Autumn is descending gently, with warm, humid rain and ever lengthening nights. The vinyards are just beginning to turn color and grapes are leaving by the truckload. At this harvest time of year comes our Michaelmas festival. I overheard a grandma in our family asking - "What does it symbolize?" In response she received a 2nd grade response - a retelling of the pagaent. I was left reflecting on a deeper meaning. I like this about our festivals - they meet us each where we are - as entertainment, a community festival, or food for a deeper hunger and questioning. This year our country is full of controversy, chaos and upset. In our communities many people have passed over the threshold. I thought of this as I watched the dragon move slowly around the Michaelmas village last Friday. I thought about rage and destruction in the face of injustice and ignorance. I thought about love, loss, grief, fear. I was comforted by the presence of heavenly grace, taming a dark force.
A hallmark of our small school is that on the same day we have Kindergarten students being knighted and Sixth Graders giving oral reports and exploding volcanoes. This creates a dynamic campus where students can feel held and challenged, anticipatory and proud. It is wonderful to feel our school growing! We have steadily added a grade each year. With 8th grade graduation only a year away the WSMC community is seeing an upsurge of fundraising by Class 6 & 7 as they raise funds for their 8th Grade trip. This month look for a firewood raffle, Taco Tuesday hot lunch (see note in School News), shaved ice (when it is warm enough) and possibly a car wash!
On Michaelmas day we hosted a New Parent Orientation. I enjoyed meeting again with new parents to talk about our school, our practices, culture and expectations. Attendees shared what had brought them and their children to WSMC - these stories were moving and inspiring. WSMC relies on help and engagement from parents in so many ways. We always strive to offer something back to parents as well, so there is reciprocity. As years go by and I find myself woven into the fabric of our school I am grateful that all my volunteer shifts and batches of soup and cookies and Field Trip clearances have added up to community. A warm welcome to those of you joining us and gratitude to all of you who have been working alongside us for a good while now.
School News & Events
Past Events:
Waldorf 100/Peace Day
After rousing performances by WSMC students parents and friends visited classrooms and enjoyed student work and talking with teachers.
Assembled on the corner we were quite a crowd. Current families were joined by alumni, alumni families and several guests. Several guests shared prayers from their traditions: Jin Jr Shi and students from the Girls School for Developing Virtue shared the Buddhist Metta Sutta, our neighbor Kim Cavender from Calpella Church offered a prayer, Linda Posner, member of the Jewish community led us in a Hebrew song. We sang together, had a moment of silence and dedicated our prayers to peace.
We were honored to have 3rd District Supervisor John Haschak and 1st District Supervisor Carre Brown join us and read a proclamation in honor of Waldorf 100:
“On behalf of the Citizens of our Community, This Public Service Award is proudly presented to:
Waldorf Education
In Recognition of Your 100th Anniversary and Valuable Contribution to our Community.
Waldorf Education was established by Rudolf Steiner for the purpose of social renewal by cultivating human capacities in service to the individual and society. Waldorf schools in the 2019-202 school year will be celebrating 100 years of Waldorf education through ecological and community engagement activities.
We Supervisors Carre Brown and John Haschak of District 1 and District 3 of Mendocino County do hereby proclaim September 19, 2019 as Waldorf Educations' 100th Anniversary Year in Mendocino County and encourage everyone to recognize and celebrate the educational opportunities that the Waldorf School of Mendocino County has provided for many students and our community throughout the years.”
Michaelmas
We had another beautiful Michaelmas celebration! From the dragon to the angels to the soup and volcanoes and everything in between, it was an eventful day. Thank you to our soup makers:
Kori, Jewel, Rachel, Heather, Whitney, Chantal, Carissa, Caren, Wendy, Carlotta, Ms. Amy and Ms. French, Dominique, Allegra, Erika, Taj, Emily, Bill, and Rose Thank you to our Set up Crew:
Miranda, Rita, Ranna, Cynthia, Kim, Alejandro, and Jen Thank you to our Clean up Crew:
Elizabeth, Jim. Eliza, Leif, Marlayna, Vanessa, and Emily Rose
We are thrilled to again have an 8th grade class bringing us angelic support alongside adolescent challenges and revolutionary thinking. Thank you students and parents for your commitment.
