Santa Fe Waldorf School Alumni Magazine Winter 2018

A LU M NI MAGA ZINE

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ALUMNI MAGAZINE Volume 3, No. 1 - Winter 2018 Cynthia Shore Editor Janine Pearson Graphic Designer Pat Lord Development and Marketing Director BOARD OF TRUSTEES Melissa Coleman, President Andy Smith, Vice President Cheryl Slover-Linett, Treasurer Roberto Aponte Thomas Baudhuin Janine Pearson Cita Riley Ex-officio Carole Cressman, Campus Manager Karl Johnson, Interim Pedagogical Chair Thomas Keppel, Business Manager Pat Lord, Development and Marketing Director Jennifer Warren, Admissions Director The Santa Fe Waldorf School is an independent, nonprofit organization with accreditation through the Association of Waldorf Schools of North America (AWSNA) and the National Council for Private School Accreditation (NCPSA).

Additionally, our school is a full member of the Waldorf Early Childhood Association of North America (WECAN) and the New Mexico Athletics Association (NMAA). We welcome and serve students from a variety of social, economic, ethnic, cultural, and international backgrounds.

Change is in the air! Fall weather has come to Santa Fe, and with this change in the season, so too are changes taking place at the Santa Fe Waldorf School.

For more than five years, we have been guided by the steady hand of School Administrator Jeffrey Baker. On October 15, we said farewell to our leader, mentor, colleague, and friend as he and his family relocate to the Northwest Coast. While we are sad to see him go, we wish him and his family bounty and blessings in their new journey. In looking back over the past half-decade, Jeffrey’s work and dedication to the school will be a lasting legacy. We thank him sincerely for his service to our school.

The School Administrator Search Committee has worked tirelessly throughout the summer and continues interviewing candidates for the role of full-time school administrator. To help ease the transition, the search committee also recommended that the Board put in place an outside consultant to lead the administrative team in the daily operation of the school and help facilitate Board directives. We are pleased to announce that former Board member and independent educational consultant, John Braman, will serve in that capacity from November through May (see page 2).

We are also pleased to welcome Karl Johnson back to Santa Fe Waldorf School in a new capacity as Interim Pedagogical Chair. Karl has a long history with SFWS in a variety of roles (see page 2), including being a parent of two SFWS graduates. He assists the College of Teachers with faculty evaluation, peer mentorship, classroom visits, and community presentations about Waldorf education.

The Santa Fe Waldorf School also celebrated a significant milestone this October with the 35th anniversary of the founding of the school. Our school-wide celebration during the Michaelmas Festival included a community potluck and birthday cake! (See page 7) We were fortunate to have some of the original founders of the school attend to thank them for nurturing Waldorf education in our community.

SFWS is celebrating another anniversary over the next two years.

Waldorf Schools worldwide will observe 100 years of inspired learning from September 2018 through June 2020, by starting projects to stimulate dialogue around human values in education, and to support initiatives that revitalize society and our relationship with our earth. There are more than 1,200 Waldorf schools in 64 countries around the world. While each Waldorf school is unique to its environment, the values and curriculum are universal.

It is with deep respect and humility that I take on the role of Board President of the Santa Fe Waldorf School. I am honored to help lead SFWS into new and exciting changes.

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Photo by Adriana Reyes Newell

Melissa Coleman

Photo by Genevieve Russell

Dear Alumni, Friends and Community Members:

SFWS TODAY: News Highlights Athletics Wolf Pack Trail Run: The Booster Club held the 5th Annual Wolf Pack Trail Run on Sunday, September 9. With 55 participants in the 5K/10K run and 63 participants in the 3K Fun Run, it was our most successful run thus far!

Just under $6,400 was raised to provide support to the school’s athletic program. The funds will go to student participation fee scholarships, uniforms, equipment, coach stipends and more.

Girls Volleyball: The Varsity Girls Volleyball team had another stellar season, taking District 7A by winning all six games. The team had an overall 11-9 season record and played in the first round of the state tournament.

JV Soccer: Coach Enrique Otero reports that the Wolves had a highly successful season winning five out of 15 games.

How does he get to that conclusion?

“In my view it was a terrific season, because success is not measured by results or stats,“ says Otero. Facing injuries, illnesses and other challenges, 2018 Waldorf Wolves JV Soccer team the 13-person roster dwindled down to 10 players who came together “as a (Wolf)pack” to show effort, courage and commitment,” he adds. The season culminated with a stunning 4-3 victory over St. Michael’s, after being down 1-3.

Music Curriculum We are proud to announce two exciting pieces of music news. Thirteen of our middle school and high school musicians were selected to play in the Honor Clinic Orchestras in October at Los Alamos High School. The Honor Clinic High School Orchestra has a total of 58 players and the Honor Clinic Middle School Orchestra, 49, which means that SFWS players made up a high percentage of both ensembles. Students were chosen via recorded auditions from both public and private schools from state School District 4.

Congratulations to SFWS High School students Lily Clark, Bri Yellowhorse, and Chloe Casdagli who were selected for places in the 2019 All-State Symphony and Concert Orchestras. All three did extra preparation all summer and fall to learn their challenging solo selections, and will perform at the state New Mexico Music Educators Association Conference in January.

Campus Master Plan This fall, the school unveiled the first steps in our ambitious new Campus Master Plan. The work was overseen by former SFWS parent and Board member, architect David Milliken, with his team of George Armijo, Wayne Leyba, Amia Cressman (HS 2018), and Everett Cole (pictured). Current SFWS parent Phil Rael and NM Contracting also contributed and installed air handling for the renovation. After much painting and refurbishing, Grade 8 was relocated to

Hooper Hall and several administrative offices were moved to the high school. Grades 6 and 7 are now housed in one building. Ultimately, the entire middle school will be in Hooper Hall. Grades 4 and 5 have also moved into one building, while a new Spanish Language classroom is now housed with the elementary grades. Other future plans include a new gymnasium and theater space, an art park, a welcome center and expanded grade school classrooms. We are currently seeking funding to have an architect create renderings and provide budgetary information for creation of architectural drawings, permitting, and construction costs for the five-phase plan.

