I am continuing my reading of Peter Block's work around building community, specifically his book entitled Community: The Structure of Belonging. His thinking about the meaning and importance of belonging resonated with me, and seems timely to share.

"Community as used here is about the experience of belonging. We are in community each time we find a place where we belong. The word belong has two meanings. First and foremost, to belong is to be related to and a part of something. ...The opposite of belonging is to feel isolated and always (all ways) on the margin, an outsider. The second meaning of the word belong has to do with being an owner. Something belongs to me. To belong to a community is to act as a creator and co-owner of that community. The work, then, is to seek in our communities a wider and deeper sense of emotional ownership; it means fostering among all of a community's citizens a sense of ownership and accountability."

Our Community Conversation was a first step in creating a community at SWS that invites people to belong in the way that Block describes. Since then, I have enjoyed many opportunities to observe individuals - parents, students, faculty, staff, trustees -  as they thoughtfully engage with one another in this act of building community. Students at the high school are hosting their first Coffee House of the year in early December, a Friday evening gathering just for them to share casual conversation and performances. Parents are spearheading a Saturday morning work party to prepare our grade school campus for the winter months. Faculty are beginning rehearsals for the annual Shepherds' Play, performed in mid-December. Our seasonal festivals give all of us an opportunity to connect and reflect. Daily I delight in reading messages to parents of children ranging from preschool to 12th grade, inviting them to share in a hike, a meal, or a class meeting.

In early December the faculty, staff and Board of Trustees will continue the dialogue begun in late September, wrestling with questions of community, belonging, ownership and accountability. In January, we will host another forum to share the fruits of this discussion and invite further conversation with parents. While it is natural for us to want to push this process forward with some degree of urgency, I am reminded by Block that "what makes community building so complex is that it occurs in an infinite number of small steps, sometimes in quiet moments that we notice out of the corner of our eye. It calls for us to treat as important many things that we thought were incidental. The key to creating or transforming community, then, is to see the power in the small but important elements of being with others."

I see this as our work: to create spaces, opportunities, intentional moments, to be together. I encourage you to look for those occasions - those openings throughout the days and weeks - to choose to belong to our community. Whether it's attending the Community First gathering the first week of December, joining an affinity group, volunteering for a classroom activity or Winter Faire, serving on a soon to be formed Board committee, or simply visiting with the person standing next to you at pick-up time, take one of those infinite number of small steps. You will find many opportunities to connect and take small steps in this Connection, for example through helping with Winter Faire or joining in one of the initiatives described in the Parent Association News.  I believe we have an opportunity to build the community at SWS we long for, where people feel they belong, and am convinced that working together with patience and compassion we will do so.

Wishing you well as the spirit of Thanksgiving is upon us!

Sunday, December 4, 10 am - 3 pm, Grade School Campus

Q: What is Winter Faire?  A: An opportunity...

• for children to create gifts to give - pine cone bird feeders, walnut babies, hand painted canvas bags and more. 
• for crafty folks to share their creations to benefit the school. Click here to learn more about the Community Crafts table. 
• for you to gather the holiday gifts for people on your shopping list.  Click on an image below to learn more about a few of our wonderful vendors. 
• for you to enjoy the company of friends (and yes, some yummies) in our two cafés.
• for you to enjoy the ambiance created by the music performed by our high school and middle school students. Look for a schedule in the next Connection. 
• for the wider community to see our school - spread the word! Click here for the poster to send to friends. 

Q: How do we make Winter Faire happen?  A: With you!

Excellent planning has been going on quietly for months and now is the time when many more hands are needed to make the event a joy for all.

The magic of Winter Faire can only happen if we all pitch in to volunteer for a short shift at a craft table, in the café, or to help with set-up or clean-up.  Many helpers choose to sign up for a task with one or more friends - another opportunity to enjoy yourself and build community at the same time!

Save the date for this annual SWS tradition, a gift from the faculty to the community.  The play is a classic written in the Middle Ages, and each year our faculty make a point of adding new special twists that will be sure to delight our community.  It is always a secret who plays what role, and for the first time this year we will have a staff member join in.  "We have a stellar cast, and it will be a jolly good time!" says director Kate Golden.  This year, the performances will also include a choir of angels and a Eurythmy troupe.  We hope you will join us for one of the two shows in Huckleberry Hall at the grade school campus.

Click here for the flyer. 

