Weekly Bulletin - June 3, 2020
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Senior portraits created by Barbara Bancroft (HS Art Teacher)
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Congratulations to the Class of 2020!
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The past week's celebration of the class of 2020 was marked by traditions that continued through creative, virtual connections.
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Rose Ceremony
Our year is bookended with Rose Ceremonies - where the 12th graders welcome the 1st graders in the fall and in the spring the 1st graders give each senior a red rose as they move on to their next adventure. During social distancing, the connections have remained with 1st and 12th graders reaching out to check on and encourage each other. For the virtual ceremony, each 1st grader drew a rose for their senior and pictures of each of them and their roses were combined into a video that was shared during the ceremony. The drawings themselves were delivered to the seniors ahead of time. The connection and spirit of the event transcended our current distance.
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Pictured Above:
The seniors holding up the rose drawings sent to them by their 1st grade buddies.
Pictured Below:
The rose ceremony last September when the seniors welcomed the 1st graders at the start of the school year.
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Graduation
The virtual graduation ceremony on Saturday, May 30th was a time to gather and celebrate the class of 2020. Frank Hall (longtime WWS teacher) offered words of joy, words of encouragement, and words of challenge. We are excited to see where each member of this class journeys from here and how their impact on the world may change it for the better - in ways big and small.
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Responding to Current Events
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As we send each class of graduates out into the world, we often reflect on the driving forces behind Waldorf education - fostering compassionate, free thinking individuals who are able to forge their own path toward the betterment of the world and social renewal.
In responding to the turmoil of current events, we have heard from the Association of Waldorf Schools of North America (AWSNA), the Waldorf Early Childhood Association of North America (WECAN) and our own Jennifer Page (Faculty Chair & Head of School) sent a letter to families earlier this week. With a call to "assemble our own toolboxes and help our children assemble theirs," Jennifer provides us with food for thought and suggested reading.
"The Washington Waldorf School opposes every expression of racism, and stands in support of those who seek justice for the horrific events of recent days. It is not enough in times like these to stand by and watch. In the words of Elie Wiesel, 'We must take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.'"
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"At the foundation of Waldorf education lies the mission of social renewal. As Waldorf educators, we hold the dignity of life and the human being at the center of our work. It is our responsibility to bear witness to what is happening in the world, to elevate the voices of marginalized people, to change the course of inequities, and to break down structural prejudice in all forms where it exists, particularly in Waldorf education."
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"...As an association working on behalf of the young child, these events quicken the urgency with which we work to transform Waldorf early childhood education in North America, by deepening our commitment to recognizing personal implicit and explicit biases; talking about, confronting, and responding to racism in our institutions and schools; transforming our teacher education programs and supporting Waldorf Early Childhood educators to become anti-racist educators."
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ONE
FUND Challenge Grants
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Dear WWS Community - if you are in a position to do so, please give today to support the Washington Waldorf School
ONE
FUND
. Your gift will help unlock a possible total of $60,000 in matching gifts provided by two generous donors.
$50,000 Match
Every new or increased gift received between June 1 and June 30 from current student families, parents of alumni, grandparents, and friends will be matched 1:1.
$10,000 Alumni Gift Matching
Alumni gifts will help unlock a $10,000 challenge grant for WWS. All alumni gifts received between June 1 and June 30 will be matched 2:1.
You can also
text to give
by texting “
wws1969
” to
56651
.
Thank you for your support of the WWS mission.
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Parent Organization Zoom Meeting
TODAY
Wednesday, June 3 from 5 - 5:30pm
Parents from all classes are invited to a short Parent Zoom meeting today to check in and connect. Feel free to stop by for just a few minutes or stay the full half hour. Besides a general check in and sharing info on how you and your families may be doing given the current events, we can also touch on summer plans, and discuss how we are thanking our hard working teachers and staff. If you miss this final meeting today and want to connect, or have any questions, feel free to send an e-mail to
posc@washingtownaldorf.org
or to
vakkurstudio@me.com
. You can also stay connected with parents on the WWS list serve (see the PO section below for details).
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Community Book Club Hosted by Susan Walsh
TONIGHT
Wednesday, June 3 at 7:30pm
Susan Walsh will lead a discussion of the novel
Bel Canto
by Ann Patchett. Please read the entire book, if possible. Come one, come all! (Parents, Alumni Parents, and Grandparents welcome)
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8th Grade Commencement
Friday, June 5 at 1:30pm
This year's 8th grade commencement will take place via Zoom.
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Bingo Night Rescheduled
We have decided to reschedule this weekend's Bingo Night for a later date. We will send out information when available. Please watch for an announcement via ParentSquare.
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Angst, the Movie - High School Screening & Available On Demand
Wednesday, June 3 - Tuesday, June 9
This award winning documentary was created to open a dialogue and normalize - not trivialize - anxiety to allow us to help each other and ourselves. IndieFlix recommends ages 10 to adult, and we recommend middle school age to adult. The run time is 56 minutes, the viewing site offers an "at home" discussion guide and other resources.
The whole High School will have a screening and class forum discussions - June 4. Viewing on demand will be available to the WWS community for free, June 3 - June 9.