To see the master plan, visit www.santafewaldorf.org/master-plan

GLOW Botanical Garden Installation Grade 11 and 12 students are completing a two-semester art program that will culminate in an illuminated, interactive sculpture named “Cat’s Cradle” to be installed at the Santa Fe Botanical Gardens for their GLOW festival, December 14-31.

Garden judges chose one of three possible concepts designed by SFWS students this past spring. This fall, the group worked to complete the chosen idea which is based on the concept of string boards applied to three-dimensional space and light. With local artist and former parent Greg Reiche (Brooke, HS 2015, and Sienna, HS 2016), students designed a grid of string on a metal party-tent frame. Lights and additional focal points will be added to the string for the final installation in the Garden’s orchard.

Visualized as “a tunnel of spacetime,” the installation will allow observers to walk through shifting planes of glowing geometric shapes.

High school students work on the Santa Fe Botanical Garden installation “Cat’s Cradle”.

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SFWS TODAY: News Highlights International Student Exchange Program

Summer Camps

Our first international student of the year, Johanna Rothfuss, is here for three months and started 10th grade in the fall. Her sister Katrin, who traveled here with her, was a SFWS exchange student in 2016. She delivered Johanna to her host family, former SFWS Board President Dana Barnard and his wife, Leslie. The Barnard family has hosted six Waldorf exchange students so far. Leslie notes that she has kept in touch with the Rothfuss family for the last couple years so Johanna’s arrival felt very natural. “I felt like I knew her before she came,” Leslie says.

This past summer, SFWS inaugurated a summer camp program, thanks to director Leigh Patton, a new staff member from the Anchorage Waldorf School. This coming summer, we will build on the camps’ success by offering them again. Students in rising second to fifth grades, enrolled at SFWS or not, will be able to take week-long camps in themes such as Cosmos and Crystals, Fantastic Fiber Fun, Travel the World in Five Days, Magic, Myth & Mystery, Mindful Meditation & Sacred Geometry, and Trash to Treasure! Check the school website for details or contact Devon Corbet at dcorbet@santafewaldorf.org or 505-467-6430.

Staff News

Photo by Susanna Green

Karl Johnson, MA, who has served SFWS in many vital roles, returned this year to be our interim pedagogical chair. He brings us over 35 years of experience and has taught in the Waldorf movement since 1986. An SFWS parent, (Kyriane, HS 2008, Kreston, HS 2011), Johnson was a class teacher and educational specialist, and was instrumental in founding many aspects of the SFWS curriculum, including the high school wilderness program and the jazz ensemble. From 2013 to this year, Johnson was an independent pedagogical consultant and teacher trainer working with Waldorf schools around the globe.

From L to R: host parent Leslie Barnard, former SFWS exchange student (2015-16) Katrin Rothfuss, and her sister, Johanna Rothfuss, studying this fall at SFWS.

He will work part-time at SFWS while continuing his consulting at other schools. His focus at SFWS will be on visiting classrooms, assisting faculty

Waldorf 100th Anniversary

mentors with their work with new faculty, organizing the faculty evaluation

As part of the celebration of 100 years of Waldorf education that will continue through 2020, SFWS students have been exchanging postcards with 1,200 Waldorf schools, under the guidance of Jennie Baudhuin. At the 35th Anniversary celebration, the school community was able to admire the beginning of a “wall of postcards from around the world.”

and review process determined by the College of Teachers, and providing educational opportunities for parents and the wider Santa Fe community around Waldorf curriculum and methods.

We are also pleased to announce that independent educational consultant and former SFWS Board Member John Braman, MA, will step in to serve as

Postacards Photo by Genevieve Russell

our administrative team consultant from November to

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May, while the school’s School Administrator Search Committee continues its work to find a new full-time school administrator.

Braman began his educational career at Albuquerque Academy, then as an award-winning teacher who now co-directs the Rio Grande Mindfulness Center, while also consulting with schools and colleges. He came to SFWS as a board member at the urging of SFWS parent and then-Board President David Burling in 2013. Braman is also the recipient of numerous fellowships, including an N.E.H. grant to retrace the footsteps of St. Francis of Assisi as a way to explore the origins of modern ecology.

SFWS TODAY: School Leadership FAREWELL AND THANK YOU TO JEFFREY BAKER

DANA BARNARD’S LEGACY OF ENERGETIC OPTIMISM

By Dana E. Barnard, Board President 2014-2018

By Jeffrey Baker, Outgoing School Administrator

I often feel that I am the luckiest person in the world. I have a wonderful family and community, and I have been blessed to have worked with inspiring people my entire career. I feel especially fortunate to have my time as president of the Santa Fe Waldorf School Board of Trustees coincide with Jeffrey Baker’s tenure as school administrator. Our time working together at the school was marked by enormous change, unexpected difficulties and opportunities, and hard, hard work. It was also a time of laughter, excitement, creativity, inspiration, and remarkable achievement. Many of these changes were at the difficult, unglamorous, foundational level of the school. The work was not for those looking for adulation.

After six consecutive years of membership on the Board of Trustees, most of them as a board officer, Dana Barnard concluded his service as a board member in June 2018. During his service, he skillfully served as board president, volunteered as both vice president and treasurer, working closely with the school administration and countless school committees. Needless to say, Dana’s logistical understanding of SFWS grew to be as deep as his love for the school that educated two of his four children (Cecilia, HS 2015, Maclean, HS 2010).

Under Jeffrey’s leadership, the school published its exciting new Campus Master Plan, received accreditation from AWSNA, received record donations, dramatically increased retention, increased the student body, established the Renaissance Scholarship program, created a new marketing campaign, created a completely new web site, revitalized the international program, and balanced the budget during some difficult times.

The constant during Jeffrey’s time as administrator was his remarkable optimism, creativity, and professionalism. No matter what was happening, Jeffrey kept—and shared—an optimistic, exciting vision of where the school was going and what it could be. All of us who were lucky enough to have worked with him were infected by his optimism, and we banded together to work towards that vision of a modern, prosperous Waldorf school. We all have a choice in how we approach our dreams and, as Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu suggests, Jeffrey “waters his dreams with optimism.” We are all the beneficiaries.

