Santa Fe Waldorf School Alumni Magazine Summer 2019

A LU M NI MAGA ZINE

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S u m m er 2 0 1 9

ALUMNI MAGAZINE Volume 3, No. 2 - Summer 2019 Cynthia Shore Editor Janine Pearson Graphic Designer Pat Lord Development and Marketing Director BOARD OF TRUSTEES Melissa Coleman, President Andy Smith, Vice President Janine Pearson, Secretary Cheryl Slover-Linett, Treasurer Roberto Aponte Thomas Baudhuin Adam Clark Fletcher Lathrop Cita Riley Ex-officio Gerson Perez, School Administrator Carole Cressman, Campus Manager Karl Johnson, Interim Pedagogical Chair Thomas Keppel, Business Manager Pat Lord, Development and Marketing Director Jennifer Warren, Admissions Director Matthew Burritt, College Chair The Santa Fe Waldorf School is an independent, nonprofit organization with accreditation through the Association of Waldorf Schools of North America (AWSNA) and the National Council for Private School Accreditation (NCPSA).

Additionally, our school is a full member of the Waldorf Early Childhood Association of North America (WECAN) and the New Mexico Athletics Association (NMAA). We welcome and serve students from a variety of social, economic, ethnic, cultural, and international backgrounds.

Spring is my favorite time of the year.

Despite the wind, I find the explosion of green, the pink apple blossoms, yellow daffodils, and the purple lilacs all thrill me like no other time of the year. This throwing off the cloak of winter to reveal the reawakening of nature can be most profoundly seen on the campus of the Santa Fe Waldorf School. As you walk the length of the campus, from the Early Childhood classes to the High School, the fruit trees are flowering, sprouts of grass are peeking out of the ground, and the tulips are reaching up to greet the sun. It is a glorious sight to see!

Along with this spring glory comes the acknowledgment that our high school seniors are ready to launch the next chapter of their lives. I want to extend my personal congratulations to the class of 2019: May your time at the Santa Fe Waldorf school be the most cherished time of your educational journey. My sincere hope is that this school has given you the tools and the foundation to go out into the world and be good human beings. Godspeed!

It is also with excitement that I announce the recent hiring of Gerson PĂŠrez as the new School Administrator (see Page 6). We welcome Gerson to our school community and look forward to the beginning of a new chapter of school leadership. The SFWS Board of Trustees will work eagerly with Gerson to move the school into the future while remaining true to the core pedagogical values of the school.

As Board President, I am delighted to share the good news of increased enrollment of Early Childhood, Grades and Middle School, with a healthy waiting list for two grades. Our projected enrollment for 2019/2020 is over 220 students. Hooray!

As you know, music is a core element of our curriculum, and so I take great pleasure in celebrating when our students make their musical mark in Santa Fe and beyond. Eighth-grader Gabriel Boston-Friedman, and ninth-graders Lily Clark and Rebecca Sciarretta will travel to Icheon, Korea this summer, in a trip led by SFWS orchestra teacher Lee Harvey. The students will take part in a Sister Cities International global youth orchestra, which will include students from China, Japan, France, and Saudi Arabia.

Boston-Friedman and Clark are violinists and Sciarretta plays the viola.

And that’s not all! See other student achievements within our News Highlights on page 1.

With the promise of warmer, sun-filled days of summer to come, I look forward to serving the SFWS in the coming year.

Gratefully,

D

Spring Concert at St. Francis Auditorium

Melissa Coleman

Photo by Genevieve Russell

Dear Alumni, Friends and Community Members:

SFWS TODAY: News Highlights Athletics Boys Basketball The boys high school basketball team is following the lead of the girls team by entering into a cooperative squad with Desert Academy as part of a two-year agreement. Coach Enrique Otero writes, “It was an auspicious beginning for the WildWolves (Wildcats and Wolves). They ended the district playoffs one victory away from going to the state tournament. And even though the team is losing three players to graduation: Aedan Ronneau-Pauli, Matias Gonzales and Liam Otero, it is poised to have another successful season in 2019/2020.” Liam Otero won a place on the district first team, while Matias Gonzales garnered a spot on the second team.

Girls Basketball The combined Waldorf/Desert Academy WildWolves coop team had another successful season, making their way to the district playoffs before a loss to Tierra Encantada. The team is in its second year of a three-year agreement between the two athletic programs.

Track and Field Coach Everett Cole writes, “The Santa Fe Waldorf boys team competed at the New Mexico State Track and Field Championships in May, with the boys 4 x 100 relay team running in the preliminaries and improving their team speed. Ninth-grader Andres Gonzales competed in javelin, and moved forward to the finals in the 300 hurdles finishing 8th overall and setting a new personal record. Leander Laga Abram, Grade 8, set a new personal record in the triple jump. I’m very proud of the team and I also deeply appreciate the support from the varsity girls who came to the state meet to cheer on our athletes.”

Board of Trustees The board is excited to announce that current SFWS parent, Adam Clark, joined as a new member this past spring. Clark has worked in luxury hotel management in California, Arizona, and New Mexico for over 20 years, and his daughter Lily, a rising tenth grader at SFWS, recently completed her thirteenth year of Waldorf education. “My wife Carolyn and I like the Waldorf curriculum because it provides a strong classical education that nurtures the natural spirit of the child,” he says.

an opinion piece about climate change published in the British Guardian newspaper.

City Poet Laureate Overall, Laga Abram has had a stellar finale to her time at SFWS. In April, she was named the city’s inaugural youth poet laureate by the Santa Fe-based Witter Bynner Foundation for Poetry.

Laga Abram will receive $1,000 from the Witter Bynner Foundation, have five poems published in the National Youth Poet Laureate annual anthology by Penmanship Books, and attend speaking and reading engagements around Santa Fe. She has also been a long-time opinion columnist for the Next Generation section of the Santa Fe New Mexican. See page 15 for a piece Laga Abram wrote for the newspaper about the benefits of Waldorf Education.

SFWS Students Accepted Into the Young Voice of the Santa Fe Opera Program SFWS students Lily Clark (Grade 9) and Gabriel Boston-Friedman (Grade 8) were part of a group of 45 students from New Mexico who auditioned for the program, which is designed to encourage high school students exhibiting the talent and desire for singing classical music.

Throughout the coming school year, Boston-Friedman and Clark will receive voice lessons and musical coaching as well as training in diction, music theory, and basic acting.

Students also participate in master classes, attend cultural events, and gain performance experience through studio classes, community engagement activities, and public performances.

SFWS High School students march proudly at the Youth Climate Strike in Santa Fe.

Staff Hellos And Goodbyes

Climate Change Action Members of Santa Fe Waldorf High School were part of a group of approximately 300 Santa Fe students who joined thousands from around the world as part of a global Youth Climate Strike against climate change with a rally at the plaza and march to the state capitol on March 15. The Santa Fe event was organized by SFWS’s Hannah Laga Abram, HS Class of 2019, who is a founder of New Mexico’s Student Advocacy Union, which promotes solutions to causes important to youth. In coordination with the event, Laga Abram had

Photos by Koray Gates

Student Achievement

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SFWS TODAY: News Highlights Faculty and Staff: Hellos and Goodbyes This fall, we welcome Molly Mackinnon as the rising Grade 5 teacher. Ms. Mackinnon is a fully-trained Waldorf instructor who just finished teaching sixth grade at the Prairie Moon Waldorf School in Lawrence, Kansas, where she has taught for seven years. We also welcome back Anne-Meike Gassmeyer as our eurythmy teacher.

She trained at the American Eurythmy School and will begin working with students from Early Childhood through 8th grade in October.

Summer Camps Our successful pilot summer camp program is returning!

There are two offerings this year. For children in rising second to seventh grades, the Discovery Summer Camps will offer eight themed weeks, including Fantastic Fiber Fun and Cosmos and Crystals. The Sunflower Summer Camps, for children ages five to seven, offer opportunities for explore, dig, plant a garden, climb trees and play with friends.

Current SFWS teachers taking on new roles in the school include Peter Sciarretta, who will be the new Grade 1 teacher after successfully carrying the current 8th grade through their elementary school journey. Taylor Rubottom will add High School humanities teacher and boys varsity basketball head coach to her roster of existing duties which include Grades 1-5 Spanish teacher and marimba instruction. High School Chair Daisy Barnard will be the Grade 8 teacher this fall (learn about Daisy on pg. 9), while also continuing some teaching in the High School. Karleen Whitcomb will be the new lead teacher in Early Childhood. Ms. Whitcomb has been an assistant for the last two years in our Early Childhood and will graduate this summer from Antioch University with a Masters of Waldorf Education.

