"The children are walking to get their little light
All the stars are shining by day and by night
Now they have their little light
And the stars are shining bright
Carefully they set one down to light our starry way."

The Winter Garden of Light last Wednesday afternoon was a magical time for the early-childhood class. Each child made their way beautifully to the center candle, and very soon the whole room was full of light!

We had a visit from St. Nicholas last week, and a story as well. It was great fun to find our shoes filled with surprises, and there was another magical moment as we discovered that all the way out the door...he had left a trail of sparkles!

Wishing everyone a blessed holiday season!

Warmly,
- Beth Lunt
Early-Childhood Teacher

Middle School at Camp Kieve. Photo: Liz Snider. Middle-school (grades 6-7 and 8) participated in the Leadership School at Camp Kieve for three days at the beginning of December and had a fantastic time together! The Leadership School is a character building experiential education program for middle school students, their teachers, and parents, at the camp in Nobleboro, ME.

An intern from Antioch University will be coming to Ashwood on January 3. His name is John Lee (Mr. Lee), and he will be interning with grade 4-5 from January 3 until February vacation. He will then join Mr. Kaczor and grade 2-3 for four weeks.

John Lee spent the early part of his life working in the field of artificial intelligence. However, after becoming the father of two daughters (now ages 2 and 5), he started transitioning into education. Originally hooked on Teacher Tom's blog and early childhood, John eventually made his way into Waldorf education. He recently completed his Waldorf teacher training at Antioch University, New England this past summer.  John also likes singing, the outdoors, and a good puzzle.

- Jeremy Clough
Grade 4-5 class teacher

June 2

-Students of Grade Eight

Danji Buck-Moore graduated from Ashwood in 2003 and has been living in Montreal for the last 8 years.  He is part of several music projects including a band, experimental ambient playing, and DJing.  Check out a sample of his musical projects here!

Thanks to our correspondent, Caroline Ginsberg, for gathering these profiles. 

Ashwood Community, where did your annual appeal envelope go?  Is it under the holiday wrapping paper?  While we are on our school break, maybe you can find it so that you can help your class to be the first to reach 100% participation.  How fun to return in January to find that your class will be the ones eating chocolate deliciousness at your next parent evening!  The first class to reach 100% participation in the annual appeal is treated to a homemade Chocolate Decadent Torte made by yours truly.

We are off to a super good start, as we are only one month into our campaign and are already close to halfway to our goal!  To date we've raised over $16,000 and are going strong.  Every class has participated, so you are all in the running.

May your holidays be restful and merry,
- Annie Mahle
Development Director

Hooray! At long last, the Ashwood T-shirts have arrived (they're beautiful) and are available for pickup in the office!
- Sarah Ewing
Administrative Assistant

Of course, we all love to support our local businesses, but when it just can't be found in the Midcoast, AmazonSmile is a great backup. What's more, when you shop with AmazonSmile, they automatically make a donation (.5% of your purchase price) to the charity of your choice. While this may not seem like a lot, it adds up!

1. Go to www.smile.amazon.com.  
2. Add Ashwood Waldorf School as your charity.  
3. Bookmark www.smile.amazon.com.
4. Use AmazonSmile every time you shop at Amazon, and they will donate .5% of your purchase to Ashwood.

- Annie Mahle
Development Director