I have learned much from our relationship. To my friend and colleague, Jeffrey Baker, let me close by simply saying, “Thank you, good luck, and come back often”.

Even before he was board president, Dana was at the vanguard of what would ultimately become a brand-identified tagline for the school—he “thought outside the box.” He has had a profound impact upon the school: encouraging the first steps into much needed website enhancements, supporting the generation of the Campus Master Plan, providing the guiding impulse behind the Renaissance Scholars program, and navigating the school successfully through the periodically choppy waters that emerged during the recent recession years. Throughout it all, he maintained a consistently admirable optimism that inspired those around him, and the Santa Fe Waldorf School is a far stronger place for his considerable commitment.

Dana will continue to bring big ideas and boundless enthusiasm to his work with a new Alternative Revenue Committee for SFWS in 2018-19, and he and his wife Leslie continue to provide regular housing support to numerous visiting international students and our regular guest eurythmist, Anne-Meike Gassmeyer.

On behalf of so many, I thank you Dana for your inspirational and dedicated leadership. It has been both an honor, and a joy, to journey with you in service to such a fine school community these past five years!

Photos by Genevieve Russell

There was a farewell reception for outgoing School Administrator Jeffrey Baker and outgoing Board President Dana Barnard in October 2018.

The reception also honored Fletcher Lathrop, a founding member and current teacher at SFWS, and April Vogel, outgoing Board Secretary.

Jeffrey chats with members of the school community, including former Board President Mickey Leach.

Jeffrey and Dana give each other Dana Barnard and his wife Leslie. a farewell hug at the reception.

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ALUMNI PROFILE Megan (Burns) Maher

Grade 8 Class of 1999 Santa Fe High School, 2002 CURRENT WORK:

Performance Department Program Manager, Meow Wolf, Santa Fe, NM Musician, Flamingo Pink!

MEOW WOLF CO-FOUNDER EXPLORED MANY ARTS BEFORE FINDING HER PATH How was your academic experience after leaving Waldorf, both personally and academically?

I went to Santa Fe High School right after graduating from Waldorf since there was not a Waldorf high school at the time. During my sophomore year, I joined the Santa Fe Performing Arts Teen Ensemble and I really found my passion for performance art there. I found within a few years of being in the Teen Ensemble and in a highly positive environment, that I wanted to graduate high school early, which I did in December of 2002. I began working as an intern for the Santa Fe Performing Arts (SFPA).

How did you choose your profession?

I continued the internship for six months at SFPA and was then hired as an employee for the company. I started as an assistant director, and then worked as the costume designer, box office manager, and eventually became the associate director for the company. I primarily directed our youth productions and outreach programs into the schools from 2003-2016. I worked my way up to becoming the executive director of the company from 2016-2018 before choosing to fold the nonprofit in May of 2018.

In 2008, I co-founded Meow Wolf in my living room with seven of my friends.

Any time Meow Wolf has taken on a project that has had performance aspects over the last ten years, I have directed those projects including The Moon Is To Live On (2010), the narrative for The Due Return (2011), and the narrative during the build of House of Eternal Return (2015-2016). I currently play the lead female character, Piper Pastore, (along with my real-life husband who plays her husband Nicolae Pastore), in the narrative storyline within the highly acclaimed Santa Fe exhibit, House of Eternal Return.

In addition to working for SFPA and Meow Wolf, I spent a year living in Oakland, CA, working as a seamstress. I started my own fashion design/ alterations company called TigerDeer in 2014, and I’ve owned my own haircutting business since 2008. I still love to cut hair and I still do my own clothing alterations often!

What is your current work today?

“I ABSOLUTELY LOVED WAKING UP TO GO TO SCHOOL, BECAUSE I KNEW I WOULD BE LEARNING AND CREATING THINGS WITH MY BODY, VOICE OR HANDS EVERY DAY. ”

I am now the Performance Department Program Manager at Meow Wolf, and I’m enjoying watching the DIY-collective-turned-corporation grow, change and thrive. I am a singer-songwriter, and I have been on multiple national tours and have been playing shows locally since 2003 under the stage name Flamingo Pink!

Looking back, how does your Waldorf education benefit your life today?

I’m as confidently creative as I am today because of my Waldorf experience. I absolutely loved waking up to go to school, because I knew I would be learning and creating things with my body, voice or hands every day. I felt incredibly seen, heard and loved by the staff, by Mr. Megan as a child at SFWS Mayfaire >

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TEACHER PROFILE Jill McCormick Kindergarten Teacher Handwork Teacher College of Teachers

Haverkos and every other specialty teacher who taught us, until middle school when we inevitably all turned into hormonal disasters, haha!

I couldn’t wait to finish my knitted recorder case, my six-foot Granny-Square blanket that I crocheted, my wooden spoon, to learn how to throw a javelin in Games class, and to practice my violin, which I still have, since the violin I used through my years in the orchestra was my grandfather’s.

I still love to go camping as often as I can and have always felt like a brave and inventive person who could weather storms, hike up any canyon, (we did the Grand Canyon in 8th grade), start a fire, or confidently travel to any country. We did home stays on our final trip in Costa Rica, and I’ve since traveled to many other different countries both independently and with family and friends.

What is the best part of what you do now?

I still get to work with my hands, make beautiful and inspiring art with others, make music, make clothing, and through these creative ventures, I get to touch people’s lives on a very personal and human level. I’ve also been able to share my love of what I do with hundreds of students locally, and hundreds nationally, through my music which is a joy for me to do.

What do you do for fun?

I’m in a knit club (we’ve been meeting weekly since 2007!), and I love to sing, dance and play with my wonderful and amazing 15-month-old son. I love working on continual House of Eternal Return/Meow Wolf performance projects with my husband and learning to parent together. I love making my own clothes, spending time with my community of delightful friends and collaborators, camping, hiking, playing in the arroyos, making music and just sitting quietly, soaking in the hot desert sun I grew up under.