Growing Home Family Workshops A series of gardening and crafting workshops where families can connect, create and learn together. Summer classes include Natural Dyeing, Bread Baking and Sowing an Autumn Garden.

Long-time teacher, Thomas Baudhuin will leave grade teaching to move to teaching blocks, mentoring, teacher training, and traveling.

We say good-bye to Grade 7 teacher Ken Friedman, to lead kindergarten teacher Michelle Keleher, and to Middle School math instructor Michael Freitas (SFWS HS Class of 2011) who will be leaving the school to pursue graduate studies. The College of Teachers and the community wish them all well in their future work.

Summer Curriculum Parents and Tots Classes Starting in June, the school is offering two seven-week sessions: Rosebud Garden for children ages 12-24 months, and Morning Glory Play Garden for children ages 2-4 years.

WALDORF CELEBRATING 100 YEARS!

Help SFWS fulfill our Campus Master Plan goals!

During this very special year, the school is celebrating an enrollment of 221—the highest we have had since the 2008 recession! This blessing has created a need to move forward with planning for expanded space in the middle school grades and beyond. We are inviting all alumni and friends to join in this celebration and consider making a donation to help support the phased implementation of our Campus Master Plan.

DONATE TODAY! santafewaldorf.org/donate-now

First Steiner/Waldorf school founded in Stuttgart, Germany

In 1919, Rudolf Steiner visited the Waldorf Astoria cigarette factory where Emil Molt, the owner of the factory, asked Steiner if he would establish and lead a school for children of his employees.

Steiner agreed and his insightful philosophy, that education must be based on an understanding of human development, became what we now know as Waldorf Education.

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Development News The Santa Fe Rotary Club has contributed $1,000 to Santa Fe Waldorf School in support of our partnership with The May Center for Learning to help with the cost of training for teachers and support for our students with learning differences.

First Waldorf school in the U.S. (Rudolf Steiner Academy, New York)

1919

OVER 100 YEARS, WALDORF SCHOOLS HAVE BEEN FOUNDED IN COUNTRIES ALL OVER THE WORLD!

1928 GERMANY

BRITAIN SWITZERLAND

U.S.

ARGENTINA

NORWAY

NEW ZEALAND

1921

1933-1945

First Steiner/Waldorf school outside of Germany founded in Switzerland.

Most European Waldorf schools close due to the Nazi regime, and reopen after World War II

Waldorf 100th Anniversary SFWS JOINS SCHOOLS AROUND THE WORLD TO CELEBRATE WALDORF CENTENARY On September 19, 2019, Waldorf education will proudly mark its 100-year anniversary. Waldorf schools around the globe have already been celebrating with a variety of galas, conventions, projects and courses, and will keep doing so well into next year.

The first Waldorf school was founded in Stuttgart, Germany in 1919. Today there are currently over 1,200 Steiner schools worldwide and 2,000 Waldorf Early Years settings in over 80 countries.

To celebrate, many schools have chosen community-building activities to help create a sense of interconnectedness in today’s world.

SFWS will join Waldorf institutions in Canada, Mexico, and the United States by participating in the GreenBee Wildlife Web initiative to cultivate gardens, tend bees and establish bee-keeping programs to rebuild the pollinator population both on the grounds and beyond campus boundaries.

SFWS has also been participating in the Postcard Exchange program, in which students build compassion and global awareness by exchanging postcards with Waldorf schools around the world. Last fall, SFWS debuted a “Postcard Wall” of all the cards received so far. In the fall of 2019, SFWS will kick start an “Around the World in 100 Days” campaign which will weave the idea of exploring the world’s continents and oceans into the community’s Annual Fund participation goals. When each class reaches 100% participation in service and parental financial commitments, the class will be able to integrate a continent or ocean on a world map along with the postcards from Waldorf schools where applicable.

On the exact anniversary of September 19, 2019, the SFWS community will gather to wave hello to our Waldorf friends and neighbors around the world.

Photo by Genevieve Russell Parent and Board Vice-President Andy Smith will lend his drone and video talents to capture the moment when the entire campus community gathers to send our greetings. As alumni and friends of the school, if you would like to participate, please let us know at alumni@santafewaldorf.org.

Other global initiatives include sponsoring faculty to study Steiner’s Study of Man, and voice recordings of long-time faculty for the 100th Anniversary website, waldorf-100.org.

In addition, the Association of Waldorf Schools of North America (AWSNA) partnered with the Waldorf Early Childhood Association and the Alliance for Public Waldorf Education in the production of the video Seeding the Future (www.youtu.be/cycBLJPVACw), that provides a glimpse into the principles of Waldorf education, which fosters concern for others, connection to the world, and the capacity to be in service to society. Seeding the Future is a trailer to the international film, Learn to Change the World (www.youtu.be/wfec6eF4I_4).

In the US, the original Association of Waldorf Schools is founded, now known as the Association of Waldorf Schools in North America (AWSNA).

AUSTRALIA

BRAZIL

MEXICO

1968

The Santa Fe Waldorf School founded with 65 students, kindergarten through Grade 3.

The Waldorf movement continues to grow and has spread to six continents, including 65 schools in North America.

1983 CANADA

1985

COLOMBIA

AFRICA

INDIA

JAPAN

PERU

ISRAEL

EGYPT

1953

1971

1984

1989

Germany has 24 Waldorf school, with 25 in the rest of Europe and five established outside of Europe.

Friends of Waldorf Education is formed for the legal and economic support and promotion of Waldorf Schools worldwide.

A 2,000-square-foot SFWS kindergarten building is constructed.

SFWS applies for membership with AWSNA, sponsored by the Denver Waldorf School.

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SFWS TODAY: The Class of 2019 PRESENTING THE CLASS OF 2019

Colleges

The Class of 2019 finished their SFWS career on a fabulous note with eight of nine students admitted to their first choice of college. Overall, the class was admitted to over 22 institutions in total, and awarded over $815,000 in merit scholarships.

SFWS College Advisor Matthew Burritt notes that this successful outcome for the Class of 2019 is because colleges value Waldorf students. He says, “I have found that colleges are impressed by the breadth and depth of a Waldorf education. They value that we graduate students who are willing to learn and are confident in their ability to master topics that they haven’t been exposed to before.”

The nine students in the Class of 2019 will attend the following colleges and plan on majoring in the following areas: • Chloe Casdagli - Oberlin College, Art and Creative Writing • Rosa Contreras - Lane Community College, Eugene, OR (with plans to transfer to the University of Oregon-Eugene), Environmental Studies

Scholarships

• Maya Crosby - Gap year

Hannah Laga Abram won the prestigious Daniels Scholarship, which will cover all of her college expenses at Middlebury College for the next four years. She is the second SFWS student to receive the award, with Zoe Whittle receiving it in 2017.

• Matias Gonzales - Central New Mexico Community College • Hannah Laga Abram - Middlebury College, Political Science or International Relations • Faith Lopez - Northern New Mexico College • Rose Moon - Pratt Institute, Industrial Design • Liam Otero - Concordia University, Chicago, Communications and Broadcasting • Aedan Ronneau-Pauli - University of Arizona

Photo by Dham Khalsa Photography

Athletics: Rose Moon will be playing Division 3 Volleyball for the Pratt Institute Cannoneers in Brooklyn, New York.

Liam Otero - Liam Otero will play Division 3 Basketball for the Cougars at Concordia University, Chicago.

L to R: Chloe Casdagli, Matias Gonzales, Aedan Ronneau-Pauli, Liam Otero, Faith Lopez, Rose Moon, Hannah Laga Abram, Rosa Contreras. Not pictured: Maya Crosby.

SFWS’s first College of Teachers is formed.

SFWS opens the High School off-site on West Zia Road at the current site of The Girls School.

SFWS attains full AWSNA membership.

1990

1994 RUSSIA

SFWS opens a new preschool off-site, now offering Waldorf education from preschool through 12th grade.

2001 THAILAND

PHILIPPINES

NEPAL TAWAIN

2004 KOREA

GREECE

TAJIKISTAN

CHINA

1991

1996

2003

2005

First public Waldorf elementary school founded in the US. (The Urban Waldorf Elementary School of Milwaukee)

SFWS purchases five more acres for $150,000, making the school campus a full 10 acres.

SFWS purchases three more acres and a new 8,700-squarefoot high school is constructed.

The first SFWS High School Class of 2005 graduates.

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SFWS TODAY: A College Essay OVERCOMING FEAR IN THE WILDERNESS

By Rosa Contreras, High School Class of 2019

In silence, we headed into the small valley known as The Portal. Friends veered off the path, and as we approached my chosen place, I hung back watching. They walked on, leaving me alone. This was a rite of passage that I had been anticipating since freshman year. Santa Fe Waldorf High School seniors go on a backcountry solo into the mountains of northern New Mexico.

