IN THE LOOP A Publication for the Alumni Community Please share this newsletter with friends and family.
Recognition for Waldorf Education
of Lexington
Winter 2012
In This Issue
them to tour our school. On another recent occasion, Recognition for a young Harvard student from Waldorf Education India visited the school for a tour motivated by his interest in Waldorf pedaThe Art of gogy as an educational choice for India. Walking Slowly After his visit, he sent me an article entitled Cleaning Up “Waldorf Education in Public Schools.” (Papano, Harvard Education Letter. Nov/ Alumni Profile: Dec 2011.) The writer compares Waldorf Ben Deily, Class of ‘82 education to the slow food movement with its preference for homemade, unprocessed Holiday Fair Reunion foods and poses the question as to whether this could be a solution for school reform. Please Join Us... This is due, in large part, to the successWelcome in the May-O ful expansion of Waldorf charter schools which is creating interest in its methods. Olympic Memories A recent article in the New York Times and television reports on the national Milestones NBC Evening News and local Fox News in Philadelphia all explore Waldorf ’s “low tech” approach to education and its appeal to “high tech” parents in Silicon Valley and beyond. The NY Times front page article explained how, in contrast Robert Mendenhall to tech-enhanced education, Waldorf is Memorial Benefit Concert an “unmediated education,” that places March 9, 2012 the human relationship between teacher 7:30–9:30 p.m. and students at the center of the learning Follen Church process. (Richtel, “A Silicon Valley School Reserve here. That Doesn’t Compute.” Oct 22 2011.) Fly Me To the Moon These broadcasts and articles highlight Second Annual Gala the rising credibility—alongside a signifiAuction, Dinner and Dancing cant new visibility for Waldorf at the naMarch 31, 2012 tional level. As an alumni parent of three 6–11 p.m. Waldorf graduates, it is very gratifying to Charles Hotel, Cambridge see Waldorf education begin to receive the Reserve here. recognition that it deserves. The one thing notably missing from all of these reports May Day are interviews with graduates. Perhaps you May 5, 2012 have experiences and reflections you would 10 a.m.–1 p.m. like to share with us? We would love to hear from you!
by Robert Schiappacasse, School Director It is a pleasure to contribute to this first edition of the alumni community newsletter for the Waldorf School of Lexington. During the course of my first year at WSL, Waldorf education and its methods have been highlighted in mainstream media and educational circles. In February I was asked to make a presentation at Harvard’s Graduate School of Education. Professor Gigi Luk, a specialist in brain research, is teaching a course to 40 graduate students in “Cognitive Neuroscience and Education.” Since their final project centers on early childhood curriculum development, I asked two of our kindergarten teachers, Wendy Margo and Leah Palumbo, to join me. As Waldorf professionals and parents of Waldorf alumni, we saw this as an opportunity to share the history, philosophy, and methods of Waldorf education with students at a leading graduate school of education. After our oral presentation to the students, Wendy passed out beeswax to the group and laid out a puppet show on the floor in front of the class to give the students an experience of Waldorf ’s developmental approach. As Wendy began the story, students slipped out of their chairs onto the floor—with a piece of beeswax softening in their hands—delighted to hear and see a Grimm’s fairy tale. They readily shifted from a cognitive to a sensory and imaginative experience that impressed on them how the Waldorf method engages young children. We encouraged the students to keep in touch and invited
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