Contact Megan at: www.flamingopink.bandcamp.com

Music has always been central to Jill McCormick’s life, and it was, finally, as a Waldorf kindergarten teacher, that she found a way to meld her passion with her wish to work with people. “Waldorf brought the arts into my everyday being... that’s a good way to live.”

McCormick grew up in Bonne Terre, Missouri, and by the end of high school was participating in five different musical classes. She won a piano scholarship to Murray State University in Kentucky, but once immersed in the program, McCormick found her fellow students very one-dimensional about their music studies. “I felt like there was something else for me to do with my life—I wanted to work with people,” she explains.

McCormick decided to study therapeutic recreation at California State Northridge, and asked herself the question; “How do we develop into the human beings we eventually become?” To find out, she embarked on a long career of working with special adult populations. One day, on her birthday just after a job had ended, McCormick got a call from the San Fernando Valley Highland Hall Waldorf School, asking her to consider coming to teach there. Her responses indicated just how far kindergarten was from her mind: “I don’t work with children.”

The answer: “We just need a ‘nap’ teacher.”

McCormick’s question: “What’s a nap teacher?”

Because she needed a job, McCormick visited the school anyway.

“The minute I walked in, I felt at home,” she says. Working at both the Highland Hall and the Santa Monica Waldorf Schools, McCormick realized that in Waldorf early childhood education, she could better answer her central life question of how people become who they are.

Her family moved to Santa Fe in 1998 when son Daniel, HS Class of 2012, was three years old. McCormick started as the SFWS handwork teacher in 1999 and two years later became a kindergarten teacher who is now an institution at the school. Outside of Waldorf, McCormick is a tone-healer and sings with the Santa Fe Women’s Ensemble. She will lead the 35th Anniversary Chorus in a performance at the Holiday Faire on December 1.

Through her role as a kindergarten teacher, McCormick realized she had come full circle, back to her musical roots. “I stayed with Waldorf for two reasons,” she says. “One, the work always deepens me in my own development. Two, the education is musical. I realized that here was a place where my musicality could have a daily life—we start every day singing.”

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SFWS TODAY: Fundraising THIS HOLIDAY SEASON, HELP EARN MONEY FOR SFWS WHILE YOU SHOP!

By fundraising with Scrip you don’t need to spend extra time, energy or money...you are earning money for SFWS by simply changing your method of payment.

When you purchase a gift card from Scrip (physical and electronic gift cards available), the school gets an instant rebate! From taking on a home improvement project to buying gas and groceries, you can order Scrip beforehand and earn rebates every day—at no extra cost to you! The only planning ahead you have to do is deciding which Scrip you want to purchase, and even this revolves around your schedule.

In fact, once it’s up and running, Scrip fundraising is simply integrated into your everyday life. You just use Scrip to pay in place of cash, checks and credit cards. From Amazon to Zappos, shop from over 750 retailers!

Contact Pat Lord plord@santafewaldorf.org for the SFWS enrollment code and then visit ShopWithScrip.com and click on the Join a Program button! For more info about Scrip, visit ShopWithScrip.com/learn-more.

The youngest player at the Summer Breeze Golf Tournament, Elle Salimbene, fine tunes her putting skills. Her father, Michael Salimbene, and Kia of Santa Fe, are tournament sponsors.

GOLF TOURNAMENT RAISES OVER $16,000 FOR SCHOLARSHIPS Our Second Annual Summer Breeze Golf Tournament on August 6 was held at the Towa Golf Club at the Buffalo Thunder Resort with 84 players. Wind, sun and rain all contributed to a solid morning of golf, and raised $16,700 in sponsorships and green fees to help support scholarships for eligible students at Waldorf!

We look forward to next summer’s fun and hope to have you join us. Look online for information towards June 2019.

NEW FUNDING CAMPAIGNS POISED TO TAKE SFWS TO THE NEXT LEVEL SFWS has three exciting campaigns this year with multiple ways to connect and make a gift! To honor our 35th anniversary, we will provide $3.5 million to tuition assistance in the next five years! (see page 7). In addition, we have a $161,000 Annual Fund goal this year to meet all the school’s expenses that tuition doesn’t cover. Finally, after a successful campaign last year for a new van, we are building on that achievement and fundraising for a second van (see below) during our #GivingTuesday campaign through December 8. Our target is $20,000!

Three easy ways to make a donation to SFWS:

• Go to www.santafewaldorf.org/support-our-school

• Mail a check to: S anta Fe Waldorf School c/o Development and Marketing 26 Puesta del Sol, Santa Fe, NM 87508 • Text “Waldorf” to 71777 and then follow instructions to donate.

Thank you. With your help, our school will continue to thrive!

HELP US PURCHASE A SECOND VAN!

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We have purchased our first gently-used passenger van through Kia Santa Fe to help replace our worn out fleet of buses. Not only is it almost new, but it is hybrid as well! You remember those trips to Chaco Canyon, Carlsbad Caverns, Farm Week, and sporting events, not to mention concerts and musical competitions? To help all our students keep enjoying enriched educational programs, we have set our sights on purchasing a second van. Won’t you support us?

How about a gift of $35 in honor of our 35th anniversary to help support the effort? See above for ways to donate!

SFWS TODAY: Celebrating 35 Years!

SANTA FE WALDORF: LOOKING AHEAD AFTER 35 YEARS OF CHALLENGES AND TRIUMPHS To be frank, the beginning was rocky. The brand new Santa Fe Waldorf School opened two weeks later than planned in October of 1983 with 65 students. The first and second grade classes were at one location on Canyon Road, while two kindergarten sections started in rented space at the Carmelite Monastery off Camino del Monte Sol. Right off the bat, there were staffing issues, curricular concerns, and financial worries. Notes Steve Hamilton, a founder, school attorney and parent of Amy (Grade 8, 1990) and Maria (Grade 8, 1998), “A lot of times that first year we didn’t know if we were going to have a second.”

Then the new organization began to find its footing. A group of parents bought the current Puesta del Sol property and over Thanksgiving break, the entire school moved into what is now the elementary grades building. Students and teachers, began to settle in and start the business of schooling, including Fletcher Lathrop, founder, class teacher, and parent of Justin (Grade 8, 1989), Travis (Grade 8, 1992) and Maria (Grade 8, 1994). Lathrop has stayed with the school for the duration, still teaching today as a woodworking instructor.