I quietly set up my ground cloth, a sleeping bag, and a tarp overhead to shelter me. I felt proud of tying complicated knots and making camp by myself. With growing excitement and interest in my surroundings, I explored a bit. My simple lunch was eaten sitting on a pile of rocks placed to mark the Continental Divide.

In a little field, I found a sweet spot at a nearby river. It seemed natural to settle myself comfortably, listening to the water and birds. I was startled by a splashing sound and realized a herd of about 30 free-ranging cows were slowly making their way into the field. Little ones jumped, ran and played while their mothers began to graze. Later in the afternoon, the cows wandered off, but I could hear them lowing to each other in the distance and was comforted. I love to be among the wild creatures and have always felt a deep connection to animals. To have them come to me felt like a gift.

Photo by Susanna Green

I enjoyed the last warming rays of the golden sun before it disappeared over the ridge. As the birds fell silent and colors faded, my senses heightened. Rustling trees and the little river seemed louder than before. I dressed in my warmest layers and took a last look at my camp, making a note of the now familiar details. A fallen tree on one side, another behind me. I zipped into my sleeping bag and soon fell asleep. It seemed like hours later when I awoke with a start to something snorting and snuffling at my tarp. Every muscle tensed and, although alert, I was not scared. I did not move, and then, I recognized that sound. It was a cow. Although not fierce predators, their size makes them a potential danger. Lying on my back, I hit the tarp above and heard the cow trot away. I took a deep breath; all was well. It was a long, long night after that. I woke a few more times and saw the faint silhouettes of the herd all around. All through the night, I told myself over and over that I was not scared. I was on my own, responsible for my safety, so of course I was just more aware, but not afraid.

Finally, welcome rays of the sun shone on the treetops. I emerged from my tarp to find twenty cow faces were staring straight at me.

“Hello Cows,” I said. I watched them graze until they moved on, leaving me feeling lonely. It was time to pack up. When I finished breaking camp, I sat in my little meadow in a spot of sun. All of a sudden I heard crashing. Three deer leaped in front of me. It was a doe and her two fawns. I saw their ruffled coats and faint white spots. Unlike the cattle, these deer were truly wild, lifelong inhabitants of the valley.

The arrival of the cattle and the deer were comforting to me. The cow’s presence had made me feel safe. It seemed an honor to have been visited by the family of deer. I felt more independent and self-reliant than ever before. A feeling of pride and happiness washed over me along with and gratitude for the wilderness skills I had learned thanks to my school. This was, without a doubt, an experience that will live within me all my life.

Contreras will attend Lane Community College in Eugene, OR in the fall, and plans to transfer to the University of Oregon after her first year.

First public Waldorf high school (George Washington Carver School of Arts & Science in Sacramento, CA)

SFWS High School sophomore Brooke Reiche, ‘15 becomes the first international exchange student welcomed at the Ci Xin Waldorf School in Yilan, Taiwan..

2013

2008

2019

2009

2014

SFWS constructs Hooper Hall, a LEEDS-compliant, multipurpose arts and administrative building.

In North America, there are now over 200 Waldorf schools in the U.S.

Waldorf is the fastest growing educational movement in the world.

There are currently over 1,200 Steiner schools worldwide and 2,000 Waldorf Kindergartens in a total of 80 different countries.

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SFWS TODAY: School Leadership GERSON PÉREZ TAKES THE HELM AS THE NEW SFWS ADMINISTRATOR After years of helping the Waldorf educational movement grow in Mexico and Guatemala, Gerson Pérez has come to New Mexico to help lead the Santa Fe Waldorf School to its next level of development.

A native of Guatemala, Pérez was educated as an engineer and moved to Mexico to get his MBA at the Instituto Panamericano de Alta Dirección de Empresa in Mexico City, one of the top business schools in Mexico. He discovered Waldorf after the birth of his daughter Alejandra, now a rising Grade 8 SFWS student, and became a co-founder, administrator and grades teacher at the Niño Mágico Waldorf School in Guadalajara from 2008 to 2016.

This precise combination of expertise in both Waldorf and business is what sealed the deal for the administrators, teachers, board members and parents of the SFWS Search Committee. “We felt that Gerson’s background in founding, managing and teaching at a Waldorf school, his knowledge of the Waldorf pedagogy and anthroposophy, along with his experience in business consulting were the right qualifications for our needs,” notes Board of Trustees President Melissa Coleman. Below, Pérez reflects on his journey to Santa Fe and his vision for our school: Photo by Dham Khalsa Photography

Why did you leave the business world to become an educator?

When I was a young adult, I identified my personal mission as helping people achieve positive, long-lasting, and profound changes in their lives. And that was what I devoted myself to achieve as a business consultant. When you dive deeply, most conflicts in an organization come from a lack of clarity about how things should be done. I decided to help businesses improve their processes and controls, and thereby help people live happier and more successful lives in their work.

Soon I realized I wasn’t making the kind of impact I was looking to achieve. By that time in my life, I became the father of a beautiful and vivacious baby girl, who kindled a spark for me to search for the best possible education I could offer her. I always say that my daughter was the spark but not the final reason that we founded the school. When I discovered Waldorf education, I started an important shift in my personal mission and gradually decided to devote myself to making Waldorf education available to as many children as possible in Guadalajara, where I lived at the time.

Why Waldorf specifically?

I remember the first few things I learned about Waldorf education. Somehow, everything just seemed to be so right! As a former teaching mentor later said, “Sometimes, when a person discovers Waldorf education, it is like love at first sight. You really don’t know much about it; you just feel it’s right.” Waldorf seems to answer to an inner longing from our souls, a longing to gradually meet the world around us and integrate it into ourselves with joy. To do this, instead of just answering the question 6

“ WALDORF SEEMS TO ANSWER TO AN INNER LONGING FROM OUR SOULS...” of what a child needs to learn to be successful in life, the Waldorf approach answers the question of what kind of person do we want to be in order to transform our society. Waldorf education not only prepares children for their future, but also manages to develop their full potential as human beings.

What attracted you to Santa Fe and to SFWS? The schools I worked for in Mexico and Guatemala were in their first development stages, in their first septennial if I may use a very common concept in biographical work in anthroposophy.

Very few Waldorf schools in Mexico, and none in Guatemala go all the way up to high school. I have always wondered what a mature school would be like and I wanted to witness the impact this kind of school has on a child completing the journey from pre-K to 12th grade. As we all know, there are no coincidences, and in my search of such an opportunity, I found that opportunity in the school’s search for an administrator!

What strikes you about our school so far?

The most remarkable characteristic I have found in this community is the high level of commitment that everybody has.

Teachers, staff, and board members alike all walk the extra mile to make sure children have the best possible learning experience, every day. I am also very excited to see how far the school has come. The community has achieved a lot and made a big impact

on many children over many years. There is a solid foundation, a solid structure and a solid understanding of how to teach the education every day and in every class.

IN THE CLASSROOM: GRADE 3

How do you plan to approach your first year here?

The third-grade Waldorf curriculum includes the study of shelter building throughout history. This study of shelters coincides with the “nine-year change”, when children begin to leave the cocoon of early elementary school and come down onto the earth. They are awakening to caring for themselves. Emotionally and psychologically, they have grown to a point of obtaining the skills to begin to separate from their parents and care for themselves more independently. They have a physical body that must be fed and clothed and housed. How is that done?

Before I get caught up in the “minutiae” usually associated with administrative positions, I want to establish a connection with the different “actors” of the school at a human level. I want to know who they are, what motivates them, what disappoints them, their needs, their wishes, their concerns, and so on. I want to listen to the individuals and the groups. Using that knowledge, I will help the school “read” the vision it has of itself to then revisit the strategic planning process and to make sure this plan includes all the critical factors it should include to make sure our community is going in the right direction to achieve our vision.

The school is experiencing a solid boost in enrollment, and is looking to expand its campus, curriculum and community presence. How do you see yourself helping those efforts and where would you like to see the school in ten years?

In a similar way to what happens with a child, growth happens in different stages. In each stage, there is an identifiable impulse.

There are moments to grow in height, and there are moments to add weight or fill out. In the last 35 years, the school has gone through different stages, and we can say that now it has reached most of its height, offering programs that go from pre-K all the way up to high school. There are still a lot of opportunities for the school to fill out, and it is there where the school will need to focus its efforts and attention. I want to foster the appropriate kind of leadership that keeps the school growing inwardly. In ten years, I want the school to be acknowledged, not only for being a place where children fulfill their true potential as human beings, but also for being a great place for the adults to work and collaborate.