*Lost and Found: There was a memory card from a camera found near the field on Michaelmas
A red chair was also left.
Both items can be found in the office.
Upcoming Events:
Roots and Shoots-Fall IS FULL! Our next session will begin in January
We are happy to announce the next session of our Roots & Shoots Parent Toddler Course. We are thrilled that Ms. Amy will be teaching the Fall Session. Come together with other families to joyfully sign songs, learn finger plays and bake bread. For parents and caregivers, a Roots & Shoots class provides a platform for discussion on child development and parenting and offers sources of inspiration for life at home. Adults with young
Six Consecutive Wednesdays:
January 29th-March 11th
10:00-11:45 AM
$180 for six classes
For information and to register www.mendocinowaldorf.org or speak with Emily Rose in the Office.
children (ages 1-3) welcome.
Raising Boys: To be Compassionate and Caring
Parent Education Lecture with visiting educator Rev Bowen
Monday, October 7, 5:30pm
What challenges face our growing boys today and what can we do to help them become
compassionate and caring individuals as they grow into adult men.
After earning his B.A. in English, Mr. Bowen found work as a substitute teacher in and around Richmond, CA, working in every grade and in every type of class. He then realized that he should become a teacher, but abhorred the idea of teaching within the same kind of compulsory schooling system that he had experienced as a student. During his search for another way to educate, he picked up a hitchhiker who told him about Rudolf Steiner. Soon after, a grocery cashier also told him about Waldorf education. Mr. Bowen earned his Waldorf Teaching Certificate from the Rudolf Steiner College in 2000. He earned his M.A. in Human Development from St. Mary’s University in St. Paul, MN in 2004. Mr. Bowen has graduated three classes at Live Oak Waldorf School, 2008, 2016, and 2018.
The Enchanted Pumpkin Path
Dear WSMC Families,
Our school's wondrous and magical Halloween celebration, the Enchanted Pumpkin Path approaches! This is the largest community event that our school hosts during the year. Our campus opens to hundreds' of friends and families from across Mendocino County to celebrate All Hallows Eve with games, stories, songs, food and crafts, and to experience the magic of beloved children’s stories come to life on our Enchanted Path.
As the winds of Autumn begin to swirl outside so do the whispered guesses of this year's theme. If you were to ask anyone in the know, they may tell you we are traveling back to a time where dragons roam the mountainside, fairies dance through enchanted glens and noble kings, fair princesses and brave knights rule the land! I am sure some of you have guessed where we will be going, and if so you too are now honored with the responsibility of keeping that secret tight. This secretiveness adds to the mystery, wonder and excitement of All Hallows’ Eve!
Each year, the unique village of WSMC families comes together to host this fabulous event for the larger Mendocino community of friends and family. The job of each WSMC family, therefore, is to volunteer two hours of time per child in attendance at the school to this enchanted event. The time you give is a special gift toward helping this
event succeed and is so very appreciated during the creation and cleanup of Enchanted Pumpkin Path.
For RosebudFamilies, these volunteer hours will take the form of baking four-dozen cooked goodies to sell at the Smokey Cauldron Café.
Red RoseFamilies will help set-up the day of, or cleanup the day after the event. The Grades Families will spend two-hour shifts during the event running the Blacktop Games, Café, and breaking down the night of EPP. This shifts will be worked during the event between 2pm-10 pm, OR setting up the morning of EPP OR cleaning up the day after.
Sign-ups for volunteer shifts will be posted outside the office door on Wednesday,
October 2nd at 8:45am. Class parents will be asked to gently remind families to sign up and follow through with the shifts they have committed to. Sign ups are first come first serve. If your fun is on the blacktop or, in the Café, sign up right away!
If you wish to get more involved in the creation or promotion of the EPP over the next couple weeks, please come to an EPP Craft Morning Wednesday after drop off, and enjoy coffee and conversation while making treats for the kids. Please note that while we need extra help in the craft room, this does not replace a shift of set up, during the event or clean up.
I would like to thank everyone in advance for the time they will put into making the 2019 Enchanted Pumpkin Path a success. The event would not be possible without your hard work and dedication to creating magic for this school, for your children, and for your friends throughout Mendocino County. Together we will celebrate Halloween with wacky wizards, bubbly witches, singing knights and a fun time for all!
