TEMPLE – Chris and Ashirah Knapp feel a great joy every day and a sense of thankfulness, the couple said.

A philosophy of mixing old traditions with today’s life makes them “realize how good life is and how many amazing gifts come from the earth,” Chris Knapp said Friday as he stood on his land, a large plot cleared within the woods.

Their 100 acres of rocky, wooded land with several ponds and streams nearby is the site of their school, Koviashuvik Local Living School. Koviashuvik in the Inuit language means “a time and place of joy in the present moment,” he said.

Although they’ve worked on the site since 2004, they started the school in 2008, one where all ages can learn practical and inexpensive ways to live with and use the land.

Their vision includes teaching skills on how to live simply from the land, ones created by natives and early Europeans, he said. They also envision teaching a mixture of modern and natural sustainable living, growing their own food and creating alternative buildings. They intend to provide a work study or apprentice program where young people can spend a month or a year learning these life skills.

The Knapps developed an interest in simpler living as teenagers. They both spent several years apprenticing and working at Earthways School of Wilderness Living in Canaan under the guidance of Maine Master Guide Ray Reitze.

During that time, they began guiding themselves for Kroka Expeditions, which offers adventure-based wilderness living experiences for kids, he said. Both Knapps are licensed Maine Guides.

The couple wanted to start something of their own.

A rock root cellar mounded into the hillside keeps vegetables and fruits fresh throughout the winter and summer while just a few feet away a modern portable sawmill and planer were used to help build their cabin and earth-bermed greenhouse.

A solar oven, solar electricity and a bike-powered washing machine fed by solar-heated rainwater are all part of their “experiment in people-friendly/energy-saving technologies.”

“We’re not isolationists. We’re not pushing everyone to go back in time. We’re not trying to tell people how to live,” Ashirah Knapp said. “There’s a place for both the best of the old ways and the new.”

Both, now 30, along with son Owen, 2, find a joy in doing for themselves, Chris said.

“We give up some things but gain some things too. It’s so much fun,” he added.

They want to share that joy with community, their Temple neighbors and potentially other families who might want to come live on their acres. They also hope to provide space for people such as potters or cobblers to teach skills that they don’t have, he said.

A group of home-schooled children and their families were expected for the weekend.

“We want to give them a foundation of little pieces that they can adapt into their lifestyles,” he said.

Every month they plan an open house for people to visit, tour their structures, and view the garden, fruit and nut trees. They also offer educational experiences for schools and organizations.

An open house at Koviashuvik is planned for May 9.

To reach the school, from Day Mountain Road turn right onto Staples Pond Road, which becomes Lake Drive. Park at their sign. It’s about a 10-minute walk from the road into the school.

For more information, call the Knapps at 778-0318.