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News from AWSNA                April 2014
The official e-news of the Association of independent Waldorf schools
Greetings!

 

We're looking forward to seeing you at AWSNA's Summer Conference at Hartsbrook School, in Hadley, Massachusetts this June. The theme for this year is "Cultivating Humanness within a Technological World," featuring keynote speaker Craig Holdrege, Ph.D., director and senior researcher at the Nature Institute. Online registration is available here.

 

It was lovely to see Waldorf Education on the front page of CNN's website in March. This piece was specifically about Waldorf Education in China.

 

You can find more news, events, job listings, and updates on our website and on our Facebook page. 

 
Beverly Damico
Warm regards,
Beverly Amico
for the AWSNA Executive Team 
 
Teaching Math and the Third Metric

 

Last month while watching the Wisdom 2.0 conference, math teacher Lisa Babinet was inspired to write a piece for the Huffington Post about the third metric: "The third metric adds another dimension to the traditional definitions of success -- money and power. Money and power are like two legs on a three-legged stool. To truly thrive, we need a third leg -- a metric for defining success that encompasses our well-being, our ability to draw in our intuition and inner wisdom, our sense of wonder, and our capacity for compassion and giving." Lisa teaches at the Waldorf School of the Peninsula.  

 

Read more on Why Waldorf Works. 


 
The Save the Children: 4 Parenting Strategies for the Digital Age 

Wendy Kelly, third grade class teacher at the Rudolf Steiner School in New York City, participated in a radio panel on WNYC's New Tech City, an NPR-affiliated program. The three guests discussed differing viewpoints on how children engage with technology, ranging from banning all devices to full digital immersion. Wendy Kelly was an excellent representative for Waldorf Education and spoke eloquently about Waldorf's no-tech approach in early childhood and the early grades of elementary school. She described how when Waldorf students are introduced to technology in fourth grade, it is with a conscious and deliberate introduction in order to build a healthy foundation going into middle school that crescendos as they reach the upper school.

Read more on Why Waldorf Works

 


The Highland Hall Waldorf School community enjoyed an evening of music, laughter and entertainment from a top notch line up of professional artists and student performers as part of a community fun-raising and school fundraising endeavor. The event raised over $150,000, and will benefit this Waldorf's school whole child academic and arts programs. The dazzling array of entertainment was hosted by John Burke and Anny Lieberman. John Burke, an actor, has appeared in "The Amazing Spider-Man", "Pulse," "Personal FX," and "The Collectibles Show". Anny Lieberman, a singer, performs a wide range of music styles with power and soul and is founder of "Whose Image," which was featured on MTV and opened for Sheila E.

 

Intensives for Waldorf Teachers
and a whole lot more...
 

  

Metamorphosis is the guiding impulse for the Rudolf Steiner Centre's Summer Festival 2014, in Toronto, Canada. "If we want to find a way to step out of a materialistic world view into a knowledge-based  understanding of the spirit, metamorphosis is the mystery to explore. It guides the growth of plants and animals, the formation of ideas, and the development of the human soul. The process of metamorphosis has inspired artists and seekers for centuries. Join us for joyful, artistic, and practical explorations into wonders that inspire us to seek glimpses of the divine, right here on the earth."

 

The Summer Festival is a retreat for adults with a variety of enlivening artistic and educational  workshops: Waldorf Art Curriculum, Healing Stories, Deepening Anthroposophy, Metamorphosis and the Goetheanum, Healing the Wound, Leadership in Waldorf School Communities, and  Teaching Foreign Languages are just a sampling of the 23 courses that will be offered. All are enlivening, hands-on, experience-based workshops designed to nourish your soul.
 
You can find out more about this event on Why Waldorf Works.

 

 

WALDORF EDUCATION EVENTS

 

Event details, including contact information, can be found on the Events page of the Why Waldorf Works website. Please send us your events so we can include them in our calendar. 

 

April 25- 27, 2014: Chestnut Ridge, NY

Handwork Research Conference 2014: The Art of Clothing - Creative Gestures to Serve the Human Being, the Earth, and the Divine. 

Lectures by Dr. Gerda Kramer and presentations by Renate Hiller and Mikae Toma.

 

April 26, 2014: Hudson, NY

Freedom, Funding & Accountability in Education.

Navigating Independent Waldorf Education Through the Turbulent Currents of Financial Uncertainty and Government Regulations

A Workshop led by Patrice Maynard and Gary Lamb, including presentations with small group and plenum conversations.
Hosted by Solaris Center for the Social Arts.

 

May 5 - 11, 2014: International

Children around the world will celebrate Screen-Free Week (formerly TV-Turnoff) by turning off entertainment screen media (TVs, computers, video games) and turning on the world around them. AWSNA is a proud endorser of Screen-Free Week. 


June 6 -7, 2014: Chestnut Ridge, NY

Issues and Trends That Will Shape Waldorf Education in the Next Decade.

Themes include:  Fiscal Sustainability - Crisis Management - Recruitment and Training of faculty and administrative staff - Campus Security

Hosted by the Green Meadow Waldorf School Board of Trustees.

 

June 23-26, 2014: Hadley, MA

The AWSNA Summer Conference will be held June 23-June 26, 2014 at Hartsbrook School. The theme for this year is "Cultivating Humanness within a Technological World," featuring keynote speaker, Craig Holdrege, Ph.D., Director and Senior Researcher, Nature Institute.

  

June 23-July 18, 2014: San Rafael, CA

One-week Summer Intensives include:

  • A Breath of Fresh Air; Study and Art for Re-Creation
  • Shaping Transformation; a Weekend of Sculpture
  • Teaching Grades 3, 4 and 5 with Change in Mind; Anticipating Puberty
  • Puppet Play with Children
  • Sing with Your Young Child
  • Who Is Here? Educational Support for Adolescents

Presented by Bay Area Center for Waldorf Teacher Training at Marin Waldorf School.

 

Please inform your communities and mark your calendars!

 

You are welcome to send Waldorf-related events for posting on our web site.



 
We want to remind you that we are active on Facebook, and that is a good place to find news and articles about Waldorf Education and our school communities. If you haven't already done so, please "like" and follow us there. 

 
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AWSNA provides leadership to schools by facilitating resources, networks and research as they strive towards excellence and build healthy school communities. The Association performs functions that its member schools and institutes could not do alone, including:
�    Outreach and advocacy
�    Accreditation and school support services
�    Professional development activities
�    Research and publications
Please contact us if you have any questions about AWSNA or this or any other newsletter. 

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Questions please contact Kirin at [email protected] or an AWSNA executive team member:  

Leader of Administration: David Owen-Cruise

[email protected]
2142A Washtenaw Avenue, Ypsilanti, MI 48197
Office 612-870-8310 x104   Fax 877-835-0299

    

Leader of Outreach and Development: Beverly Amico

[email protected]    

515 Kimbark, Suite 103, Longmont, CO 80501

612-870-8310 x106    Fax 720-633-9543

 

Leader of Programs and Activities: Melanie Reiser

[email protected]    

515 Kimbark, Suite 103, Longmont, CO 80501

612-870-8310 x105     Fax 720-633-9531