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December 14, 2012
Remember - Thursday, December 20 is the last day of school before the break!
PHOTO THANKS TO RENE DUBAY
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A L L S C H O O L N E W S
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Winter Faire Reflection & Thank Yous
It was a little past the half way mark for Winter Faire and I was in the lobby at the ticket desk when a little boy approached me and said, "Excuse me, I want to give some of my money to the school, can you help me?"
I told him I could help and asked what money he wanted to give to the school. He reached into his pocket and brought out a small handful of coins saying, "This money." I asked him why he wanted to give his money to the school, and he explained that since this was a community event and was to help the school, he wanted to give some of his own money to help. I told him that he didn't need to give the school the rest of his money. To this he responded, "Oh, its ok, I don't need it anymore." "Why is that?" I asked. He explained that he had already bought all his presents and proceeded to open his shopping bag to show me his purchases. He had clearly spent some time shopping at the community table and was very proud of his finds.
I told him that the school would get the money anyway if he bought something else. He replied tha t everything left upstairs cost more than $27, and he didn't have that much. I suggested that he buy cookies in the café to share with his brothers and sisters, and that this purchase would benefit the school. He answered that he had no brothers or sisters and, in addition, he didn't know where the café was. When I offered to show him, he accepted my hand and off we went. It took some convincing to get him to buy all four of the cookies I was proposing because he didn't want to get more than his money's worth. The cookies were wrapped, he paid the cashier, and back we went to the lobby, both of us pretty satisfied, I think.
On our way back I asked this little boy's name and when he told me I thought, ah ha! His dad had helped set up the night before and stayed until every last bit of work was done, and his mom had worked at the Winter Faire ticket sales table, and very cheerfully had done more than the shift she had originally signed up for. The apple does not fall far from the tree.
These ten minutes or so spent with this beautiful little boy were by far the best reward or gift that anyone could have possibly given me for all the hours spent planning and implementing the Faire. My heart was warmed by this wonderful reminder of why I have always loved putting on Winter Faire. We are creating an event where our community can come together, a place for our children to watch their parents' generous sharing of their time and talents, and their joyful participation in a community that is important to them. And certainly we are giving our children a place that offers opportunities for them to do the same. Shelly McSweyn, grade 11 parent
So many of you helped with the Faire, and we can't name you all in this space. The craft leads  prepared for the over 1,500 wonderful craft items that were made this year by our children. Please express your gratitude to these people for putting together the beautiful craft rooms and everything that was in them: Lana Fuller, Susanne Isakson, Susanne Khalil, Neave Megenhardt, Joanne Montague, Ingrid Orlow, Laura Payne and Rebecca Sheedy. Many thanks to all of you who donated your beautiful items for the Community Table; the proceeds reached $1,000 this year! A big thank you also to Katrin Von Homeyer and Tava Goldstone for making sure that the Pocket Person's pockets were filled with lovely treasures. A special thank you goes to the grade school teachers for letting us use their space. Thank you to Jenny Miller for doing all of the decorating for the Faire, and to Tim Love, who really is a knight in shining armor. Muffie Signalness and Chris Meinig, you two are our Café heros, thank you! A big thank you to: all the students who jumped in and helped in the craft rooms, everyone who helped with set-up, clean-up, decorations, preparing food, serving it in the Café, parking, and doing all the other jobs that make the Faire happen. We want every one of you to know how much we appreciate all that each of you did to help make the Faire one of the best we have ever had. We are so grateful for your support and for sharing yourselves with our community.
We also want to express our gratitude for the generosity of Café Javasti, Grateful Bread, Top Pot Doughnuts and Tall Grass Bakery - they all contributed bread, coffee, doughnuts or pastries for our Faire. When you visit their businesses, please let them know that we appreciate their support.
Thank you all!
Your Winter Faire Team
Marcia Fischer, Margaret Leonard, Brenda Lightle, Shelly McSweyn and Brady Millard-Kish
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Amazing Trips Donated To Inspire!
Would you like to ski in the Swiss Alps? Would you like to visit Bangkok? You could enjoy a 10 da y stay in a lovely condo in the heart of Bangkok, overlooking the US Embassy and a 142 acre park (more details available here) or you could step outside of your two-bedroom apartment in Sedrun, Switzerland, and start skiing... (Details to be revealed in a future issue of the Connection.)