Photo by Genevieve Russell

During Michaelmas on October 4, 2018, the school community paused to celebrate the 35 years of the school’s existence and sing “Happy Birthday”. The school’s early founders, teachers and board members were invited to come and be honored, eat cake, and reflect back on those early years of effort and growth.

Faculty and staff from the early days of SFWS came to campus in October to celebrate the school’s 35th anniversary. From left to right: Cita Riley, Karl Johnson, Fletcher Lathrop,

Thomas Baudhuin, Jennie Baudhuin, Michael Oellig, and Ruth Lathrop.

SFWS was born out of a study group of parents from the Little Earth School who wanted to further their educational philosophies. Once the first step of their dream materialized, they realized they had to immediately find a way to keep growing. Because a new grade was added every year, the school was quickly going to run out of space. continued on page 16

$3.5 MILLION TO CELEBRATE 35 YEARS OF SFWS! As a gift of support to the community, SFWS is committing to offer $3.5 million dollars in scholarships and tuition assistance to eligible families whose children attend K-12th grades. These dollars will be available over the next five years to accepted families who meet the eligibility requirements. We are doing so in celebration of the school’s 35th anniversary, and to make Waldorf education more accessible to a broader community. The ability to make this gift is largely a result of generous donations to the SFWS Annual Fund. We welcome your gifts of all sizes ($10.00 - $50K and more!). See page 6 for three ways to make your donation in honor of the 35th anniversary.

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ALUMNI PROFILE Celeste Booth Eizaguirre

High School Class of 2005

Education: BA, Smith College, 2009 Current Work: Owner/Photographer, Eiza Photography

A PASSIONATE PHOTOGRAPHER, FROM WEDDINGS TO GLOBAL LANDSCAPES How was your academic experience after leaving Waldorf, both personally and academically?

When I went to college in the fall of ‘05, I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect.

I remember being delighted one of my final exams was in the same format as our history main lesson courses with Jann Gates. While I felt my courses were a rather graceful transition from high school classes, I realized the biggest difference for me was something else entirely. Although I never had a bad class, I became somewhat disillusioned with the fact that the level of care and attention given to students was not the same or higher than my high school experience. I don’t mean this as a negative reflection of Smith College, but rather an emphasis on the incredibly high standard at SFWHS. Over the course of my college years, it became so clear that I had received a remarkably unparalleled experience during my time at SFWS.

How did you choose your profession?

“OVER THE COURSE OF MY COLLEGE YEARS, IT BECAME SO CLEAR THAT I HAD RECEIVED A REMARKABLY UNPARALLELED EXPERIENCE DURING MY TIME AT SFWS.” 8

Little did I know at the time, but my profession first found me when I was a junior in high school. We were fortunate enough to have a course with Carlos Esguerra (internationally awarded photographer and father of one of our teachers [and class sponsor] Ivi Esguerra), which really piqued my love of the art. In college, I took all the photo courses that were offered. There were times that the photo lab at Smith was a second home for me. (I once spent 14 hours straight in the dark room and print lab!). Photography, however, had never been my plan post graduation. Instead, I ended up working as a graphic designer for nearly a decade before pursuing this career.

Where have you worked and what is your current work today?

I’ve held various job titles over the years, but after moving to the midwest I was a managing editor for a print+digital magazine and senior graphic designer at a company based in Indianapolis, IN. That company was generous enough to allow me to continue working for them remotely when, after two years, my husband and I moved to Chicago. It also allowed me the flexibility to begin building my photography business while maintaining a full-time job.

That hard work paid off and now my full-time work is my own business! Eiza Photography (which is shortened from my married name, Eizaguirre, and pronounced “eh-zah”) is not only a career I love, but also uses so many of the tools I’ve gathered over the years: graphic design, advertising, client relations, marketing strategies, and more. I specialize in wedding, engagement and

lifestyle photography. One of my favorite parts of this work is the people I get to meet—or be re-acquainted with! (See examples of Booth’s professional work for fellow SFWS alumna Kyri Johnson’s wedding, page 17.)

Looking back, how does your Waldorf education benefit your life today?

That is hard for me to encapsulate because there are countless traces of that education within me. Part of the beauty of Waldorf education is that it goes beyond core academics and is a true education of the whole being. Therefore, separating who I am from the education I received is a difficult task, as we are woven together. Today, I believe I am a more able listener, a more compassionate friend, a more active life participant, a more resourceful businesswomen, a more curious traveler, and someone who will never let their personal and professional development stagnate. This is in large part due to the values instilled upon me in my K-12 Waldorf education and upbringing, values I regard with much importance in my life today.

What is the best part of what you do now?

Forming genuine connections with strangers who end up more like friends than clients and seeing places I’d never normally see if it wasn’t for this work.

What do you do for fun?

Paddle-boarding on Lake Michigan, hiking, growing plants (which hopefully translates into an actual garden when we’re out of the city), traveling... I’ve recently set some goals for myself, which include: publishing a book, learning a new language, furthering my studies of alternative healing, and going on an extended wilderness trip without technology.

You can follow Celeste’s work at www.eizaphotography.com or on Instagram @eizaphotography.

TEACHER PROFILE Greg Shultz High School Math and Science Teacher Board of Trustees College of Teachers Greg Shultz may have first joined the SFWS community as a parent, but by then, he was no stranger to anthroposophy, biodynamics, and Rudolf Steiner.

A world traveler who taught biodynamic farming, Shultz landed in Santa Fe when his daughter Celeste Booth Eizaguirre (HS 2005, see page 8) started in first grade. Raised and educated in Ohio, Indiana, Turkey and Switzerland, Shultz started college at MIT, then moved to the University of Vermont before finishing his BS in Natural Science at Emerson College in Sussex, England, where he studied biodynamics, the specific type of sustainable agriculture outlined by Waldorf founder Rudolf Steiner.

Why biodynamics? Shultz says his early agricultural training in Vermont was “all about pesticides and farming thousands of acres.