Password: wws
The link is good for 500 logins/views until June 9 at 11:59pm. We encourage you to use it, and ask that you please log in only when you are ready to watch. The run time is just under an hour. Subtitles are included and can be turned on/off on the video player progress bar where it says "CC."
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The excitement has been building all year - who would win this beautiful bench built by our own woodworking teacher,
Tove Elfström?
Watch the video to find out! And there are two bonus round winners who each get a stool built by
Tove Elfström as well!
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Scenes From Remote Learning Life
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7th Grade - Chemistry Main Lesson Block
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These pictures give us a window into the current 7th grade main lesson block - Introduction to Inorganic Chemistry - showing how Waldorf education continues to be experiential, hands-on, and arts integrated no matter the location. In addition to videos, zoom meetings, and offline work, Ms. Andre prepared packets that she delivered (with distance) to her students last week.
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Parent List Serve
In case you do not know, the parent list serve is a great place to share info and ask other parents for resources etc. Parents post info about classes, camps, webinars, free offerings or items for sale, babysitters, etc. To date there are 172 members on this list. Joining is also a great way to stay connected to the WWS Community over the summer.
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POSC Openings for Next Year
Are you a parent that wants to get more involved at WWS? Maybe you want to meet more parents from other grades or have opportunities to work with faculty and staff? Perhaps you care about our special community and just want to help us connect? The Parent Organization Steering Committee (POSC) is seeking a few new members for next year to help lead the Parent Organization.
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How to Submit a Listing
We welcome submissions of community news, items for sale, want ads, etc. Please keep notices to 500 characters or less. Listings will likely be edited. Please
submit listings
by COB Tuesdays with the subject "Bulletin Submission." Bulletin Board notices generally run for 3 weeks - if space allows - unless other arrangements have been made. There is no charge for listings.
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Looking for meaningful, socially distanced activities for your children this summer?
Check out BY OUR HANDS knitting and other handwork classes. Victoria Mansuri (
WWS Alum '88 and long time Waldorf Teacher
) brings online handwork to your children. Classes incorporate finger exercises, verses, stories, songs, and of course, handwork. Adult classes offered as well, such as Knitting Siblings, Sip and Knit, and Date Knit.
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Logo by Gloria Leon (
former WWS Teacher and Parent
)
" . . . . learn to knit by zoom from my fun, creative, master knitter and Waldorf teacher friend Victoria. [She's] super good with kids". ~ Marilyn Noguera (
WWS Parent
)
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Coronavirus Children's Books by WWS Alum
Isabelle Rowe (
WWS Alum '02
) has written two children's books that she
hopes help parents, caregivers and teachers talk to their children about COVID-19 and all of the feelings that come with it.
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Article: Art in time of Crisis - Raphael’s ‘Healing’ Madonna
from Julian Paine (WWS High School Teacher)
Please enjoy this meditation on the most famous of Raphael's 'healing' Madonnas - quite ubiquitous in Waldorf schools on both sides of the Atlantic it seems. As Steiner intended an image like this one to be therapeutic, I thought this challenging time would be suitable moment to offer it for the community.
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New J.K. Rowling Story Looking for Illustrations
(from Ms. Walsh, WWS Librarian)
Dear J.K. Rowling fans!
Here is the link where you will find the Rowling's latest story:
"The Ickabog will be published for free on this website, in instalments, over the next seven weeks, a chapter (or two, or three), at a time. It isn’t Harry Potter and it doesn’t include magic. This is an entirely different story.
The most exciting part, for me, at least, is that I’d like you to illustrate The Ickabog for me. Every day, I’ll be making suggestions for what you might like to draw. You can enter the official competition being run by my publishers, for the chance to have your artwork included in a printed version of the book due out later this year. I’ll be giving suggestions as to what to draw as we go along, but you should let your imagination run wild."
Enjoy reading and illustrating,
Ms. Walsh
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Learn Irish fiddle, flute, tin whistle, bodhran (Irish drum) and guitar this summer!
Discover the joy of traditional Irish music in small group lessons via Zoom! Learn traditional Irish jigs, reels and hornpipes with a small group (3-5) of your friends
and classmates.
Tunes will be taught traditionally - by ear. Recordings will be provided at least a week in advance and sheet music will be made available as a follow up or all melody instruments.
Deepen your listening skills, sharpen your ear, gain new technique and have fun learning to play traditional Irish music!
Tuition: 10 classes beginning the week of June 15 through end of summer = $225
Minimum three people per class and no more than five. Exact schedule TBD per
group. Financial aid available if needed.
Stay well and safe this summer and keep music alive in your hearts & homes!
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Alumni Available for Tutoring Help
from Nathan Kulesza (
WWS Alum
)
I am currently looking for tutoring or babysitting jobs. I am majoring in education and love working with kids and hope to one day be a Waldorf teacher myself. Are you, or a family you know, looking for someone?
Nathan Kulesza
301-219-0985
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Published by the Washington Waldorf School
Copyright © 2020 All rights reserved
We welcome your comments and submissions. Contact
Alia Goodyear
if you would like to be added to our mailing list, or if you have submissions, questions, or suggestions. Please email submission by COB TUESDAY with the subject line "Bulletin Submission."
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Washington Waldorf School
4800 Sangamore Road,
Bethesda, MD 20816
301-229-6107
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