We are grateful to Piper Hackett, Briar Rose parent, who secured these wonderful opportunities for our auction next March.
Need Donations Of...
We will be looking for donations of frequent flyer miles from community members - look for details on how to participate in an upcoming edition of the Connection.
We are also looking for restaurant gift certificates. As you go out to eat at your favorite local restaurant over the holiday break, ask if they would like to advertise to 250+ people by donating a gift certificate of any value from $25 to $100. We would appreciate the opportunity to showcase them, and we are sure people would love to go out to dinner! Click here for the donation form.
The Inspire! Auction Planning Committee
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Join Us For The Shepherds' Play - December 19, 5 pm & 7:30 pm 
"We have some new cast members and the show will be amazing!" says director Kate Golden. 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, keeping it a secret who plays what role.
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.
Margaret Leonard, grade 4 parent, is organizing a special dinner for the faculty to enjoy between their two shows. If you would like to help in some way, click here to email Margaret.
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Annual Fund Success & Thank you!
Thank you to all of our parents, parents of alumni, grandparents, faculty and staff who have responded with a big YES to our requests for support of the Annual Fund. Your support enables a uniquely special learning environment which stimulates our students' thinking, feeds their curiosity and nourishes their souls. You make a huge difference in each of their lives!
We are almost halfway to our goal of $100,000 for this school year and it's not too late to make a gift this year.
There are 3 easy ways to participate:
- Click here to make a gift online.
- Call Muffie Signalness at 206.913.2742.
- Mail a check or credit card information to: Seattle Waldorf School Annual Fund, 2728 NE 100th Street, Seattle, WA 98125
Our students are successful because of the power of our community. Thank you for your very generous support!
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Is Your Child in the Yearbook? Send Your Photos...
We want to include as many students in the yearbook as possible, but we can't do it unless we have photos. Parents, please submit your photos from this school year (or class events from the past summer) by Wednesday, January 23.
There are three ways to submit photos: - Turn a CD into the school office. Write your name and class on the CD.
- Upload the photos to the school SmugMug site: http://seattlewaldorf.smugmug.com/
- Email the original high-resolution files to Jane Higgins: jhiggins@seattlewaldorf.org
Tips: - Close-ups (or semi-close-ups) showing faces work best.
- Photos with 2-4 students in them together work better than the whole class in the photo.
- Select the top 20-30 photos from your batch: reasonably well-lit, in focus, and fairly close-up.
Thank you - your help is much appreciated!
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Eat, Support, Love
PCC Natural Markets has given us an opportunity to raise funds for our school while shopping for groceries for our families.
Do you like to eat?
Do you prefer fresh, organic, and local produce, meats and dairy? PCC Natural Markets may be the place for you AND they support Seattle Waldorf School with their Scrip program.
It's really easy and here is how it works:
- SWS has PCC Scrip cards available at the office for $10.
- You purchase a card and use it to pay for your groceries at PCC, and then continue to use your card by recharging as needed - it only takes a few seconds at the check stand.
- Recharge transactions are tracked by PCC, so you don't need to do anything but shop!
- Twice a year, Seattle Waldorf School receives a check for 5% of all recharges.
Just this week we received a check for more than $6,100!! In case you are wondering, this covers the last 6 months of parents shopping at PCC. Don't you just love how easy this is?
Stop by the office today, pick up your PCC card for your holiday shopping and support SWS! Thank you!
If you have any questions, please contact Muffie Signalness at 206-913-2742 or via email at development@seattlewaldorf.org.
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The Caucasian Chalk Circle 
It is with great excitement that we invite you to see our production of Bertolt Brecht's The Caucasian Chalk Circle! This is the story of a young woman who suddenly finds herself confronted with the challenge of saving a child from a burning city, and her epic journey to become a mother.