We follow the course of human development through the lens of house building. We study many practical topics, including building our own life-size shelters out in the woods in which children can crawl inside and be protected and housed. We speak about humans finding shelter in caves and travel all the way to modern times looking at what kind of building is happening around us right now. What we observe is that humans build using materials they find in their environment and react to the weather and surrounding conditions in which they live.

This is another awakening for the child, who now must begin to navigate a changing world in which they are becoming more and more awake.

— Grade 3 Teacher Megan Rosker

What do you do for fun, to refresh yourself?

I find joy in the simple things of life, like taking a long walk at Sunday dawn, just observing the perfect beauty of nature. A few minutes devoted to meditation help me keep my mind open to the wisdom there is in the people I meet during the day.

What would people be surprised to know about you?

I think people may be surprised to know that my first job when I moved to America, was as a caregiver for seniors with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia in a memory care facility in Houston, Texas. I would say being a caregiver for the elderly is the equivalent of teaching children, in that you are helping both prepare for the next big step in their journey. In the case of children, it is adulthood, and in the case of the elderly, it is leaving the physical world. In both cases, it is a life-changing experience.

Serving people who are in the final stage of their journey in the world gave me a unique opportunity to deepen my personal understanding of the different elements that integrate the human being and let me “paint” a whole picture of life.

Photos by Juliana Werner

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ALUMNI PROFILE

A LOVE OF DESIGN TURNS INTO HIGH FASHION SUCCESS How was your academic experience after leaving Waldorf, both personally and academically?

Ravenna Osgood

Grade 8 Class of 2009

New Mexico School for the Arts, Visual Arts, 2013 Polimoda International Institute of Fashion Design and Marketing, Fashion Design, 2018 AWARDS Council of Fashion Designers of America Showcase, 2018 Chanel Maison Lemarié, Intern, 2019 Italian Fashion Reload, Italian Embassy, Washington DC, one of two designers chosen, March, 2019

“HANDWRITING, PAINTING, DRAWING, WOODWORKING—THE ATTENTION TO NOT JUST ONE ART FORM— MEANT THAT I KNEW ABOUT USING OTHER MATERIALS AND HOW TO INCLUDE THEM IN MY DESIGNS.” 8

After spending my whole life at Waldorf, I went to Santa Fe Prep, which I loved, but it was academically challenging. I really liked the sports there, but I chose the arts side of me and decided to go to New Mexico School for the Arts, where I studied visual arts, and played soccer and ran track at Santa Fe High School. I still play soccer overseas. I wasn’t sure I wanted to study arts, and I went to UNM for sculpture and to take core curricular classes. I’m happy I got to have a first-year experience on campus. I went to London the next year and studied fashion design at Central St. Martin’s, University of Arts, London. Then I moved to Polimoda in Florence, which was more artistic and less commercial.

I took courses that were supposed to be taught in English and Italian, but Patterns, Cutting and Sewing, and History of Fashion were all taught in Italian.

However, I was allowed to turn in assignments in English. Since I had a background in Spanish, I was able to slowly get Italian, and after three years, I can speak it. The course was very challenging but I ended up becoming close with a lot of international students from places like Iceland, Korea, Netherlands, Italy, Poland, Sweden, Denmark, Peru, and Pakistan.

My degree in fashion design was rigorous and required me to produce a collection each year. My second collection was linked to New Mexico, body image, and the idea of walls and barriers between groups of people. It had door frames and window frames, and I used old wallpaper and curtains from my grandparent’s house (in Maine), plus hand drawn and digitized images. I was also inspired by a 1960 magazine I found and images of the American housewife, so I had pinstripes and tailoring for men’s suits and apron strings for women. Also Jell-O™. I did puffy accessories that looked like Jell-O™ from the diet recipes in the magazine. My work was chosen for the final senior show (which was shown in an issue of Italian Vogue).

How did you choose your profession?

I’m really tactile. I have always been interested in doing graphics. I sewed dresses for dolls. I did a summer of textile design at the Rhode Island School of Design, and I did the Santa Fe Trash Fashion Show, from age 9 to 19. I also used my recycled dresses to make my NMSA portfolio.

While I am interested in graphic design and magazines, I wanted to do things oriented around the body. The fashion world is intense and stressful, but I really enjoy what I do, and that keeps me with it. And I have loved living all over. I’m definitely someone who adventures.

I just finished up an internship at the Maison Lemarié, a house owned by Chanel, that does flower and feather work, and fabric design. So, it’s Waldorf on a mega-expensive scale! I make very small samples that go into collections and it’s really fun. One textile sample I did with a colleague was chosen to be a dress in a collection. It was 10” by 10” piece of fabric that was made with paint, heat transfer and molds, and we had to create a large enough piece of fabric for the dress.

My goal is to stay in Europe. I miss the US, and love Santa Fe, but I like life over here. I have this dream of living in Amsterdam after I did an internship there in 2016. I am looking at a Masters in Fashion Entrepreneurship there.

TEACHER PROFILE Daisy Barnard High School Chair HS Humanities teacher MS English Grade 8 Teacher Photo by Susanna Green

What is your current work today?

Daisy Barnard’s search for a life path has covered a lot of ground. From playing the French horn to religious studies, then veering to yoga and sunbathing on a beach in Jamaica, Barnard has explored many things. However, it was on that beach where she saw a magazine ad that said “Do you want to be a Waldorf Teacher?” The question hit her like a “bolt from the blue,” Barnard says.

Not one to ignore her passions, Barnard went home to Washington State, sold her mobile home on a lake, packed up her possessions and moved to Emerson College in England, even though she had not yet heard of Rudolf Steiner. Fortunately, it was just what she was looking for and she found the two-year training “magical”.

Looking back, how does your Waldorf education benefit your life today?

If ever I have kids, I would want them to go to Waldorf because of the tactility, sewing and painting. I think about Waldorf a lot. I really live in an imaginary world of being able to do whatever I want so I’m never bored; I’m always in my imagination. I didn’t watch a lot of movies when I was young and I saw when I got to university that a lot of people didn’t have the arts background that I had had since kindergarten. The fact of handwriting, painting, drawing—the attention to not just one art form, but also theater, woodworking, paper maché—meant that I knew about using other materials and how to include them in my designs. I have become really well rounded.

What is the best part of what you do now?

I love the fact my work has taken me all over the world.

My perspective changes when I speak to people from all different backgrounds. I like seeing ideas and art from all over. I love the making and imagining.

What do you do for fun?

At university, I worked a lot, so I enjoy not working and traveling. I walk a lot around cities. I love seeing what’s happening, seeing art and soccer, and hanging out with friends and my boyfriend, who is Lithuanian who I met while I was waitressing in Maine.

Contact Ravenna at: ravennarandall@yahoo.com, instagram.com/rosgood

Barnard’s path to Waldorf began in Colorado Springs where her dad was a professor at Colorado College. “My whole early childhood was theater and music, and a rich after-school life,” she recalls. Barnard’s education began at “two hippie, experimental schools, and then I started public school in third grade. It was a hard transition,” she says.

Barnard continued her education at Lawrence University in Wisconsin, where “I thought I was going to major in French Horn, but ended up in religious studies.” After college, unsure what to do, Barnard moved back to Washington State. She taught yoga for three years and at one point, her aunt mentioned that Waldorf might be a good fit. Barnard didn’t act on the suggestion, but in 1996, on that beach, she was ready.

Barnard went on to teach a wide variety of grades and subjects at schools in the Los Angeles and Bay areas of California for 17 years, while also getting a master’s degree in mythological studies. Ready for something new, Barnard interviewed at SFWS with retiring high school English teacher Pam Colgate, and the pair discovered that Barnard’s dad and Colgate knew people in common from Colorado College. “It felt very clear to me that this would be a good fit.” Her family moved to Santa Fe in 2017 and her children, Buck Barnard, rising Grade 2, and Lark Miller, rising Grade 11, both attend the school.

And has it been a good fit? “Honestly, it has been wonderful,” says Barnard. “I love my colleagues so much. And the kids are cool and different here. I can get to authenticity with kids here more quickly. I appreciate that a lot.” What is Waldorf’s appeal? “There’s a beauty that makes sense to me in Waldorf schools. There is the physical beauty of the schools...plus I would not be able to work outside of this paradigm that kids are more complex than their minds and their bodies,” she says.