Thank you to those who have already invested love and creativity in this year’s Enchanted Pumpkin Path.
Warmly,
All parents, grandparents and friends are invited to help create the details for the Enchanted Pumpkin Path, our schools' magical Halloween Celebration. Come help the Path leaders with projects big and small.
Shanna Phillips will be brewing up coffee to fuel our volunteers. Stay as long as you like, many hands and good conversation make the work load light and fun.
Contact Autumn Whitaker (autumngracerose@gmail.com) for more information.
See you there!
Donations Requested for EPP
I would like to briefly add our Path wish list here in hopes that some of our needed items can be acquired through our school community. All items only need to be borrowed and will be returned to their lenders!
-Old looking single sided wooden ladder (like for a bookcase or kids loft)
-Fog machine
-Silver tea set or two silver goblets
-Small metal or wooden garden arbor
-Tall wizard's hat
-Faux fire torches
-Old looking high back reading chair
Lantern Walk:
November 7th at 5:30pm
Early Childhood students, parents and teachers enjoy an evening walk through the dark, lighting the way with their carefully made lanterns.
Each November, we hold the Lantern Walk celebrating Martinmas, a festival of inner light in the outer darkness of the approaching winter. The story of St Martin is shared with 2nd graders. In our younger classes, the holiday is celebrated by making lanterns. Then children and their parents come together to sing songs and, as darkness falls, venture out into the night with our light in a mood of quiet reverence. This symbolic act brings home the deeper truth, in the words of Siddhartha Gautama, the founder of Buddhism (563-483 B.C.): “There isn’t enough darkness in the entire world to snuff out the light of one little candle.”
The story of St Martin is shared here so that you can bring some of this inspiration to your own shortening days.
St Martin was a soldier in Rome in the 4th century. Legend says that one wintry night, he met a poor beggar, half-naked and freezing. Martin removed the heavy military cloak from his shoulders and, drawing his sword, cut it in two, and gave half to the beggar. That night, Christ appeared to Martin in a dream, wrapped in the same piece of cloak Martin had given the beggar, and said: “Martin has covered me with this garment.” Martin became the patron saint of beggars, drunks and outcasts, dedicating his life to assisting pariahs. Celebrating Martinmas serves as a reminder that each of us has a divine spark that we must ferry out into the world and share with others.
School News:
Maestra Thaxter
We are sad to share the news that Maestra has submitted her resignation to WSMC. Due to some chronic health concerns it is necessary for her to work closer to her home, in Sonoma County. Maestra has taught Spanish to WSMC students for many years— always bringing her language lessons with beautiful imagery, songs and stories. We already miss her!
We are working to hire a replacement as soon as possible. Please send us any great candidates you might know
Student Absences
Attendance is taken daily at 8:45am. If your student/s miss school, please call the office before then to let us know. If we haven't received a call and a student is absent, it is unclear whether the parent is aware of the absence. In order to ensure student safety, Jami will call parents whose students are absent and unaccounted for.
Rain Gear
At WSMC teachers send children out to play in the fresh air, even on rainy days. The early rainstorms so far this year caught many students unprepared. Please send your children to school with rain gear. Preschool and Kindergarten students need rain pants, rain coat and rain boots that live at school, along with an extra set of dry clothes. First Grade students need full rain gear and an extra set of clothes. No umbrellas please. Grades Two through Eight please wear rain boots and coats.
If you have any questions, please contact your student's teacher directly.
Thank you for providing adequate rain gear for your children. This supports students' health and learning and teachers.
Dogs
Many WSMC employees and students LOVE dogs. However, pets are not allowed on campus, even cute little ones. Several adults and children have allergies and even the best-behaved animal may become aggressive or defensive if approached by several children at a time. Please leave pets in the car, in a shady spot, with windows open, while you attend to campus business.
WSMC Board Open Meetings for Prospective Members
Wednesday, October 23rd, 5:30 pm in Class 7/8
We are seeking new Board members. Our Board enjoys working together to support and direct our program. We offer this Open House so prospective members can get to know us and understand the responsibilities of Board membership.