We are busy creating costumes, armor, a cityscape, mountains, puppets, shadow puppet animations, masks, and music to bring this story to life, all as a celebration of the imagination and talents of our students. In their designs we encouraged our students to re-purpose found materials to give these single-use objects a second life. To that end we will be constructing costume elements with newspaper, cardboard, plastic, and fabrics. As we weave this recycled reality, using a combination of sewing, velcroing, and hot-gluing, the new and the old will be joined together. Current events (newspapers) becoming samurai-like armor. The Pixel becoming a stone wall. A bedspread becoming the world traveler's cloak. Our visual aesthetic is sustainability integrated with planned obsolescence. The core themes of the Chalk Circle are rich and vital:- Nature vs. nurture, and what it means to care for someone who depends on you
- Compassion and kindness in the face of ugliness
- Justice turned upside down to balance the scales
- The price at home of a war abroad
This play is not a musical. It is a play with music. The lyrics are there, but we are creating all new music for this show. We are choosing what we want to bring to it. This whole piece is geared towards a deep, creative experience for our students in several artistic disciplines, to take ownership of this potent material, to engage in courageous conversations, to take a serious look out into the world while strengthening the community around us. We hope you will join us as we share the result of our work.
Appropriate for students in grade 5 and up. Click here for the flyer.
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Focus On Faculty - Fun And Games Of A Different Sort For Mrs. Klansnic
One of the perks of working at the Seattle Waldorf School is the joy of working and playing with the children. After doing this year in and year out for 23 years, it is time for a little rest and rejuvenation. I will be taking a 6 week sabbatical between the Christmas and Mid-Winter breaks. My job as the grade school Games/P.E teacher will be left in the competent hands of Emily Busse. Emily is a K-12 Waldorf alumni. Her father is our own high school movement teacher, Carl Busse. All of the children, grades 3 to 8 have met Emily already. During my time away I will enjoy some professional development, travel to Los Angeles to see my daughter, and come up with a new action packed game, as promised to grade 8. When I return, I will be ready for the 7th and 8th grade track and field block, the 6th grade medieval games, and of course more practice for my 5th grade Olympians. Elaine Klansnic
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P A R E N T A S S O C I A T I O N
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Opportunities To Meet & Share...
Community First
Friday, January 11, 8:15 to 9:15 am, grade school campus
This event is an opportunity to find out what is happening in your community, socialize and get better acquainted with other SWS community members. Leaders of the various Affinity Groups are invited to share information about their various projects and you will have the chance to chat with SWS Administrators, Tracy Bennett, Nettie Fabrie, and Muffie Signalness during this time. Hot beverages will be provided.
Tea with Nettie & Tracy
HIGH SCHOOL: Wednesday, January 16 at 8:30 am KINDERHAUS: Friday, January 25 at 9:15 am.
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H I G H S C H O O L N E W S
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Coffee Haus, Eurythmy Tour, Santa Lucia, Music Assembly
High school students have been busy, not just with their classes, but with additional seasonal activities: the recent coffee house (organized by the Student Council and attended by over 60 guests), the Eurythmy fairy tale performed at the SWS and Bright Water grade schools, our Santa Lucia Festival and today's music assembly.
   
The SWS Santa Lucia celebration is based on a Swedish tradition. According to legend, around the year 300 A.D. a terrible famine plagued the country of Sweden. A woman named Lucia appeared on a lake in a large ship. She was dressed all in white, with a wreath of twigs lit up upon her head, and came bearing food and clothing for the starving population.
For yesterday's festival, the honor of being Santa Lucia was bestowed on the oldest girl at SWS, as is traditional in Swedish villages. She was attended by two students from each class, down to second grade, for a procession on the grade school and high school campuses. As the procession visited each grade, singing the Santa Lucia song in Swedish, our Santa Lucia delivered to each class a basket of saffron buns baked by high school students the day before.
   
Scroll down to the Grade School News section for more images from the Santa Lucia Festival.Additional images can be seen on our school's SmugMug site. If you need help logging in, click here to email Tatiana for help.
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Last Call To Donate Meals & Coats!
As you may have read in the last Connection, I am organizing a holiday dinner for the residents of the transitional housing at Sandpoint. This tradition is important to me because I have so much to give and this is an easy, rewarding way to share my blessings. The dinner is coming up soon and I need at least 10 more people to sign up to cook. The food needs to be able to be eaten from a plate and cannot contain pork or ham. The best foods are casseroles, vegetable dishes, pastas, salads and rice/bean dishes. All food will need to be dropped off at Sandpoint (near Magnuson) on Tuesday, December 18 between 4 and 6 pm. If you are interested or have any questions, please click here to email me! I am getting more and more excited the closer we get to the dinner, but I really need additional donated food to make this happen.
