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 | | Sunday, April 18, 2011 | Volume MMX-XI, Issue 27 | |
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"Almost all Nobel laureates in the sciences are actively engaged in arts as adults. They are twenty-five times as likely as the average scientist to sing, dance, or act; seventeen times as likely to be an artist; twelve times more likely to write poetry and literature; eight times more likely to do woodworking or some other craft; four times as likely to be a musician; and twice as likely to be a photographer."
-Bob Root-Bernstein, Ph. D., physiologist and MacArthur Fellow.
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April Vacation This Week |
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School is closed this coming week for April Vacation. We'll see you back at school on Monday, April 25. Have a wonderful, relaxing break! |
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Next Cookie Concert After Break |
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The next Cookie Concert will be on Friday, April 29. Cookie Concerts are a space for students to share what they have been practicing in their lessons. There will be a sign-up sheet by the orchestra room; students can check with their music teachers to see if they have a piece they can play. Please join us! |
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Are You Spring Cleaning at Home? |
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Please consider donating your gently used children's clothing and Waldorf or wooden toys to our school for the 2011 Children's Boutique to be held at the Holiday Fair. Please drop off your donations in the boxes in the Café or Nursery Building. It is also possible to contact Taryn Pinstein by email or phone at 617-527-4547 to request a pick-up. |
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Student-Faculty Basketball Game |
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Please join us at this year's Student-Faculty Basketball Game on Saturday, May 7, at the Waldorf High School of Mass Bay. Come at 6:30 p.m. for a warm up and stay to watch the basketball teams pit their skills against the faculty. The girls play at 7 p.m., followed by the boys at 8 p.m. Refreshments and admission help support the athletic program. The whole community is invited to attend this fun event. |
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Upcoming Events at Waldorf |
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Wednesday, April 20
Waldorf Park in Arlington, 9:30 a.m.
Monday, April 25
School Resumes
Sweet Peas parent evening, 7 p.m.
Buttercups parent evening, 7:30 p.m.
Tuesday, April 26
Board Meeting, 7 p.m.
3rd Grade class evening, 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, April 27
Waldorf Park in Arlington, 9:30 a.m.
6th Grade class evening, 7:30 p.m.
7th Grade class evening, 7:30 p.m.
Thursday, April 28
Cafe Chat, 8:30 a.m.
Friday, April 29
Waldorf Park, noon
Cookie Concert, 3:15 p.m.
Saturday, April 30
8th Grade Yard Sale, 8 a.m.-noon
Salsa Night,7 p.m.
Monday, May 2
PCA Meeting, 7 p.m.
Tuesday, May 3
8th Grade class evening, 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, May 4
Waldorf Park in Arlington, 9:30 a.m.
5th Grade class evening, 7:30 p.m.
Thursday, May 5
Leah's Kindergarten class evening, 7 p.m.
Friday, May 6
Grandparents' Tea, 8:45 a.m.
6th Grade at Medieval Games
Waldorf Park, noon
Saturday, May 7
May Day, 10 a.m.-1 p.m.
Student-Faculty Basketball Game, Waldorf High School, 6:30-9 p.m.
Monday, May 9
Morning Glories class evening, 7 p.m.
Tuesday, May 10
Board Officer Committee meeting, 5:30 p.m.
Finance Committee meeting, 6:30 p.m.
4th Grade class evening, 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, May 11
Waldorf Park in Arlington, 9:30 a.m.
Foundation Studies, 5 p.m.
Friday, May 13
5th Grade Olympics
Waldorf Park, noon
Monday, May 16
1st Grade class evening, 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, May 18
Waldorf Park in Arlington, 9:30 a.m.
Julia's Nursery class evening, 7 p.m.
Mary Beth's Nursery class evening, 7:30 p.m.
Friday, May 20
Waldorf Park, noon
Eighth Grade Musical, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, May 21
Eighth Grade Musical, 7:30 p.m.
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Events in the Larger Waldorf Community  |
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There are many anthroposophical events in and around the Boston area, and beyond, that support and enliven what we do here at school. Please click "read more" above for frequently updated information and resources from the Anthroposophical Society of Greater Boston, AWSNA, The Pfeiffer Center, and others. |
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Community Classifieds |
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Remember to check the Community Classifieds page on the school website every week for information about any items of more general interest, such as music lessons, professional services, real estate, items for sale, workshops or events in locations other than the school. Advertisers are advised that the Community Classifieds are published via the school’s website for the benefit of members and friends of the school community and can be accessed on the worldwide web.
You can easily access the Classifieds on the school's website in the Community section, where you will also find the submission form and guidelines. Please contact Luana Preston with any questions. |
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In this week's edition: |
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 Spring Transformation Festivals- Come to Salsa Night!
- May Day Will Soon Be Here!
- Grandparents' Tea
- From AWSNA: Screen-Free Week
- More Gardens to Be Cleaned!
- Gardening Workshop in the Café
- Storytelling and Dreamweaving with Children
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Spring Transformation Festivals |
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Spring is finally making its presence known, as purple crocuses and now the bright yellow daffodils begin to push their heads above the ground around the school. Amidst these botanical expressions of new life, two holidays that celebrate this urge for new beginnings will soon make their appearance. The first is Passover, which begins on Monday, April 18, and is a Jewish tradition celebrating the deliverance of the Jewish people from slavery in Egypt and the sealing of their covenant with God. The second is Easter, on Sunday, April 24, which is a Christian holiday celebrating the resurrection of Christ.Themes of hope, renewal, and rebirth interweave in the essential roots of both of these important holidays. Festivals are an important part of Waldorf education. They are one of the ways we mark not only the passing of the annual rhythm, but they also allow us as humans to be conscious of our own connection to the earth through the passing seasons. As we begin to leave behind the darkness and chill of winter, we cannot help but have hope for the future as the sun shines more and more brightly upon our upturned faces.