Blake Cisneros, our grade school Spanish teacher, was born in Los Angeles, California, and grew up in a thriving Hispanic community.  As a student, he was often unchallenged and bored, and his initial impulse upon graduating from high school was to find challenge and meaning in the real world, rather than at college. However, it was the real world that showed Blake the value and importance of a good education, and his lackluster experience as a student motivated him to turn the beat around, and help create something meaningful and useful in the field of education. Blake moved to Washington State, where he earned his B.A. in Education with a minor in Spanish from Evergreen State College. During his studies, Blake found inspiration in the works of scholars like Bell Hooks, Maya Angelou, Angela Davis, and Paulo Freire, and he began to see teaching and educating in a different light. Education as an act of freedom became the basis for his senior thesis at Evergreen College, and he plans to enroll in a graduate program in educational leadership next fall, honing his art of teaching along the way. Blake has been involved in music and arts education for the last thirteen years, teaching everything from environmental education to directing arts education programs in the public schools. This will be Blake's fifth year as a Spanish teacher, his second year in a Waldorf school, and he has been generating great enthusiasm for Spanish lessons in our grade school students.

In addition, Blake has been involved in African and Afro-Caribbean drum and dance for 14 years. He founded the Yanavalou Drum School, a percussion and movement school that seeks to impart the legacy, beauty, and richness of the African musical diaspora through monthly workshops for all skill levels.  (Workshop information will be published in the Community News as it becomes available.)  In addition to teaching at the drum school, Blake performs regularly in the Puget Sound area.  Click here to see a short video of Blake on Bougarabou, a West African drum.  He believes that music and art are tools for universal human communication, and will help us as a local and global community to move together in a positive direction to a brighter future.  

Recently, the sounds of drumming and guitar drifted from the upstairs hallway down to the grade school office - Blake and several middle school boys enjoyed an impromptu jam session during lunch.  Blake is looking forward to connecting more deeply with the Waldorf community here in Seattle over the school year, and hopefully to drumming and dancing with all of you soon!     

There was once a village with a small woods beside it. In the woods stood a large old pear tree. It grew tall and wide. The squirrels would chase each other up and down the tree and the birds built their nests in its uppermost branches, singing sweet songs to one another. And this tree was very special because it was the favorite of all the village children. The children loved the tree dearly. In the springtime, they would collect the white blossoms that flowered among the new green leaves.   In the summertime, they would climb up into its branches and listen to the wind rustle the leaves above them. The sun would stream through the leaves and dapple the children with light. In the autumn, the children would pick the ripe, juicy pears, biting into them and letting the sticky juice run down their chins and fingers.

The tree loved the times when the children would come to play beside him.   But soon winter would be coming along; the squirrels would leave, the birds would fly away and his leaves would be carried off by the wind. But worst of all, the children would stay snug in their warm homes and not come to play beside the tree much at all. Winter was a sad and lonely time for this tree.

It was autumn now, and although the squirrels were still scampering about in his branches and the children were playing games beside his great trunk, the tree was already feeling a bit sad, thinking about the coming wintertime. And then, as the tree was listening to the birds singing high up in his treetop, he had an idea. He thought to himself...I love these children so; I would like to make them a gift.   Something they can have in the cold wintertime, something to remind them of me. Then, when they are far away in their snug, warm homes, they will not forget our friendship and the bright sunny days that we have shared together in the woods. So the tree set about to make these gifts; one for each child. He only worked on them when the children were not nearby.

As the days passed, the weather was now getting quite cold. Winter was on its way, with its dark cold nights. The time had come for the tree to give his gifts to the children. When the children came to play that day, the tree whispered to them, "I have a gift for you today". Then the tree gave the gifts to the children, one for each child. And do you know what they were?

They were beautiful golden brown wooden flutes, made from the tree's very own body. And oh! when the children put the flutes up to their lips and blew softly, they sounded just like those birds that fluttered about in the treetops. The birds that flew about the highest branches, swooped down to listen better to the marvelous sounds of the flutes. The children played the flutes all day long. They played songs with each other and even made up some new songs with the help of the birds. But the happiest of all that day was the tree.

Now, even in the cold, quiet wintertime, when the tree was listening, he could hear the children playing songs on their flutes, as they sat in their snug, warm homes far away, remembering those summer days of play.            

 

Our fall newsletter with articles and information about Sound Circle Center is available online here. 

Moving Into Light And Color  

Friday, December 9, 6:30 pm to 9:30 pm and Saturday, December 10, 8:15 am to 2 pm, Seattle Waldorf School, 2728 NE 100th St. 

Color is closely connected to our inner world. Our moods respond to color, to light and darkness. Can we notice the individual characters of colors? How do we interact with them? In this weekend module, through painting and movement, we will experience the evocative nature of color and of light and darkness. Moving color inwardly and outwardly, we will discover how it can affect the direction of healing. There will also be a session with reflections and conversation guided by Dr. Johanna Steegmans.

This workshop with Robyn Jones and Andrea Preiss is a part of the Heart of the Matter, Healing Arts and Anthroposophy course.  For more information, click here.  The fee is $225 pre-registered, $250 at the door (checks only)