Every year, as we serve dinner, guests are invited to browse through coats we have brought for them. To continue this tradition, I am starting a coat drive. I have put a plastic bin in the lobby of the grade school and one in the hall of the high school - please add any gently used coats or sweatshirts of any size to the bins. As the days get colder, my thoughts turn to the holidays and cookies and all of that. I don't know for certain, but I can imagine that if I were less well off than I am, the holidays might be a time of struggle, of trying to stay warm. Coats can be expensive. Through offering free coats, we are acknowledging and helping to overcome that worry.
Thank you so much for anything you can contribute! I am very grateful for this opportunity to share my commitment with you all. Maddy, grade 11 student
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G R A D E S C H O O L N E W S
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Break Care Registration Deadline Extended - LAST CALL!
Seattle Waldorf School offers Break Care from 8 am - 5:30 pm for our students age 5 through grade 5 for the upcoming Winter Break: Friday, December 21 and Wednesday, January 2 through Friday, January 4. We strongly encourage parents to meet the new extended deadline of Monday December 17, if you are interested in Break Care for your child, so that our Extended Care staff can plan the activities for the program and ensure adequate staffing. Parents will be notified on Tuesday, December 18 if any of the Break Care days are cancelled due to lack of enrollment. Registration forms are available in the grade school office or online here.
Please contact Diana Wolfe at dwolfe@seattlewaldorf.org with any questions.
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Lost & Found - Will Be Donated On Friday, December 21
All of the coats, sweaters, shoes, water bottles, hats, etc. from the Lost & Found Basket are now on display in the lobby. Everything that is left behind when school is out for the Winter break will be donated on Friday, December 21.
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Santa Lucia At The Grade School.
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Grade 2 - Learning About Time 
Grade 2 students made their own clocks this week as they are beginning to learn about time and how to read a clock. They say this poem at the beginning of their lesson every day:
60 seconds make a minute, put a lot of kindness in it.
60 minutes make an hour, work with all your might and power.
12 bright hours in a day, time enough to work and play.
12 dark hours in the night give us sleep 'till morning light.
GRADE 2, PHOTO THANKS TO MARY CAIRNS
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E A R L Y C H I L D H O O D N E W S
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Sunflower - Stepping Stumps 
The Sunflower preschoolers are clearly enjoying the new 'stepping stumps' in the play space behind their class room.
Click here to view a one minute video showing their new use for a tree. |
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C O M M U N I T Y A N N O U N C E M E N T S
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This section provided as a free service to the SWS community.
What Are Our Community Members Up To?
Matthew Kocmieroski, husband of Elaine Schmidt (grade school receptionist) will be playing percussion for the Nutcracker. By the end of this season he will have played in close to 800 shows of this production of the Nutcracker! Click here for more information about the show.
Michael Wells, grade 4 & 1 parent, will be playing bass for the production of Hedwig and at Angry Inch at the Moore Theatre this coming January. Click here for more information about the show.
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Lectures, Workshops, Concerts, Festivals Etc.
Willow Branch Puppet Theatre Group Presents: Star Money
Sunday, December 16, 11 am & 1 pm, Seattle Waldorf Grade School, Huckleberry Hall
A wonderful sensitive Grimms' fairy tale for this time of the year. All ages are welcome. Advance VISA/MC reservations by December 15: $ 7 child/senior & $8 general admission. At the door: $8 child/senior, $9 general admission. Call 206-985-2059 with questions. Thursday, January 17, 6:30 pm, Hamlin Robinson School Learning Center, 1700 E Union St, Seattle
This documentary directed by James Redford, focuses on a dyslexic high school student who pursues admission to a leading college - a challenge for a boy who didn't learn to read until 4th grade. This student, Dylan, is Redford's son. Additional accounts of the dyslexic experience from children, experts, and iconic leaders at the top of their fields, help us to understand that dyslexia, a persistent problem with learning to read, can be as great a gift as it sometimes is an obstacle . Screening will be followed by a discussion. Suggested donation of $10. Click here to register.