We are looking for:
- Community members who care about education, children and our collective future
- Professionals with experience in Finance, Business Management, Marketing, Law, Contracting, Organizational Development and Human Resources
- New, experienced or former parents, grandparents, alumni, alumni parents and community members
Please consider joining us or recommending Board service to someone you know.
Support positions available
Please speak with Jami or Spring to find out more about any of these opportunities or to volunteer!
Spanish
While Maestra is irreplaceable, replace her we must. This position is two days/week, currently Tuesday and Thursday and works with all Grades classes. A native Spanish speaker is preferred, as is teaching experience. This is an immediate hire.
Kindercare Please help us find someone for this important role! A lovely job for someone who loves young children. Join Rosebud Preschool and Red Rose Kindergarten students for rest time, snack and outdoor play Monday through Friday, 12:45 - 5:45pm. To apply, please send a resume and cover letter: admin@mendocinowaldorf.org.
Office Substitute We occasionally need a substitute in the office for basic receptionist duties. Prior office experience is helpful for this position.
Substitute Teachers WSMC Faculty are a healthy bunch who never like to take a sick day. Occasionally they must though, and we surely want them to rest and recover when needed. If you'd like to be on our substitute list please let Spring or Jennifer know.
Office/Festival Support
Up to 10 hours per week performing data entry, setting up and cleaning up after festivals and events , running errands and attending to details in support of WSMC admin staff. This is a fun way to spend more time at WSMC helping out, and getting paid to do it!
WSMC needs a truck
We'd love to have a truck for dump runs, hauling lumber around, picking up heavy loads of things that need transport, etc. If you have one sitting around that you just don't use anymore, consider donating it to WSMC for a tax write off!
We have a visiting Eurythmist in November from the 4th-22nd. who would like to borrow a car for his time here. If you know of any please let the office know. Thank you!
Recommended Reading
https://www.waldorfeducation.org/news-resources/essentials-in-education-blog/detail/~board/essentials-in-ed-board/post/teaching-empathy-essential-for-students-crucial-for-humanity
Teaching Empathy: Essential for Students, Crucial for Humanity Beverly Amico
May 21 2019
Empathy is the key to encouraging prosocial behavior, limiting aggression, and diminishing social prejudice in our world. “To empathize is to civilize,” says Jeremy Rifkin, social theorist and author of the book, The Empathic Civilization: The Race to Global Consciousness in a World in Crisis. And, here in his TED Talk -- The Empathic Civilization -- Rifkin reimagines our world as a place where we cultivate enough empathy to see earth and all its residents as one large social unit. He argues that this is the opposite of a Utopian notion, and yet, it does seem quite idealistic, particularly as it is in contrast to our current mainstream model of schooling where character education and social emotional learning take a back seat to testing.
“Part of our formal education should be training in empathy. Imagine how different the world would be if, in fact, it were 'reading, writing, arithmetic, empathy.'”
- Neil deGrasse Tyson
Education expert Dr. Michele Borba, a proponent of empathy in education, has written a book on the topic called UnSelfie: Why Empathetic Kids Succeed in Our All-About-Me World. While she believes teaching children character has value for the sake of our future society, she also thinks that perhaps pitching it as a tool for success might be one way to get it back into our school systems. “We are such a trophy-, SAT-obsessed society, but if parents would recognize the value [for success] beyond the humanness, civility and ethics, they might get it.” She adds, “It needs to be woven in curriculum, not tacked on.”
The research shows that higher levels of empathy make people more productive in cooperative learning and work environments, and empathy education has even been proven to boost traditional academic success as well. Future leaders in business, politics, art, and beyond will need emotional intelligence to participate meaningfully and relate to others in an increasingly complex world.
Studies, like this one of secondary school students, shows a simple and straightforward connection between empathy indicators in children and grade point average. One particularly interesting study noted the effects of empathy on comprehension in reading, literature and social studies. “The empathic child is better able to place him- or herself in the role of central characters portrayed in the fictional and historical readings. In addition to being better able to understand the roles and perspectives of these fictional and historical characters, the empathic child is better able to share and experience, to some degree, their feelings. These shared feelings may serve to underline and reinforce what they have read and been taught, resulting in better recall. (Budin, 2001; Cress & Holm, 2000).”