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When out of world-wide spaces
The sun speaks to the human mind,
And gladness from the depths of soul
Becomes, in seeing, one with light,
Then rising from the sheath of self,
Thoughts soar to distances of space
And dimly bind
Man’s being to the spirit’s life.
-Rudolf Steiner, Calendar of the Soul, Easter
Verse, April 7-13 |
We are called on to live a story of past slavery
as if it were now.
We experience our soul's oppression—
As well as our soul’s redemption—
In acts of freedom
In births of possibilities.
We are made bold enough to hope—to understand
That acts of liberation are as real as
Acts of cruelty or arbitrariness
(of which we need no reminder)
-Elivia Savadier Sagov | |
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Come to Salsa Night! |
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 Senora Rios and the Seventh Grade would like to invite the whole community to this year's Salsa Night on Saturday, April 30 at 7 p.m. Come dance the night away to live music by Combo Sabroso after enjoying a salsa performance by the seventh graders. They'll even teach you to salsa if you get there early! Children are warmly welcomed but must be supervised by an adult throughout the evening. The night is always fun and festive, completed with tasty refreshments. Wear your dancing shoes and party clothes! Advance admission is $10 adults, $8 children, or $30 for a family. For a PDF of the poster designed by eighth grader Vincent Jerosch-Herold, please click "read more" above. |
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May Day Will Soon Be Here! |
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Come one, come all, to our annual May Day celebration on Saturday, May 7, 10 a.m to 1 p.m.. Help us welcome in the spring as Lady Spring finally defeats King Winter, followed by performances by the elementary grades, including maypole dancing by the Fourth Grade. Wear your spring garlands and festive garb, and bring a picnic to finish with a lunch on the green. We will conclude with strawberry shortcake for all. Grandparents are especially welcome.
Please bring spring boughs and flowering branches to school on Friday, May 6, to help our decorating effort. There will be buckets of water in the front hallway in which to put your offerings. |
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Grandparents' Tea |
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 The Grandparents' Tea will be on Friday, May 6, 8:45 a.m. to 10:45 a.m. The gathering will include morning tea and conversation with Joe O'Regan, Holly Kania, and Robert Schiappacasse, visits to grandchildren's classes, and light refreshments. All grandparents whose names we have in our database have been mailed an invitation. If you would like your child's grandparent to receive an invitation, please contact Holly Kania. Include the grandparent's full mailing address in your email, and we will happily send out an invitation. |
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From AWSNA: Screen-Free Week |
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 What would you and your family do with an extra twenty, thirty, or even 50 hours a week? On April 18-24, children around the world will celebrate Screen-Free Week (formerly TV-Turnoff) by turning off televisions, computers, and video games and tuning in to the world around them. Association of Waldorf Schools of North America (AWSNA) is an official sponsor of this initiative! Waldorf school communities are ideal partners in this global effort to eliminate screens for a week from the lives of children.
In Waldorf schools, the human voice and human speech are cultivated through recitation and storytelling; imaginative play is a pillar of the work at school from early childhood on, transformed into drama through twelfth grade; and current brain research indicates that the curriculum in a Waldorf school supports development of the whole mind through play, the arts, and rigorous academics. Waldorf school communities already know the benefits of a week with no screens, but we can all do a bit more to focus away from the distractions of electronics that are so enmeshed in our complex and beautiful world.
Join with us in working to have a completely free-of-screens week to emphasize the importance of this effort. |
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More Gardens to Be Cleaned! |
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 Have you noticed that some of the beds around the school have been cleaned up? A handful of parents have been gathering on Tuesdays from 8:15-9:15 a.m. to clean out leaves from between the new growth of spring, and to rake the lawns free of sticks and winter sand. Come and join us this Tuesday--extra rakes, gloves and clippers are on hand. The tidy campus will surely be appreciated on May Day in a few weeks. The effort is organized by the PCA, but realized by the many helping hands who appear. |
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Gardening Workshop in the Café |
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On Thursday, April 28, 8:30 a.m., Meighan Matthews, Waldorf parent and founder of Growing for Good, a personal vegetable gardening service, will offer a free workshop in the Café on successfully growing food for your family! She will introduce you to the important building blocks of a healthy garden in our area: layout, soil health, fencing, raised beds, pest prevention and fail-safe varieties of vegetables. We will learn which veggies to plant when and how to tend them throughout the season. If there’s time and interest, and the weather permits, we will head down to the gardens with Amelia Mueller and do some hands-on learning. Please join us for a healthy conversation! |
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Storytelling and Dreamweaving with Children |
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Save the date: Please join us for an evening talk with Nancy Mellon on Friday, May 27, 7-9 p.m. in the Blue Sky Kindergarten. You are invited to explore the power of of storytelling, and the sometimes bewildering border between waking and sleeping, imagination and dreams. Learn delightful and profound ways to navigate with children the delicate and
sometimes daunting journey from waking into sleep and back again. Parents, grandparents, and all who love children are welcome to discover new ways to support the inner life of children.
Nancy Mellon is a published author and has a background as a Waldorf teacher and therapist and has been connected to Waldorf education since 1976. Her newest book is called Body Eloquence: The Power of Myth and Story to Awaken the Body's Energies. For more information, please contact Nancy Mellon by email, or call 603-654-2982. |
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