Class of 2020

Class of 2020: Story Coleman, Yeva Reinikainen, Bri Yellowhorse, Koray Gates, Nicoya Dant, Kyle Diaz, Luca Vera Ramirez, Leila Midgette, and Parker Willmore.

Class of 2020 with their class sponsor Enrique Otero. Photos by Dham Khalsa Photography (Fall 2019)

“OUR CARING CIRCLE OF TEACHERS HAVE HELD US AND TAUGHT US WITH PASSION AND KINDNESS... THEIR VALUABLE INSIGHTS AND TEACHINGS WILL CONTINUE TO PROVIDE GUIDANCE IN OUR DECISIONS AND IN OUR LIVES AS WE MOVE ON TO A NEW CHAPTER. ”

PRESENTING THE CLASS OF 2020

Our impressive seniors have continued the tradition of SFWS excellence. Accepted by a total of 21 institutions, eight of the nine seniors were admitted to their first-choice college and the class has been awarded $1.8 million in scholarships and merit awards!

It hasn’t been easy. “Like the majority of students graduating this year, the Santa Fe Waldorf School Class of 2020 experienced the frustration, uncertainty, anger, and sadness that has permeated a season that is supposed to be enveloped in exactly the opposite,” says class sponsor Enrique Otero.

However, despite going without prom, a year-end trip, or an in-person graduation, SFWS seniors are still celebrating their achievements. Says Otero, “As the progressive, independent thinkers they are, the class accepted the situation and worked alongside the faculty to design a series of original events in order to make their graduation, given the circumstances, the memorable event they unquestionably deserve.”

Student Council President Koray Gates reports that despite COVID-19 and closures, “The class will celebrate – both individually and together – this turning point in our lives, though it may be different from what we expected or hoped for.” He adds, “Luckily, years of friendships and memories, which bond a Waldorf class, will not crumble because of the lack of these traditional events. I feel confident that I speak for my whole class in expressing our gratitude for the amazing opportunities and experiences that our loving faculty and the Waldorf community have provided us over the years. This caring circle of teachers has helped shape who we are today. Their passion, kindness, insights, and teachings will continue to guide our decisions and lives as we move on to a new chapter.”

In an intimate, outdoor ceremony on campus the seniors were presented their diplomas by Otero, Board President Melissa Coleman, and School Administrator Gerson Perez. The ceremonies were filmed and compiled into a video by Board Secretary Andy Smith. To view, please visit youtube.com/santafewaldorfschool and click on Playlists.

Class Valedictorian

Bri Yellowhorse has been accepted into UNM's prestigious BA/MD program with a full scholarhip through medical school. She is the recipient of a $10,000 Leadership Scholarship from the Los Alamos National Lab Foundation. She also received a Super Scholar Award, sponsored by Century Bank, given to Santa Fe seniors who score highly in testing and are among the top 10% of their class.

College Choices The Class of 2020 will attend the following colleges and plan on majoring in the following areas:

Story Coleman - Ursinus College Collegeville, PA, English and History

Nicoya Dant - Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA, undecided

Leila Midgette - Earlham College, Richmond, IN, Anthropology and Spanish

Parker Willmore - University of New Mexico, Psychology and Film, after a gap year

Koray Gates - Colorado College, Colorado Springs, CO, undecided

Kyle Diaz - New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, Socorro, NM, undecided

Luca Vera Ramirez - Lindenwood University, St Charles, MO, Music

Yeva Reinikainen - Academy of Arts University, San Francisco, CA, Fashion

Additional College Acceptances

Bard College Fort Lewis College Goucher College Hope College Juniata College Montana State University Quest University Sarah Lawrence College Saint Edward’s University University of Puget Sound University of Utah Whitman College WORKING HANDS by Bri Yellowhorse

Scratches. Extremely short nails. Too much skin around the knuckles. Strong and thick. Black lines on my fingertips. You can tell who I am by looking at my hands.

One time, I was in Farmington, New Mexico, near the reservation, and I went out to eat. I noticed my server’s hands, and they looked like a Native model’s hands: dignified, scarred and strong. Sometimes I stop what I’m doing and stare at my hands. My hands are pristine, free of scars, so different from the hands I saw in Farmington. Do I fit in with the Natives or am I an outsider once again? I keep trying to find elements in my hands that look Native so I can convince myself that I am a real Native even though I don’t live on the reservation and my mom is Colombian. Whenever I paint my nails, my hands look different, and I feel as if I have betrayed my Native heritage because they no longer look like a Navajo’s hands that are used to herding sheep all day. When I decide to keep the paint on my nails, I feel as though, in that moment, I belong more to my Colombian heritage, and I would not want to travel to the reservation for fear of people calling me an apple. An apple because it is red on the outside…. I never keep nail polish on my nails for long.

I used to ask my Native father all the time if my hands looked nicked and scratched up enough to be considered “rez” hands. His answer would always be the same, “No, there would be red dirt under the fingernails that you don’t have.” I have accepted the fact that my hands will never have the red dirt from the mesas and the four sacred Navajo mountains under my nails, or grease stains from taking apart and putting cars back together. Yet my hands will always be Native even though sometimes I can’t see it. I will always have a part of me that is Native no matter where I go.

I always get made fun of for my short fingernails, and my dad adds that when he tells me I have no dirt under my nails. I have to keep them short or else I will not be able to play the violin properly. And if I cannot play the violin, then I “won’t be able to bring joy to people’s hearts with my violin,” according to my dad. My dad always tells me whenever I do something with my hands that I need to be extra careful because if I hurt my hands then my musical gift will be gone. This depresses me, and yet I take heed of his warnings.

Sometimes after I finish practicing for the day, my fingertips will be black and have lines on them. When I see these markings, it makes me proud because I know that I worked hard and am closer to my goal to be the best violinist I can be. When my fingertips are in their normal state, calloused and without nails, I feel content, as though I am truly myself, even though I would like them to also have red dirt under them. My calloused fingertips minus the red dirt make me who I am: a Native violin player who doesn’t live on the reservation. I call myself a modern Navajo.