Educating children in, and with, empathy also has a direct effect on their behavior and motivation. Studying student behavior in schools that focus on fostering empathetic school communities have found that: “Students in high-community schools are more likely to become thoughtful and reflective, to be self-directing, but also to accept the authority of others, to be concerned for and respectful of others, to avoid courses of action that are harmful to themselves or others, and to maintain higher standards of ethical conduct.”
It’s not surprising then that empathetic students do better after their schooling as well. The authors of Emotional Intelligence 2.0, Travis Bradberry and Jean Greaves, found people with high emotional intelligence and empathy (which they call EQ) made an average of $29,000 more each year and they also attributed EQ to having a 58% influence over job performance.
Yale has a Center for Emotional Intelligence and provides an overview of the field in their publication, The Science of Emotional Intelligence. Yale scientists found that empathy is half the emotional intelligence equation -- “a set of four related abilities: perceiving, using, understanding, and managing emotions. Emotional intelligence predicts success in important domains, among them personal and work relationships.”
So, the WHY of empathy in education is pretty clear here in the 21st century. What about the HOW?
How to Cultivate Empathy for the Sake of Learning
Science increasingly suggests that empathy is a skill that can be learned and mastered, and we are gaining a better understanding of how to teach it in the classroom. A meta analysis of over 18 empathy training programs found that empathy training is effective.
There are many types of for- and non-profit empathy training initiatives available for schools, but educators can foster, cultivate, and teach empathy in their communities and classrooms by keeping these three principles top of mind.
Focus on a Child’s Emotional World
Emotions are a key player in motivation and learning. Emotions and emotional intelligence play such a large role in achievement because emotional well-being primes students to learn and eliminates potent emotional distractions - anxiety, fear, jealousy, anger - that interfere with learning.
In Waldorf Education, special attention is given to the child’s whole being -- head, heart, and hands -- with the heart being the emotional core. Learning self-regulation, listening skills, empathy, patience, and kindness toward others paves the way for intrinsic motivation and cooperative learning.
Use Story to Foster Empathy
Children who are encouraged to use their imaginations have the ability to place themselves into story, literature, and history lessons. Inquiry-based learning helps students adopt and emotionally connect to their lessons. What would it feel like to live during the Middle Ages without doctors or plumbing or schools? How would you feel about an arranged marriage at age 13? How did our character feel about it? The more students understand the influences their experiences have on their own mindsets, the more they can empathize about others’ experiences and mindsets in past and in current day settings.
Actively Model Empathy
Positive teacher and student relationships are a key ingredient to student success. Waldorf Educators are particularly poised to take advantage of this dynamic, since they stay with students through multiple grades. Therefore, it becomes even more essential to model empathy and understanding for all students within the classroom community.
Genuinely caring for students, understanding their home life and backgrounds, believing in their potential, engaging in non-authoritarian discipline styles, and customizing one-on-one teaching when possible are all examples of empathetic leadership skills in the classroom community.
By teaching students empathy in an authentic way, we will not only see direct benefits in the classroom community, school community and student achievement, but we will ultimately help foster a better world -- one that social theorists and philosophers believe is essential to thriving as a global community.
The class stood and watched as Stephen Decatur closed the gate to the pasture and walked
back towards us. It was early morning and the sun was just peeking over the ridgetop into
Round Valley and onto the fields and meadows of Live Power Farm. As Stephen walked back
along the wide well-worn path each footstep raised a small cloud of dust that when caught by
the sun turned to gold.
Rudolf Steiner felt that the wisdom that comes from having a close connection to the land was
one of the dearest. He said, as he was stirring manure for a farm preparation:
I myself planted potatoes, and though I did not breed horses, at any rate I helped to breed pigs.
And in the farmyard ... I lent a hand with the cattle. These things were absolutely near my life for
a long time; I took part in them most actively. Thus I am at any rate lovingly devoted to it, for I
grew up in the midst of it myself, and there is far more of that in me than the little bit of 'stirring
the manure' just now. Therefore I beg you to consider me as the small peasant farmer who
conceived a real love for farming; one who remembers his small peasant farm and who thereby,
perhaps, can understand what lives in the peasantry, in the farmers and yeomen of our
agricultural life.