I said to myself, ‘This isn’t quite it’.” Friends pointed him to anthroposophy. Once he started reading, he was hooked: “This stuff was wild, but it made total sense—I got it!”

After college, he took his next step toward Waldorf by working at the Camphill Village Kimberton Hills in Pennsylvania. An intentional community for developmentally disabled adults with a biodynamic farm, the Village is where Shultz met his wife, Barbara Booth, a future founder of the SFWS High School, and where Celeste was born.

His career took him to the mountains of the Dominican Republic, to a master’s degree in Environmental Science from Antioch University New England Graduate School, and to New Mexico, where the family enrolled Celeste in SFWS. Shultz taught sustainable agriculture at the Ramah Navajo reservation and captained a training program for workers headed to the Dominican Republic.

So how did he end up being a high school teacher? It was an inside job. When the school was looking for faculty, Booth suggested Shultz, “as a guy good at math and science.” He realized that he liked it. Not only did it “get me out of the office,” but it also fused his interests of supporting personal development via an anthroposophic community.

Above photo captured by Celeste in Germany, Photo top of opposite page taken in New Zealand.

Former students stay in touch, thanking him for his teaching, which he attributes to his commitment to a “student-driven” education.

“For me, it gets down to the fact of ‘What do people want to become?’ I’ve found if you merely facilitate letting them become who they are without judgment, they do really well.”

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SFWS TODAY: Festivals CELEBRATING FALL FESTIVALS

Autumn was beautiful this year in Santa Fe, providing an inspiring backdrop to the Waldorf rhythm of celebrations. A new class of first graders walked through the Lily Ceremony’s flowered arch to be welcomed by their new teacher Micayla Durán. The school brought a sizable contingent to the Santa Fe Pet Parade, and each grade suited up to play their part in taming the Michaelmas dragon. And finally, as cold nights began to leave etchings of frost on the garden pumpkins, the school welcomed the Santa Fe community to a beautiful, haunting and magical All Hallows’ Eve.

Lily Ceremony

Pet Parade

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Photo 1 by Bina Thompkins, 2 & 3 by Pat Lord

Photos by Chris Sciarretta

All Hallow’s Eve

Michaelmas

Photos by Genevieve Russell

Photos by Genevieve Russell

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ALUMNI PROFILE

MAKING A DIFFERENCE THROUGH BOTH THE ARTS AND MEDICINE How was your academic experience after leaving Waldorf, both personally and academically?

Anya Bershad

Grade 8 Class of 2001

Santa Fe Prep, 2005 Stanford University, Bachelor of Arts in Comparative Literature, Bachelor of Science, Biochemistry and Biophysics, 2010 University of Chicago, PhD in Neuroscience, 2017, MD to be complete in 2019, with residency in Psychiatry starting in fall of 2019

After I left, all the subjects were taught separately. There was a personal adjustment in getting used to other ways of education after being in Waldorf.

You do have to acquire some amount of technical expertises through techniques like memorization (at traditional educational settings), but I think the period of adjustment is worth it. I would want to send my kids to Waldorf. It’s so important to the development of creative sensitivities.

From my experiences with Main Lesson, I learned you can approach math and science in equally creative ways as arts and literature. Learning to draw geometric figures and studying the history of geometry helped integrate all these fields that are kept separate elsewhere.

One thing I did—if SFWS students want an interesting internship to do at home—is spend one summer at Think NM, a policy think tank, working on lottery reform and getting as much money as possible to the scholarship fund.

I spent another summer at the Santa Fe Institute, which is great like Waldorf.

It approaches big issues of existence from multiple different perspectives.

I looked at computational models.

How did you choose your profession?

Why sciences versus arts? I’m still asking myself that question! My advisors at Stanford said there are no jobs in academics in the humanities now. I am interested in the mind and I realized I would have more resources to investigate the mind from a science perspective than from the arts, although both approaches are equally valid.

Looking back, how does your Waldorf education benefit your life today?

Waldorf was really instrumental in helping me have broad interests in the arts and sciences. One thing I remember a lot is how interwoven everything was.

I was a very high anxiety kid. I moved from Manhattan to Santa Fe when I was five years old, and SFWS was very good for me. It was especially helpful at the awkward middle school time because of the supportive community of teachers and friends who were really great. I really look back on my time at Waldorf fondly and frequently—it was great: pencil shavings and main lesson books!

What is the best part of what you do now?

“I WOULD WANT TO SEND MY KIDS TO WALDORF. IT’S SO IMPORTANT TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF CREATIVE SENSITIVITIES.”

One thing I really like is that I get to do a combo of the theoretical and practical in my work—another important Waldorf theme. I get to interact with patients one on one and hopefully be helpful, and I also get to think about them in a theoretical way in the laboratory. It’s really nice to do.

I also just got married in October in Santa Fe to Evelyn Richardson from London, who is doing a PhD in Comparative Literature at the University of Chicago.

What do you do for fun?

I was part of a fiction writing group, before my studies got too demanding, and I plan to continue with this. Thanks to Waldorf, I like being comfortable with doing art—I take a lot of art, pottery, painting, and drawing classes.

Contact Anya at anyabershad@gmail.com

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SFWS TODAY: Class Trips EXPLORING THE WORLD BEYOND WALDORF It has been an active fall, with students traveling around the region and within the city to retreat into nature, aid the community and explore New Mexico’s unique, natural features.

Grade 5 went for their second year to clean a portion of the Santa Fe River. According to teacher Kathleen Taylor, “We began cleaning the river last year. We did it with such enthusiasm that the volunteer coordinator asked us if we wanted to adopt a section.” The class readily agreed and collected 15 bags of garbage on their first outing this year.

They will go back out at least three more times this year, says Taylor.

Grade 6 students traveled to the southeastern part of the state to explore White Sands National Monument and Carlsbad Caverns.

The entire high school traveled to Vallecitos Mountain Ranch, 50 miles west of Taos as part of the annual retreat that welcomes incoming 9th graders and sends 12th graders on a 24-hour contemplative solo experience. Grades 10 and 11 hiked and explored coming of age topics.

Grade 5 has officially adopted a section of the Santa Fe River.