Pastel Workshop: Landscapes With Watercolor Underpainting Saturday, January 26, 12 - 4:30 pm, AWE Studio, Wedgwood Everyone will create beautiful pastel paintings inspired by photos. Learn to paint complimentary colored underpaintings and apply pastels for an impressionist rendition of a landscape. Janet Lia, owner of AWE Studio and Sound Circle faculty member, will gently guide you through the process while inspiring your creative instincts. Space limited, click here to register early! The cost is $85. (Materials included.) For additional classes and private lessons, see the website for AWE studio here. Movement In Meditation, Meditation In Movement Seminar with Jaimen McMillan, founder and director of the Spacial Dynamics Institute
February 1 - 2, 2013, Creekside Community Centre, South False Creek, Vancouver
Rudolf Steiner, the initiator of Anthroposophy, presented six steps as a foundation for a path of self exploration and development. Although these meditative suggestions are widely known, many have difficulty in practicing them. Besides the challenge of finding quiet amidst the distractions of everyday life, it may also be that these practices are being done incompletely. Applying exercises from the discipline of Spacial Dynamics®, we will learn to create and perceive the often overlooked subtle movement indications and progression of these six steps. Whether Steiner's subsidiary exercises are new to you or a life-time practice, this seminar promises to bring your meditative life into movement.
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Waldorf-Inspired Books For Sale Through December 16
Receive 10% off on books published by AWSNA (Association of Waldorf Schools of North America). Click here for more information.
Massage Special - $25 Off Mari Riksheim, LMP and grade 5 parent at SWS, brings over 20 years of outstanding professional experience to her work, offering Deep Tissue, Swedish, Sports & Pregnancy Massage, Foot Reflexology & Spa Treatments. Mari owned a day spa in downtown Kirkland for 14 years, and has worked with chiropractors for many years, offering extensive experience in personal injury treatment. Her office is conveniently located 3 miles from the SWS grade school campus in Lake Forest Park, as well as 2 other locations (Kenmore & Kirkland). Beautiful and personalized gift certificates make the perfect gift for any occasion. Certificates can be mailed or arrange for pick up/delivery. Contact Mari at 206-300-1079 (text) or info.massagebymari@gmail.com. Offer valid for first visit through January 31, 2013. May use offer to purchase multiple gift certificates. Looking for two wooden play stands to give to our four year old son for Christmas. Please contact Susan Ingham at sfingham@yahoo.com or 206 334-2521 if you have a pair that you are willing to sell. Voice & Piano Teacher Experienced music teacher provides customized instruction in voice and piano in an inviting, supportive environment, for students of all ages. Studio is conveniently located 10 minutes from SWS grade school. Jill Brewer has worked extensively with Waldorf students (references available). Discover and nurture your talent, intelligence, and passion for music. Call Jill at 206-364-2349.
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Looking For Childcare? Offering Childcare?
Click here to see an online page to assist our community in exchanging this kind of information.
For information on Break Care for children age 5 to grade 5, see the Grade School News section above.
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S O U N D C I R C L E C E N T E R
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Upcoming Events at Sound Circle Center
Warm Blessings for the holy days (and nights) from Sound Circle Center.
Looking ahead to the year to come, alongside our Foundation Year, we will continue to offer
Introduction to Anthroposophy lectures, which are open to the public on a drop-in basis. Join us on selective Saturday mornings, from 9:15 -10:45 am at Seattle Waldorf School, 2728 NE 100th St, in Huckleberry Hall. The cost for each lecture is $10. Upcoming topics:
- January 5: The Angelic World - Marjorie Rehbach
- January 12: Embryology - Anouk Tompot
- February 2: The Biography of Rudolf Steiner - Michael Soulé
We are also happy to announce the return of Nancy Mellon, who works extensively with the power of storytelling to heal. She will be offering a workshop March 1-3 on peacemaking through story. More details will appear on the Sound Circle website soon. |
WATERCOLOR TREES, GRADE 2
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Mission
We educate our students to be free human beings who impart purpose and meaning to their lives,
who meet life with courage, and respond with initiative and creativity to the needs of the world and their fellow human beings.
  
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The Connection is generally published twice a month while school is in session. For publication dates, click here and type the word Connection in the search window.
Please email all submissions directly to: newsletter@seattlewaldorf.org.
All articles or ads for the next issue are due by noon on Tuesday during the week of publication.
Submissions Guidelines © 2010 Seattle Waldorf School.
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