Class 3/4 also “lent a hand with the cattle” getting a taste of what life was like for the many
generations before us and, for a few, what it is like now. Stephen and Gloria Decatur are part of
the few dedicated to traditional horse-powered farming. Stephen told us that he had only
bought one piece of farm equipment in his life. All the rest had been pulled out of bushes and
back fields where the old horse equipment had been relegated. Stephen demonstrated to the
students through their own efforts the physics of weight, effort and load. What does it take to
move a heavy load? The students learned how a team of horses work together, and the
traditional voice commands that they delighted in rediscovering in their book Farmer Boy when
Almanzo, the main character, is training his young team of oxen. Stephen said, “When I read
Farmer Boy I thought, ‘Wow, that’s my life!’ ”
During their 3 days on the farm, students helped gather potatoes after the horses pulled the
potato harvester through. They also worked putting the beef cattle, dairy cattle, and sheep in for
the evening, feeding and watering them, learning the different kinds of hay and the benefits of
each. In the morning, they put the animals back out, driving them along the dusty paths, having
made sure that the right gates were open and others closed.
For other morning chores, they milked the cows, fed and watered animals again, and learned to
split wood with wedges. During the day they harvested corn and beans, gathered apples and
pears and learned to shear a sheep with blade shears. They shoveled manure and layered it
into a large compost system. Together with Stephen, the students also got to guide a plow as it
was pulled by the horses.
Appetites were strong and sleep was sound. When the bell rang for the next meal all raced to wash hands, say blessing and ever so eagerly line up. Large bowls and trays were carried out of the house to the serving table. Delicious salads, carrot soup, rice...etc. disappeared quickly as all sat at long tables under a grand weeping willow tree in the front yard.
And just as soon as the students were establishing a routine and building confidence and familiarity it was time to go. “Can we stay longer?”
Community Events
Mindfulness and Massage for Babies and their Families
The class will be an opportunity to connect with yourself, your babies and each with each other as we explore what it means to be a mindful parent. In this exploration we will use the tools of baby massage, meditation, singing and being curious.
Looking forward to being with you all.
Karla Downing RN, CMT
415-722-1258 Info@aliveretreats.com
Karla Downing has been in the world of bodywork, babies, birth, meditation and wholistic living for over 40 years. She enjoys being in nature and sharing with others.
This class is being offered at WSMC in our Primrose classroom.
Tuesdays 10-11:30am
Starting Oct 15th for 6 weeks, the 6th class will be on Friday Nov 22nd with guest speaker Barbara Juniper on Sound, Energy Medicine and Babies.
$120/family per six week class.
Gratitudes
Spring Senerchia offer thanks to everyone who made our Peace Day/Waldorf 100 event a great success:
To the Site Committee—Carissa Chiniaeff, Jim Logg, Alejandro Gutierrez for cleverly and competently setting up a video screen ultimately not used
For digging a deep hole—Nole French, making a beautiful Peace Pole—Sam Senerchia, painted skillfully by Carissa Chiniaeff—without you we may not have had a peace pole at all.
For the heartfelt prayers: Jin Ju Shin and students from the City of Ten Thousand Budhhas, Linda Posner, Kim Cavender from Calpella Church
John Haschak and Carre Brown for not only attending but writing us a proclamation!
To my colleagues for sharing the mic—Debra McCarthy, Kelly Austin, Joy Evans, Stephanie Croft and Emily Rose Smith
To Jennifer Krauss for the beautiful and delicious cakes
To WSMC students who helped tidy up and prepare our garden and campus for visitors.
Spring Senerchia thanks Stephanie Croft for leading students, Faculty and our community in singing.
Parent to Parent Sharing
Share your small and large businesses with your school community. For a small fee, you can advertise quarterly in the newsletter. Email office@mendocinowaldorf.org or call the front desk for more information.
Tara Moratti supports our school in many ways: as a Parent, and Volunteer.
Mom to Leo (7th Grade).
Top Notch Realtor for residential and land sales in Mendocino County Real Estate; locally owned and socially responsible.