Photo by Jeffrey Baker

Grade 5 cleans up a portion of the Santa Fe River.

Photo by Keely Jackson-Kennemore, stewardship coordinator, Santa Fe Watershed Association.

Grade 6 camping at White Sands National Monument - Photos by SFWS Parent Adriana Reyes Newell

High School trip to Vallecitos Mountain Ranch - Photos L to R by Daniel Wendland, Luca Vera Ramirez (Grade 11) and Will Smith (Grade 10).

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ALUMNI PROFILE “THE WELL-ROUNDED CURRICULUM GAVE ME A BROAD PERSPECTIVE WITH KNOWLEDGE IN MANY DIFFERENT AREAS.�

FROM WALDORF TO THE LIFE OF A PROFESSIONAL CELLIST How was your academic experience after leaving Waldorf, both personally and academically?

Academically, I felt well prepared in terms of critical thinking and problem solving. In some ways, I think college was easier than high school. Personally, the biggest change was transitioning from a graduating class of 13 to a class of 5,000.

Pecos Singer

High School Class of 2010

EDUCATION BM Cello Performance, University of Oregon School of Music and Dance and Robert D. Clark Honors College, 2014 MM Cello Performance, Historical Performance Emphasis, San Francisco Conservatory of Music, 2016 DMA Cello Performance, University of Maryland College Park, Candidate 2019 WORK Graduate Assistant at the University of Maryland pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) in Cello Performance.

Substitute cellist with the Annapolis Symphony Founding member of the Anacostia Chamber Ensemble.

Cello Instructor at the International School of Music in Bethesda, MD. Freelance performing cellist in the DC, Maryland, Virginia area.

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How did you choose your profession?

Sometimes I feel like my profession chose me. In order to make a life in music, it has to be the only thing you can imagine yourself doing; I feel that way myself.

I had many opportunities to perform in various ensembles while in high school in Santa Fe, both in school and in the community. My family always supported me to pursue music. The decision to continue music professionally grew out of those positive experiences. I think the string quartet I played with in high school was also a contributing factor. We participated in an exchange program in the Czech Republic and also started playing events and private parties as the Ambassador String Quartet of the Santa Fe Youth Symphony. These experiences gave me a taste of life as a professional cellist. The string quartet remains one of my favorite ensembles.

Looking back, how does your Waldorf education benefit your life today?

The most memorable experiences were the camping trips. Having an appreciation for the natural world and the opportunity to spend time in nature was very valuable. The well-rounded curriculum also gave me a broad perspective with knowledge in many different areas.

What is the best part of what you do now?

The best part of what I do now is being supported in living a life in music, playing with great musicians, and being appreciated for my work.

What do you do for fun?

I like running, going to the movies, eating at great restaurants, bicycling, playing board games with friends and family, and going to the museums in DC. Contact Pecos at: www.pecossinger.com

SFWS TODAY SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM BRINGS TOP STUDENTS TO SFWS HIGH SCHOOL

SAVE THE DATES 32nd Annual Holiday Faire December 1, 2018, 10 am to 3 pm Rudolf’s Diner, Sweet and Savory Café, Wonder Shoppe, children’s games, artisan’s market, musical and magical performances and more await visitors, friends and alumni.

We hope to see you there!

Introduced three years ago by a generous donor to establish support for students new to Santa Fe Waldorf High School, the highly successful Renaissance Scholars Program offers students four years of tuition assistance for their SFWS High School career.

To be a Renaissance Scholar, a student needs to demonstrate a strong, well-rounded academic record, extracurricular activities, and community service, while also demonstrating an interest in arts, athletics, and academics. In addition, prospective students need to have either never

“Cat’s Cradle” Installation at Santa Fe Botanical Garden’s GLOW December 14 - 31, 2018 (except for December 24, 25) Come walk through an illuminated “tunnel of spacetime” designed and built by grades 11 and 12!

attended, or not attended a Waldorf school, for at least five years.

During their time at Waldorf, our Renaissance Scholars are expected to maintain certain academic and social standards, while also being supported in exploring public speaking, researching internships and other strategies for success. Scholars also represent the school in the community and meet with funders on a regular basis.

Alumni Luncheon Classes of ‘14, ‘15, ‘16, ‘17 and ‘18 invited!

December 20, 2018 The most recent five high school graduating classes are invited to join the faculty and current high school students for a festive holiday lunch. RSVP to Ms. Green at 505-467-6421 or sgreen@santafewaldorf.org

Applications for next year’s scholars are available online at www.santafewaldorf.org/scholarships. Preference in decision-making will be given to applicants whose material is received before March 30, 2019. Initial decisions will be announced by May 1, 2019 and continue on throughout the summer as funding allows.

Photos by Genevieve Russell

Mayfaire May 3, 2019 Welcome spring at our traditional Mayfaire celebration, complete with maypoles, flower crowns and strawberries.

Renaissance: SFWS High School Renaissance Scholars hang out with former Board President Dana Barnard, his wife Leslie, and their favorite cool cow. From left to right, Megan Varnado (Grade 9), Julian Rhode (Grade 10), Deedee Jansen (Grade 10), Dana Barnard, Leslie Barnard, and Will Smith (Grade 10).

8th Grade Promotion Thursday, May 30, 2019 Come cheer as our 8th Graders leave middle school and look toward their high school years!

Rose Ceremony and High School Commencement Friday, May 31, 2019 Help celebrate and send off the High School Class of 2019!

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IN THE CLASSROOM - GRADE 6 Through the Roman biographies of terrible tyrants and supremely courageous heroes, debauchery and base behavior and brilliant and strategic inventions, Grade 6 students are taken on a rich exploration of humanity during their study of Ancient Rome. Over the course of this block, each student researched, wrote about, and also built a replica of an invention which reflected Roman ingenuity and skill. They created and presented mosaics, aqueducts, catapults, fountains and baths and more!

35th Anniversary continued from page 7 Impressively, the group found a way to finance and construct the kindergarten, the 4th and 5th grade building, and the 6th and 7th grade building in just six years. The process was not without its hiccups, however. According to Hamilton, the school took on a $70,000, interest-free loan from a German foundation dedicated SFWS 35th Anniversary Cake!

