WALDORF GRADUATES
Welcome dear parents to year three of Mr.
Badger's Neighborhood (weekly school newsletter column), the seventh
year of Mountain Oak School, the 2005-2006 school year and the
celebration of our very first K-8 curriculum program! As I mentioned
on 'Opening Day', this is a seminal moment in the biography of
MOS. About a decade ago, a handful of men and women in this community
dreamed together a vision for a free Waldorf school in Prescott.
Some of those same 'founding' men and women still reside here
in the community while others have moved to other regions of the
country. This August 22nd, 2005 represented a new "benchmark"
in the story of MOS because the dream vision by that 'founding
group' of a complete elementary K-8 program has been realized.
We graduate our very first eighth grade this year, hence it is
only appropriate this year's school theme is one of 'Celebration'!
A recent edition of the Utne Reader
offered some interesting facts regarding Waldorf graduates. Parents
considering Waldorf want to know "What will become of my
child?" According to Harm Paschen from the University of
Bielefeld, Germany, studies of European Waldorf students, both
eighth grade graduates and high school grads, show that Waldorf
graduates do very well indeed. Kids who go to Waldorf schools
are as likely, or more likely, to attend colleges as students
from public and other private schools. And after college, they
are more likely to be employed than non-Waldorf grads. They are
disproportionately well represented in teaching, the arts, business,
medicine, and the social services professions. Similar research
with North American grads confirms the European studies.
Not long ago, on a college visit,
Donna Badrig, associate director of undergraduate admissions for
Columbia University, told one student, "We love Waldorf kids.
We reject some students with 1600s on their SATs and accept others
based on other factors, like the creative ability Waldorf students
demonstrate." Similar enthusiasm for Waldorf grads was heard
from admissions officers at Wesleyan University. City of Lakes
Waldorf School (K-8) and Watershed High School (a new Waldorf
charter school), both in Minneapolis, have seen their students
go to such colleges as Sarah Lawrence, Julliard, Wellesley, Lewis
and Clark, Stanford, Hampshire, and MIT, among others. At the
same time, not all Waldorf grads go to college after high school.
Many take a break from study to travel or do volunteer work before
getting a job or going on to higher education. A former student
of mine, for example, traveled to India after high school. For
two years, he worked with a team of doctors traveling throughout
the countryside to visit small villages performing cataract procedures
and giving the "gift of sight" to thousands of men and
women. Once returning to the states, he went on to college, graduated
and is now working in the fields of journalism and literature.
Waldorf students seem to share certain common characteristics.
They are often independent and self-confident self-starters. They
have genuine optimism for the future. They also tend to be highly
ethical and are compassionately intelligent. They keep their sense
of wonder about learning and the interdisciplinary sense that
everything is connected. They seem to have a very healthy measure
of what author Daniel Goleman calls "emotional intelligence,"
a much more reliable predictor of "success" in life,
by any definition, than IQ or SAT scores. Generally speaking,
they are both practical and artistic. They seem to know intuitively
how to do many things.
Waldorf grad Paul Asaro, an architect,
says: "I still draw upon the problem-solving skills that
were nurtured...during my adolescent years." Other graduates
stress independent thinking, imagination and the relationships
they developed and enjoyed with faculty and fellow students."
That's what's so wonderful about Waldorf education," says
actress Julianna Margulies." You're exposed to all these
different ideas, but you're never given one view of it. You're
encouraged to think as an individual." Rachel Blackmer, a
veterinarian, writes: "Waldorf education is learning in its
purest form. It is learning to think, to feel, and to act appropriately
and with conscience." Mosemarie Boyd, President and CEO,
American Women Presidents, adds: "At Waldorf, we were taught
to see things from the perspective of others. We saw that doing
things together...was always more fun...We learned to love learning."
As we begin this year at MOS, with
our first of many eighth grade graduations to come, let us remember
the many gifts of Waldorf education. Let us remember, too, the
hope and promise of the future and all that is good which our
children represent. And let us remember the celebration of this
milestone in our school's remarkable story. Remembering all this,
the first edition of this 'Tuesday' newsletter is dedicated with
gratitude, thanks and appreciation for the courage and daring
of that very first 'founding group', as well as the families of
this very first graduating group of students.
- Merrill Badger, Principal
|
Happenings:
Tues., Aug. 30th, 3rd grade parent meeting,
6:00-7:30pm.
Wed., Aug. 31st, 2nd grade potluck, 5-7pm.
Next Monday, Sept. 5th is Labor Day, NO SCHOOL. Have a wonderful
3 day weekend.
Tuesday, Sept. 6th will be school photos for the 7th & 8th
grade.
Next Week on Wednesday, Sept. 7th will be our first half-day on
the first Wednesday of the month. Early dismissal at 12:30pm.
|
Musical Update
For those of you who have missed the evening to arrange cello/violin
rentals with Milano Music, please have your child see me to find
out what size instrument he/she needs. Then you can contact Paul
Maneely of Milano Music (based in Chino Valley) directly to arrange
for a violin or cello. His phone number is: 928-636-5563. The school
is aware that we are asking quite a financial commitment by making
cello classes mandatory in 4th grade. Please remember that for those
parents who need help paying for the cello rental throughout the
school year, you can write a note to the school to ask for a music
scholarship. In two weeks (week of 9/12) we will start ensemble
classes. The 6th, 7th and 8th graders will have a choice of joining
either the string or recorder ensemble. The parents of 6th, 7th
and 8th grade children should have received a letter explaining
our recorder rental program. The school has purchased recorders
to be rented out to the children. The cost of a soprano (the smallest
and highest pitched recorder) is only a fraction of that of a
bass recorder (the biggest and deepest sound). With paying $20
for the entire school year your child has access to all recorders,
one of which can be taken home. Your child may explore the different
ensembles but a choice should be made no later than October 1st.
Your child will stay with the same ensemble till the end of the
school year. I will lead the recorder ensemble and Mr. Doug Fulkner
will lead the string ensemble. He is a professional fiddler so
we are bound to hear some great folk music from our upper grades!
After Labor Day a music tutoring program will start for pentatonic
(graders 2 and 3) and diatonic (grades 4 and up) flute and cello.
Stay tuned for times and locations.
Thank you, all parents for your support of our exciting music
program!
- Ms Marion
School Picture Day
This year pictures are going to be done by Albert Kadosh and other
parent volunteers. Albert has been taking beautiful pictures of
our students ever since he and his family came to Prescott a few
years ago. MOS is honored and grateful to have Albert do our school
pictures this year as a fundraiser!
Picture Day Schedule:
Grade Picture Day/Date Deadline for Order
- 7th & 8th Grade Tuesday, September 6 /Friday, September
2
- 5th & 6th Grade Thursday, September 8 /Friday, September
2
- 3rd & 4th Grade Tuesday, September 13 / Friday, September
9
- 1st & 2nd Grade Thursday, September 15 /Friday, September
9
- Kindergarten & Make-up Day, Tuesday, September 20 /Friday,
September 16
Please send payment to your child teacher or come to the office.
Credit cards are accepted.
|