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SFWS TODAY: Spring Festivals, Events and Trips Grandparent’s Day

Art Sanchez with Isa (rising Grade 4)

Mayfaire

Spring Concert

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Priscilla Roybal and George Garcia with Keshav (rising Grade 5)

Michael O’Neill with Jaengus (rising Grade 2)

Julie and Henry Rothschild with Emmet (rising Grade 5)

Helen Johnson with Luna (rising Grade 2)

Senior Prom

Spring Class Trips 8th grade trip to Catalina Island, CA

Senior Trip to New York City

7th grade trip/hike to Hermit Peak

11th Grade Dark Canyon Backpacking Trip

6th grade trip to Medieval Games

10th Grade Rio Chama Rafting Trip

9th Grade Farm Trip 5th grade trip to Pentathlon

4th grade trip to Abiqui Lake

Photos on pages 10 & 11 by Daisy Barnard, Tim Blose, Everett Cole, Koray Gates, Susanna Green, Pat Lord, Molly Osmera, Janine Pearson, Elliot Ryan and various SFWS students.

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ALUMNI PROFILE Devin Kleiner

Grade 6, 1987 Member of founding student body

EDUCATION: Santa Fe High School, 1993 BA Art History, Architectural History and Studio Art, Wesleyan University, 1997 MA Architecture, University of Washington, 2004 CURRENT WORK Senior Project Architect, Senior Associate, Perkins+Will, Seattle, WA Design Studio Instructor and Lecturer for graduate architecture courses focused on sustainable design AWARDS Husky Green Award for University of Washington Life Sciences Building, 2018

BRINGING ART AND SUSTAINABILITY TO ARCHITECTURE How was your academic experience after leaving Waldorf, both personally and academically?

I started at the SFWS in 1983 which was the first year the school opened. I was in a combined 2nd and 3rd grade class with Bill Bryant as a teacher, and then had Ron Rutledge the following year. The school started with only kindergarten through 3rd grade and they added a grade a year until my class reached 6th grade. There were only eight of us in the class that year, and fewer were going to continue, so they decided to have us combine with the class below and repeat 6th grade. I went to Capshaw Middle School for 7th grade instead.

After college, I came back to Santa Fe and taught art, physical education and special education at E.J. Martinez Elementary School for two years. I took a Harvard summer program in architecture and fell in love with design. I returned to Santa Fe again and worked at R C Greene & Company where I was fortunate to work for several years on both design and construction before going to graduate school in Seattle where I got my Masters in Architecture.

How did you choose your profession?

I had a deep passion for math and art, and architecture seemed like the right combination for bringing these two interests together.

Looking back, how does your Waldorf education benefit your life today?

“WALDORF’S APPRECIATION OF CRAFT HAS CARRIED THROUGH MY LIFE. I DON’T LIKE TO JUST BUILD AND WALK AWAY…I WANT TO TAKE THE TIME TO BUILD SOMETHING WE CAN ALL BE HAPPY WITH.” 12

I remember taking as long as we needed to make things beautiful. Using fountain pens and unlined paper, we had a strong appreciation for the final product. I was shocked when I went to junior high and had less time to make our work look nice, and then, the teacher wrote all over it! That appreciation of craft has carried through my life. I don’t like to just build and walk away, just check a box and move on. I want to take the time to build something we can all be happy with.

In my work, I focus on sustainable design. Through my family and Waldorf, I was familiar with biodynamic farming and the deep connection to land and resources. While I enjoyed working in a small architecture firm on single family homes, I shifted to a firm working on larger buildings to have a more significant sustainable impact. This is also a reason I’m excited to be teaching again, to help the next generation of architects who have entire careers ahead of them to improve the built and natural environment.

What is the best part of what you do now?

Watercolor painting. It is a core part of my life now. I was biking to work six years ago and was hit by a car. I spent many months in a wheelchair with a broken pelvis and femur, and got a hip replacement last year. Painting helped with pain management and gave me a purpose while in recovery. When I have a free evening, I return to painting— from landscapes to bird and animal forms. The forms in the paintings emerge from layering washes of watercolor. I’m in my happiest space when painting.

During my recovery I was fortunate to spend quality time with my wife and two young children. My daughter hadn’t started walking yet so we spent a lot of time together in the wheelchair with her in my lap or laying outside on a blanket in the grass. Rather than racing off to work, I spent almost every morning cuddled with my son in bed reading books. This was a formative time for me both in my relationship with my family and with my artwork.

The thread from Waldorf is that while in school I did the watercolor exercises Steiner developed, but I didn’t understand why. Later on, as an adult, I studied painting with (Waldorf HS teacher) Marianna Caluori and learned about Steiner and his teachings.

Rather than just drawing what we see, (this type of painting) is about letting form emerge through multiple washes. For my Master’s thesis I experimented with applying this process to architecture, testing how three dimensional forms could emerge.

I’m still continuing to explore this. When I worked on the team that designed the Life Sciences Building at the University of Washington, watercolor studies helped in the design including a grand stair that is both carved out of earth below and hung from the ceiling above. And while working on the team that designed the expansion of the Wood Center Student Union at the University of Alaska in Fairbanks, we experimented with using the light coming through colored glass and casting colored shadows on the stairs and glass railings much like washes of watercolor. The question was, “How can color shape our experience of that space?”

Contact Devin at: devin.kleiner@gmail.com. See his art at devinkleinerart.com and his architectural projects at convergence-lsb.com.

SAVE THE DATES Summer Breeze Golf Tournament July 29th, 2019 The 3rd Annual Summer Breeze Golf Tournament will be held on at the Towa Club in Pojoaque, NM. Thanks to the generosity of Buffalo Thunder and the Pueblo of Pojoaque, we look forward to hosting a full field and raising funds to support scholarships and financial assistance for our eligible families.

Growing Home Family Workshops July through November 2019 A series of gardening and crafting workshops where families can connect, create, and learn together. Parents and children can develop a variety of skills and practices such as Natural Dyeing, Gardening, Harvest Soup and Bread Baking, and Candle making. For dates and times of upcoming workshops, please visit santafewaldorf.org/family.

Summer Camp Programs for ages 5 through 12 See our website for more information. santafewaldorf.org/camps

Waldorf 100th Anniversary September 19, 2019 Join us as the campus community gathers to greet Waldorf schools worldwide via drone and video. There will also be cake! Watch for more specifics this fall.

Giving Tuesday December 3, 2019 We will be mounting a special fundraising campaign in celebration of Waldorf’s 100th Anniversary.

Holiday Faire December 7, 2019 Rudolf’s Diner, Sweets & Savory Cafe, children’s games, artisan’s market, live performances and more await visitors, friends and alumni at our 33th Annual Holiday Faire!

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IN THE CLASSROOM: Woodworking WOODWORK FEEDS GROWTH OF THE WHOLE CHILD A unique part of the SFWS education is a six-year woodworking curriculum, which instructor Fletcher Lathrop says provides one of the essential ways students develop focus and inner calm.

Waldorf education aims to address the needs of the whole child through activities that develop their sense of feeling, thinking and will (the ability to direct their mind and body to complete tasks). Woodworking strengthens all three qualities in children because it “engages will, thinking and feeling in response to what they are creating,” notes Lathrop.

Students start carving simple shapes such as eggs, and slowly move to more complex works, making eating implements, bowls, figurines, marionettes in Grade 8, and then abstract sculptures in high school. Ninety percent of the wood used in the studio is local “dead standing” wood harvested by Lathrop, mostly poplar, aspen and Rocky Mountain juniper.

From preschool to Grade 5, students use beeswax and clay to sculpt figures by the process of adding on different elements of a sculpture, like, for example, a nose to a face. However, when students start creating with wood via carving and other techniques, they have to learn to take away material to bring their ideas to reality. This, notes Lathrop, “requires a different process of visualization.”.

In this age of accelerated media and screen time, woodworking is a healthy antidote to short attention spans, says Lathrop, because of “the consciousness, awareness and calm intensity of focus that is demanded by the sculptural process.” And for Lathrop, students receive a bonus gift: “A relationship to wood and to trees. Trees are the most extraordinary beings on the planet to my mind.”

Center photo: Fletcher Lathrop in the SFWS woodworking shop

Photo by Juliana Werner

“ I N THIS AGE OF ACCELERATED MEDIA AND SCREEN TIME, WOODWORKING IS A HEALTHY ANTIDOTE TO SHORT ATTENTION SPANS” 14

SFWS TODAY: Student Voices NOT ALL SCHOOLS TAKE THE SAME APPROACH TO LEARNING

By Hannah Laga Abram, High School Class of 2019 Most high schools in the United States may seem to mirror the cliché of teen movies: cliques, long hallways of lockers, AP classes, limited arts, smartboards, and a curriculum based on extensive exams and college prep with outdated textbooks.

The Santa Fe Waldorf School has none of these. Because they are not what high school is about. These years should be about exploring interests, navigating the strangeness of social dynamics, growing, being challenged, being supported to make mistakes again and again, dreaming, discovering, asking questions, having fun and getting to know the world a bit better.

