, once a class has been scheduled, William Holland will not cancel the class unless the instructor requests it or there is no enrollment as of the Sunday the class is scheduled to start. back to top

Make sure that you have filled out the Instructor Information form provided to you each year on you first time teaching. This form requests this information so that we can do our best when assigning your housing. We may not always be able to meet your specifications; however, we will do our best to place you in housing that will meet your needs.

As all instructor rooms are assigned before the start of the season, we will need to know as quickly as possible if you would like to change your housing preferences from those on your information form. This also means that if you add classes, take over another instructors class or decide to attend as a student during a week adjacent to your originally scheduled teaching weeks you may well have to change lodges and/or rooms between weeks. back to top

Again, make sure that you keep your preferences current on your Instructor Information form. If the form you are provided with is wrong, it is your responsibility to ask for and fill out a corrected form. We do our best to make sure all preferences in these areas are taken into account when creating the teaching schedule, however, we can only work with the information you have provided to us.

If your needs or preferences change at any time, let us know as quickly as possible so that we can make sure your current assignments fit your needs and preferences. back to top

We do not offer shuttle services ourselves, however, there are several services available in our area and we will be happy to provide a short list to you upon request. There are a few such services listed on our Links page. back to top

Unfortunately, we cannot currently provide this information to you, however, if you belong to a rock and gem club, they often have members attending who would be willing to carpool. back to top

Get traffic and road condition information at the National DOT website. back to top

Although we are very close to the Chattanooga, TN and Asheville, NC airports, most of our students use the Hartsfield/Jackson International Airport in Atlanta, GA because of the convenience.

Yes there are very, very, very small airports in some of the rural towns surrounding Young Harris, no they do not offer passenger flights as they are suitable only for single and double occupant planes. back to top