Photo by Genevieve Russell to helping Waldorf schools around the globe. Unfortunately, the loan had to be repaid in German marks, and in the late 1980s, the dollar was deeply devalued against the foreign currency. In the end, even with no interest, the school ended up owing $100,000, which was fortunately paid off with the help of generous donors.

Yet, that part of the story doesn’t convey how much was going right at the school and how robustly the Waldorf community was growing, even if the path wasn’t always a straight line. More students came and well-loved community members like Thomas and Jennie Baudhuin, Michael Oellig, Karl Johnson, and Cita Riley arrived. The first Grade 8 graduated in 1990, a high school was founded at the site of the current Girl’s School, then moved to a small building on Buena Vista Street before landing at its current home on the campus. The school then added a preschool, first at the Buena Vista site and now at Puesta del Sol, to provide a complete Pre-K to Grade 12 Waldorf education. Hooper Hall was built as a gathering space that also housed music, handwork, eurythmy and woodworking. Ted Anderson, early board member and parent of David (Grade 8, 1990) and Erik (Grade 8, 2000), notes that there is something that makes people want to be here. “Who could not want to be surrounded by and be part of the strong and wonderful people at a Waldorf school?” he says.

As the school now rounds the corner after 35 years, the future is looking bright, with a progression of new leaders coming to the helm of the Board of Trustees and the school administration. In place are an ambitious new Campus Master Plan, a solid upswing in enrollment, and new community partnerships with organizations like the Santa Fe Botanical Garden and the Santa Fe Watershed Association.

Founder and parent Wendy Hitt, (Laura Hitt, HS 2007), looks back over the school’s decades-long journey, and feels, even with all the ups and downs, she wouldn’t have done it differently: “I can say now, looking back, that it has been a privilege to be involved in the growth of the Santa Fe Waldorf School.”

Do You Know Where These Alums Are? Photos by Grade 6 Teacher Kate Taylor

We are on the hunt to reconnect with SFWS alumni so we can keep them up-to-date on everything happening at SFWS! Maybe you can help us? We are looking for: David Kress, Grade 8 Class of 1992 Jessica Sanders, Grade 8 Class of 2000 Dolna Smithback, Grade 8 Class of 2004 Malika Stuerznickel, Grade 8 Class of 2007

Eolo Parusel, Grade 8 Class of 1998 Zoe Muse, Grade 8 Class of 2003 Asia Stuerznickel, Grade 8 Class of 2006

If you have any information, please contact Pat Lord at plord@santafewaldorf.org.

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ALUMNI NEWS KYRIANE JOHNSON, HS CLASS OF 2008, WEDS, SURROUNDED BY WALDORF COMMUNITY After years of travel and adventure, Kyriane Johnson married Ross Miller, of England, in Santa Fe on September 16, surrounded by grads from both the Santa Fe and Austin Waldorf Schools. Notes Kyri, “Two of my closest friends from my days at Hendrix College are from the Austin Waldorf School and were there—Waldorf love from everywhere!” Also there were her parents Kymberly and Karl Johnson. Karl has served a variety of roles at SFWS and is now the interim pedagogical chair (see page 2).

Celeste Booth Eizaguirre, HS 2005 (see page 8), photographed the wedding, and Johnson brought other Waldorf elements to her wedding; “As a Waldorf kid with a heavily artistic inclination, I decided to plan and decorate the entire wedding myself, aside from the food!”

Johnson studied sociology, anthropology and art in college, and embarked on years of travel with Miller after school throughout Europe and Southwest Asia, living in both Australia and New Zealand, where she ended up near her former SFWS Kindergarten teacher Jutta Kress. Johnson would visit Kress regularly to knit!

Travel has shaped Johnson enough so that she is co-founder of the Experience Adventure Travel agency, www.experienceadventuretravel.com, in England, where she now lives. “The best part of traveling for me is entering the unknown and coming out the other side with new knowledge gained through cultural interaction and the excitement of sharing stories, ideas, and experiences,” she says.

Ross and Kyri cutting their cake Photo by Celeste Eizaquirre

We Want To Hear From You! As Waldorf education approaches its 100-year anniversary, we are celebrating the breadth and depth of this unique education. Please write in and let us know how much it has meant to you, and while you are at it, update us on your life!

Send a quick email to plord@santafewaldorf.org or visit our website at www.santafewaldorf.org/alumni.

Back row from left to right: Kymberly Johnson (mother of bride - SFWS parent), Brennan Gibbs (HS 2005), Bevin McPartlon (HS 2008), Riley Gibbs (HS 2006), Bridget O’Shaughnessy (Austin Waldorf School), Doug Caplin (Deer Hill Expeditions-Director, SFWS 8th Grade Class trips), Kreston Johnson (HS 2011, current SFWHS Wilderness Experience Guide), Maia Pugh (SFWS), Michael Freitas (HS 2011, current HS Faculty), Michael Kessler (SFWS parent), David Nydes (SFWS parent), Karl Johnson (father of bride - SFWS Interim Pedagogical Chair), Tim Burns (SFWS parent and guest teacher).

Front row left to right: Adrienne Chapman (Boulder Valley Waldorf School), Craig Rubens (Shining Mountain Waldorf School), Celia Kessler (SFWS), Courtney Graves (Austin Waldorf School), Celeste Booth Eizaquirre (HS 2005), Kyri Miller-Johnson (Bride, HS 2008), Mary Freitas (former SFWS faculty), Pam Colgate (former SFWS Faculty), Christine Chen (SFWS faculty) and baby Oliver (future SFWS), Jennifer Warren (SFWS Admissions Director), Judy Nydes (SFWS parent), Marcy McPartlon (SFWS parent), Regina Kessler (SFWS parent).

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26 Puesta Del Sol, Santa Fe, NM 87508 santafewaldorf.org/alumni

Grade 6 at White Sands National Monument. Photo by Adriana Reyes Newell Front Cover: The Wadi Rum Desert in Jordan. Photo by alumna Celeste Booth Eizaguirre (see page 8)

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