I have been lucky enough to experience several different learning environments over the years. After going to the Santa Fe Waldorf School for kindergarten, I home-schooled with a few friends for first and second grade. I then attended public school at Atalaya Elementary School for third grade and the first half of fourth, before transitioning back to the Waldorf School.

In my sampling of each of these environments, I discovered the value of educational adventure as well as classroom structure, of independent learning as well as school community, of a multidimensional approach to subject matter as well as concise facts. None of my school experiences were by any means bad, but Waldorf has definitely been my favorite because the school has the freedom and makes the effort to strike a beautiful balance between the contradictions of good education.

Photo by Dham Khalsa Photography

The class structure at Waldorf is based on “main lesson” blocks: The first two periods of every day are spent with one teacher in one subject for a month, and a different subject with a different teacher the next. This model allows the deep study of a ponderous breadth of subjects, without boring the student. Track classes are fairly standard, but afternoons are devoted to arts of all kinds, from music to theater to painting to woodwork. The best part is that everyone has to participate in every class. Unlike the structure of electives, this forces students to discover things that they enjoy and excel at, as well as subjects that challenge them or that they might not like as much.

Add to this an enormous amount of individual support from motivated teachers who have the freedom to teach what they choose, and annual wilderness trips that foster experiential learning and deep bonding with classmates and the natural world.

We live in a time when education is almost an industry, and coursework is designed, even at the high school level, to churn out successful citizens of a global capitalist empire. But in my opinion, what the world needs more right now are the independent, well-rounded, personally confident, humane critical thinkers that holistic, alternative education models—such as the Waldorf School—bring to life.

Contact Laga Abram at This article originally appeared as a My View piece in the April 11, 2019 issue of the Generation Next section of ceciliasycamore@gmail.com. the Santa Fe New Mexican. Copyright © 2019 The New Mexican, Inc. Reprinted with permission. All rights reserved.

GRADE 11 INTERNSHIPS Each spring, SFWS 11th-grade students spend a week as an intern at a local business. Having been a guest on one of the school’s visits to KTRC and talk host Richard Eeds’ show earlier this year, Story Coleman, HS Class of 2020, was intrigued by the work done to create a broadcast. Story landed an internship with Hutton Broadcasting and became Richard Eeds’ first intern, and quickly rose to have the title of co-host for the week. Luca Vera Ramirez, HS Class of 2020, wanted to complete a project with his hands, and found the right fit with custom wood-working firm La Puerta Originals where he used his skills of Story Coleman interning at KTRC. perspective and math, along with tactile skills to paint, stain and assemble.

Leila Midgette, HS Class of 2020, interned with Living Edge Landscaping and also at Cheeky Bubbles, a pet grooming shop.

If you know of a business that can offer an internship for an 11th Grade student next spring, please contact Class Sponsor Elliot Ryan at eryan@santafewaldorf.org.

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ALUMNI PROFILE

“ABOVE ALL, WALDORF TAUGHT ME TO DIVE IN HEAD FIRST, TO NOT BE AFRAID TO TRY AND FAIL, AND TO ADAPT TO THE CIRCUMSTANCES.” PACKING UP HIS VAN AND TAKING HIS SILVERSMITHING ON THE ROAD How was your academic experience after leaving Waldorf, both personally and academically?

For me, hopping into the rigors of Stanford academics was not easy. I went in blind with so many different interests. It was like a buffet and I really did not know what to choose. So I just piled a lot on my plate and went from there. It took me three years to settle on a concentration that allowed me to use my writing skills (thank you [former SFWS HS teacher] Pam Colgate!) but that also still left me some wiggle room to play with both design and artistic subjects. I thoroughly enjoyed spending time in the machine shop and flexing my conceptual muscle; I can attribute this to the “Waldorf way” of experimenting and trying something for the sake of seeing what happens. It was a very satisfying space for me.

Red Dakota (Waddie) CrazyHorse High School Class of 2006

Stanford University, 2011 Silversmithing Apprenticeship with Cippy Crazyhorse

Mathematics had always been my weak point throughout my academic life (Why do I have to show my work?) but I felt very prepared with a solid writing foundation which came in handy for summer research grants and those latenight/early-morning writing sessions. I spent some time studying abroad and I can definitely identify this as the driver for my wanderlust during my 20s.

Personally I had a great time in college. I participated in intramural sports, social dance, student government, and had leadership roles in event organization.

Waldorf helped me in grow from a small, shy 9th grader into an outgoing and open 18-year-old willing to explore my interests. With the small Waldorf class sizes, there is no place to hide, so you might as well breathe through the teenage angst, make the most of it, and shine.

How did you choose your profession?

I was literally born into it! I became interested in silversmithing during 8th grade; this is when I began a series of summer apprenticeships under my father. I knew at some point these skills would come in handy but I didn’t think they would come into my life so soon. I graduated 2011 and briefly thought about working for a design firm or a nonprofit, but the thought of having a boss turned my stomach. I decided to try my hand at jewelry in California. Finding financing was very difficult (due to the recession), but it was here that I learned a lot about myself by simply believing in my path. I made it work and have been enjoying the hard-earned fruits of those labors for seven years now.

What is your current work today?

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I have been working full-time as a silversmith since April 2012. I enjoy exploring bold, contemporary designs while using the techniques passed down from my grandfather. My artwork embodies my life experience as both a young man rooted in his heritage and as a wanderer, absorbing inspiration from any source.

At the moment I am in the middle of launching a brand called Spiritual Degenerates which is related to a major life transition I experienced in 2018. I endured a period of intense suffering, and as a result, ‘came into my humanity’ (as [former

PARENT PERSPECTIVE

SANTA FE WALDORF’S BROAD CURRICULUM FOSTERS A DESIRE TO SEE THE WORLD SFWS HS teacher] Jann W. Gates put it). Since then, I have been diving deeper into internal consciousness work related to self-actualization. I have been blessed to collide with various friends who have become soul-family and together we are building this brand into a company with a cause.

It’s still early but I feel like we can create tremendous positive impact by encouraging self-awareness through meditation and self-healing practices. We are simply showing up as ourselves and living our best lives while embracing both our light and our shadows. Stay tuned~

Looking back, how does your Waldorf education benefit your life today?

Above all else Waldorf taught me to dive in head first, to not be afraid to try and fail, and to adapt to the circumstances. I am always open to new experiences and opportunities, and am curious about the lessons they provide.

Please describe your daily life.

I recently purchased a Sprinter van to convert into a mobile workshop/home. This has been a dream of mine for close to four years now, so it is very satisfying to finally begin the process. I intend to consolidate my tools just enough to continue hand-fabricating jewelry on the road, anywhere and at any time. This conversion is a challenge for me because I do not identify as a builder (I prefer metal to wood any day) but it will be a great project to pull in all of my design and creative skills and put them to work. I plan on hitting the road in late 2019/early 2020, with no clear destination in mind.

What is the best part of what you do now?

I have been enjoying the freedom of this designed lifestyle. I currently focus on balancing out my day with equal parts self-care and work and play. I focus on filling my own cup first. My daily goal is to be both physically and emotionally nourished in order to produce my best work and to be of service to others.

What do you do for fun?

Since moving to San Diego, a classic story has developed: desert boy meets ocean, falls in love. I spend a lot of time in the water either surfing or body boarding, or you’ll find me practicing hot yoga or trail running in the evenings. I enjoy photography and the excuse it gives me to explore the beautiful natural world. I also recently began studying intuitive massage and reiki as a means to help others and to balance out my solitary lifestyle as an artist. I plan to share these gifts with friends I make along the way during my van-life phase.

Contact Waddie at: waddiecrazyhorse.com

By Rebecca Withers SFWS parent and former board member

When asked “Why Waldorf?”, I answer that I love that the school’s curriculum is so broad—a kind of “Liberal Arts” education for the elementary-to-high school set. And also, because I wish I could go to school there myself.

Also, I’ve seen the end game, so to speak, having daughters who have both graduated from Santa Fe Waldorf High School and who have gone on to become, most importantly, caring, well-adjusted global citizens. They have a confidence in their capacity to learn, grow, and experience life that I know (and that they now often recognize and verbalize) comes from their Waldorf school experience.

SFWS really has had a major impact in shaping who they are today, and what they care about. Both thirst to see the world, and, like their Waldorf peers, do so through travels, obviously, but also through an intense interest in the greater world and its humanity. They are young adults who passionately pursue seeing the world through personal and formal study, and the more general cultural experiences of living within the global youth community: volunteering, lectures, readings, podcasts, political engagement, music, arts, etc.... They just approach life with a broader vision of the Rebecca’s children Nico, world than most.

Gabrielle and Alexandria.

Rebecca Withers’ daughter Alexandria Chastenet de Gery (SFWS HS Class of 2015) graduated from Sewanee: The University of the South, with honors in May 2019, and plans to pursue a Masters in the field of Peace, Conflict, and Security Strategy studies either in Belgium or The Netherlands in the fall. Withers’ daughter Gabrielle Chastenet de Gery (SFWS HS Class of 2016) is in her senior year at the American College of the Mediterranean in Aix-en-Provence, France, pursuing a degree in International Relations and Writing. Withers’ son Nico Chastenet de Gery is a rising 9th grader at SFWS. 17

ALUMNI PROFILE Benjamin Beames High School Class of 2010

BA Ethics, Social, and Political Philosophy, University of Massachusetts, Boston, 2016 Dean’s List and Co-Concertmaster of chamber orchestra MA Middle Eastern Studies, University of Chicago, 2019 Grant Recipient in Turkish Language Studies, Summer Language Institute, University of Chicago, 2019 Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowship (FLAS) in Turkish, 2019

A PASSION FOR ACADEMICS, MUSIC...AND HIS DOG How was your academic experience after leaving Waldorf, both personally and academically?

Admittedly, it was challenging to focus my academic interests on a particular subject at the beginning of my undergraduate career. The wide variety of majors made a choice appear impossible—they were all worth studying. I was used to the indulgence of main lesson blocks and the opportunity to focus on a single topic for a few months; of course, in college, you must select one!

I began as an English major, which was a direct result of (former SFWS HS teacher) Ms. Colgate’s classes, but I was only interested in the grammar. After exhausting the professional editing classes—of which there were two—the charm of working for a newspaper soon evaporated. I transitioned to a philosophy major which was a perfect fit. I was able to wrestle with serious questions about ethics, morality, and how we organize ourselves as a species. Subsequently, I graduated with distinction with a degree in Ethics, Social, and Political Philosophy, writing my thesis on civilian rights and political agency in the Middle East.

During those years, I maintained my practice of the violin studying part-time for a year at the New England Conservatory before transitioning to a studio in New York City. I joined my university’s chamber orchestra as co-concertmaster and performed side-gigs around Boston and New York.

Personally, I felt very comfortable transitioning into college life despite enrolling in a university of more than 15,000 students. I was able to make quick and close friends, most of whom I am still in contact with today. I know much of this comfort came from the interpersonal skills we developed and practiced in high school.

How did you choose your profession?

It’s difficult to define my current profession, but I suppose I would be called an academic. This occupation grew out of my undergraduate interests in philosophy and jurisprudence. After completing my thesis, it was clear that I had additional theoretical, historical, and philosophical questions. Graduate school appeared to be the next logical step. My advisor recommended me to the University of Chicago, where I subsequently enrolled with an academic scholarship in 2017. The choice to pursue academia developed naturally; yet, I never would have predicted it in 2010.

Beames (on violin) performing Gabriel Fauré’s Cantique de Jean Racine Op.11 at the University of Chicago, December, 2018.

“WALDORF IS REALLY GOOD AT TEACHING CONSCIENTIOUSNESS, A SKILL THAT IS BECOMING LESS COMMON IN OUR FAST-PACED WORLD.” 18

Where have you worked and what is your current work today?

I have had a diverse list of employers. Because I took time off between high school and college, as well as post-undergrad, I had an opportunity to work in some interesting places. I worked in the marketing department of the New York Philharmonic for almost half a year (sounds glamorous but it was soul-crushing work); I assisted my advisor for over a year on her research concerning Turkish extradition law; I spent two summers at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York supporting a senior fellow on his book project; I performed in numerous venues across the country as a freelance violinist playing in genres ranging from classical music to hip-hop (I can be heard on the album Notes from the Underground by Gone Beyond and Mumbles); and I spent some time as a server in a bakery or two. As I just graduated from my MA program, I have some exciting opportunities on the horizon. I’ll keep you updated!

Looking back, how does your Waldorf education benefit your life today?

Appreciation for nature immediately comes to mind. The camping trips, nature walks, and our senior solos imbibed the class with a sense of reverence for the

environment—even for a blade of grass. Leaving a place the way we found it and being mindful of our presence, both during and after our visit, was impactful. Those lessons translated into many other aspects of my life. Even now, I notice it in my work, relationships, and lifestyle. Waldorf is really good at teaching conscientiousness, a skill that is becoming less common in our fast-paced world.

Please describe your daily life.

I get up, take my dog for a long walk, find, lose, and then find my keys, go to language class, eat lunch, go to my second class, go home to walk my dog, return to campus for a thesis workshop or lecture, have an existential crises over missing pencils, then go to a chamber music or an orchestra rehearsal where I am reprimanded for said missing pencils, return home for dinner and an evening dog walk, then to the library to complete my homework and look for dropped pencils, then back home to sleep… did I mention I walk my dog?

What is the best part of what you do now?

Although I’ll have just graduated at the time of this publication, I may not know exactly what job or field I will be working in; therefore, it seems appropriate to write about my time in grad school. The best part of that work is the opportunity to study and write about subjects I am passionate about. I have been very fortunate to have attended graduate school and at such an exceptional institution, where people really cared about challenging source materials and the status-quo in order to find new avenues of thought. It was very special to have the time and resources to focus intensely on one subject and pursue those ends. I hope to carry that spirit into my next job. Other than that, I like being a sleuth. Often there are sources that are hidden away or obscurely referenced. I gain enjoyment from finding these and organizing them.

What do you do for fun?

Music is my go-to pastime. I try to set-up jam sessions or sight-reading parties with my friends, but I always sneak into the practice room between classes to play a little piano—it’s a nice distraction. Besides this, I continuously look for outdoor activities. Ultimate frisbee and soccer have become fun pastimes. On weekends, I’ll meet up with some friends from my department to play. It’s an excellent excuse to be boisterous and loud. Other than that, hiking, rockclimbing, and cycling are my options during the warmer months. Chicago has a lot to offer in each of those categories!

Contact Beames at LSOviolinist@gmail.com, or his dog Ollie on Instagram at @ollieintheworld.

TEACHER PROFILE Thomas Baudhuin Grades Teacher College of Teachers Board of Trustees Woodworking Instructor Thomas Baudhuin almost didn’t become a Waldorf educator. He almost became a doctor. Thankfully for the students he has taught over the decades, Baudhuin chose a Waldorf path after a personal tragedy turned him to the teachings of Rudolf Steiner.

Photo by Dham Khalsa Photography

Baudhuin grew up in Rhinelander, WI. After graduating high school in 1965, he started college, but dropped out and was drafted in 1969 for the Vietnam War. Deeply opposed to the conflict, Baudhuin helped two roommates avoid the draft, including helping one friend appear to be crazy. However, he chose to go. “It was a difficult decision,” he says.

His father had served in World War II and his family was pressuring him to go, and, “in some ways, I wanted to help, so I allowed myself to be drafted.” He was trained as a medic, and served in 1970 as an x-ray technician at a helicopter base in Dong Ba Thin, Vietnam.

After his discharge, Baudhuin moved to Ann Arbor, MI, to work and live with his brother Jack. Later he roamed the west and was drawn to Santa Fe by friends. Settling here, Baudhuin worked at St. Vincent’s Hospital and later at the now-defunct St. Joseph’s in Albuquerque, where he was deeply inspired by the doctors he worked with. However, when Jack was killed in a car accident in Michigan in 1975, Baudhuin started looking for answers. “It was really traumatic,” he says. He had been studying anthroposophy with a local group and found that the discussions about reincarnation and Steiner’s view of death, “opened up something I’d never thought of before. It was exactly what I needed; it was so comforting and made so much sense,” he says.

Baudhuin decided against medical school and chose to train as a Waldorf teacher, joining SFWS in 1985, teaching kindergarten and woodworking. In 1992, he became a grades teacher, and since then he has taken multiple classes, specializing in middle-school students, noting “I have patience with them and I enjoy them.

I like that age group.” Both his sons graduated from SFWS; Jacob, now 41, (Grade 8, 1991), works as an herbalist and silversmith, and Galen, 37, (Grade 8, 1996), is a heavy metal guitarist who tours globally.

Next year, Baudhuin will leave grades teaching and move to special projects and mentoring. Why has he stayed so long with Waldorf?

“It’s to do with the inner work of the teacher and meeting the developing child in a balanced way...the children get something here that they don’t get somewhere else.”

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ALUMNI NEWS: Class Notes Nikkie Carothers (Leilani Moore), Grade 8, 1996, reports, “I’ve moved to Port Orchard, WA, where I live with my husband.

We just bought the most gorgeous four acres of old forest, on the edge of the Olympic rainforest. It’s magical, and the air is so pure, I call it gourmet! My husband works on computers and I stay at home making my art. I’ve started wire wrapping in addition to felting and making creatures, I have a few pieces posted at www.emeraldcityartist.com if you want to see!

“I’m not the only one up here either. Maria Lathrop, (Grade 8, 1994, and daughter of woodworking teacher Fletcher Lathrop), lives about an hour away from me. I’m still waiting to visit with her sometime soon!”

Teissia Treynet, Grade 8, 1998, writes, “I got engaged! You can read the story and see pics and video howtheyasked.com/teissia-and-todd.

I spent most of 2017 consulting for a new private members club in London called The Conduit, which officially opened in November of 2018! I helped them design their event spaces and build their events team. Their co-founder is actually my best friend, Rowan Finnegan, who I met in kindergarten at Waldorf. More recently, I launched a new online course for wedding planners called The Firefly Method for Planners, and Bride’s Magazine recently named Firefly Events one of the top wedding planners in America!

Megan Burns Maher, Grade 8, 1999, has been promoted from Project Manager to Performance Department Head at the ever-expanding Meow Wolf, an arts and entertainment group in Santa Fe, NM.

Anya Bershad, Grade 8, 2001, writes “I got married to Evelyn Richardson from London in a wonderful tiny wedding in Santa Fe on October 13, 2018. In June, I graduated from the MD/PhD program at University of Chicago (after 8 years as a graduate student!) and I am going to UCLA for psychiatry residency/ research training. In collaboration with my graduate advisor, Dr. Harriet de Wit, I recently submitted a manuscript for publication that is the first placebo-controlled laboratory investigation of the potential antidepressant effects of small “microdoses” of LSD in humans.

Asia Stuerznickel, Grade 8, 2006, reports, “About a year ago I quit my job in Krakow, Poland and moved to London to attend a coding boot camp (amazing experience) before walking 360 miles of the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage in Spain (also an amazing experience) and then moving to Boston to begin my MBA at MIT Sloan. I’m just wrapping up my first year at MIT, during which I’ve gotten quite involved in Sloan’s student 20

government. I’m focusing my studies on finance and real estate, and this summer I’ll be interning at Goldman Sachs in NYC in the investment banking department in the real estate group.”

Jonathon Linch, HS Class of 2007, left Northrop Grumman and started at Google in 2018, where he leads lead Google’s social impact efforts as a Program Manager in Trust and Safety. He writes, “There are still huge challenges we face, but my group is dedicated to making the Internet a safer place for everyone.” In March, 2019, Linch was promoted from Vice President of R&D to CEO at Sonorapy, where he also works. Sonorapy is a Silicon Valley start-up that is trying to revolutionize medical diagnostic testing using acoustics to resonate and detect foreign pathogens in the body. He writes, “We are presently at a pre-seed stage of funding and working on patenting the IP that makes this technology possible.”

Isa Ruiz, Grade 8, 2007, spoke at a February panel sponsored by New Mexicans for Money Out of Politics. Ruiz was graduated from the University of Puget Sound in 2015 with a BA in International Relations. She is now living in Santa Fe and working for the Institute for Functional Medicine.

Isa Ruiz (Grade 8, 2007), left, and Sean Coles, (Grade 6, 2013), right, at a February panel sponsored

by New Mexicans for Money Out of Politics

Max Bennett, HS Class of 2008, writes, “I spent 2018 contracted as Forge Supervisor at Iron to Live With in Santa Fe. I was brought in to supervise the forging and small crew necessary for over 250 feet of custom railing for the many staircases and balconies in the newly built farmhouse and conference center at Owl Peak Farms in Madera, NM. Now that this project is complete, I have begun my Journeyman travels, traditionally the next step in a blacksmith’s education after apprenticing under a master for many years. Currently I am in Jeßnitz, Germany, a small village about 50km outside of Dresden, working at Kaczmar Forge (founded in 1889 and still run by the original family). My current mastersmith is Michael Kaczmar, the fifth generation to run this forge, who specializes in historically accurate restorations and modern architectural ironwork. We will mainly be restoring a large gate and fence for an church. Additionally, I have received a scholarship to attend a workshop at Penland School of Craft

in North Carolina this August. The two-week program will be taught by Claudio Bottero, an Italian blacksmith internationally recognized for his sculptural and architectural ironwork, and one of my major inspirations. Follow my adventures on Instagram @maxwellbennettworks.

Dustin Johnson, HS Class of 2009, has been promoted to Senior Research Officer at the Roméo Dallaire Child Soldiers Initiative, in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, which works globally to prevent children from being used as combatants in military conflicts.

Pecos Singer, HS Class of 2010, reports that he has graduated from the University of Maryland as a Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) in Cello Performance and has accepted a fellowship to play cello with The Orchestra Now in residence at the Fisher Center at Bard College starting in September 2019. The Orchestra Now’s aim is to bring orchestral music to 21st-century audiences by performing, giving on-stage demonstrations, and having one-on-one discussions with patrons during intermissions.

Sean Coles, Grade 6, 2013, spoke at a February panel sponsored

by New Mexicans for Money Out of Politics (NMMOP) along with alumna Isa Ruiz (see photo on pg 21). Coles just graduated from Santa Fe Prep and was an intern this past spring for NMMOP.

Addison Nace, HS Class of 2013, graduated Summa Cum Laude from Antioch College in 2017 with a BA in Anthropology and a Spanish Language Focus. Since graduating, she has served as a board member for Natik, a nonprofit that supports grassroots organizations in Chiapas, Mexico and Sololá, Guatemala. She continues to work with weavers in the Mujeres Sembrando la Vida cooperative through her connection with Natik. Upon her graduation, Addison decided to move to Andalusia, Spain to teach English for a year. She worked at IES Aguilar y Eslava, founded in 1679 (rumored to be the second-oldest high school in Spain). Addison is currently working at SITE Santa as the Education Assistant and Venue Rentals Coordinator. In August 2019, she will be moving to Madison, Wisconsin to start her PhD in Design Studies at the University of Wisconsin. Contact Addison at natik.org.

Kailey Zercher, HS Class of 2013, writes, “The Womps released their first full-length album, Zlatan! on April 18th, which will be available on all your favorite online platforms. They also toured for two weeks around the New England area in March and April, closing off with an album release show in Boston on April 18th. The Womps have also released two singles, “Anthem of My Age” and “La Palette”, off of the upcoming album, also available on all online platforms.

Contact Kailey at thewompsofficial.com.

Alexandra Kravitz, HS Class of 2014, got her BFA in fashion product design at Syracuse University this past spring.

She will be taking a year to work in New York City and then go to Central St. Martens in London for graduate school. Contact Alex at 505-819-9276, or at her website: alexkravitzdesigns.com.

Sophia Gundrey, Grade 8, 2015, graduated from Santa Fe Prep in May 2019 and will be attending Barnard College in New York.

Alexandria Chastenet de Gery, HS Class of 2015, graduated from Sewanee: The University of the South, with honors in May 2019, and plans to pursue a Masters in the field of Peace, Conflict, and Security Strategy studies either in Belgium or the Netherlands in the fall.

Keifer Nace, HS Class of 2015, writes, “I have finished my senior year at Whitman and I graduated in May. I was a GeologyEnvironmental studies major, and I’ve been able to participate in some interesting and exciting research projects. In 2017, I participated in a National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) at Central Washington University that involved reconstructing the forest fire history of landslide dammed lakes in the Oregon Coast Range. In 2018, I was accepted to another REU with the Keck Geology Consortium and this became my senior thesis. For my Keck project, I looked at how a climate change event 56 million years ago, called the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum, affected the fluvial systems and vegetation structure in the Hanna Basin, WY. My findings can help contribute to our understanding of modern, anthropogenic climate change and I presented my thesis at the Rocky Mountain Regional GSA meeting in Manhattan, KS, this spring.

Gabrielle Chastenet de Gery, HS Class of 2016, has just finished her senior year at American College of the Mediterranean in Aix-en-Provence, France, pursuing a degree in International Relations and Writing, after transferring from the Writing Program at SCAD (Savannah College of Art and Design).

We Want To Hear From You! As Waldorf education is in its 100-year anniversary, we are celebrating the breadth and depth of this unique education. Please write in and let us know how much it has meant to you, and while you are at it, update us on your life!

Send a quick email to plord@santafewaldorf.org or visit our website at santafewaldorf.org/alumni.

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26 Puesta Del Sol, Santa Fe, NM 87508 santafewaldorf.org/alumni

Silversmith work from Alumni Red Dakota (Waddie) Crazyhorse (see page 16).

Front Cover: Wood Center Student Union at the University of Alaska in Fairbanks. Alumni Devin Kleiner (see page 12) was the project architect.

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