45 Years of the Woodstock – St Olaf Connection

Lorrie Doman Sheydayi ’87 and Katie Jo Walter

The Woodstock Student Teacher program that began in 1977 and continues to this day was the brainchild of late St Olaf College Professor Joe Iverson. The program was nurtured by subsequent St Olaf Education Department Chairs, the late Professor Myron Solid, Professor Mark Schelske, Professor Maria Kelly, and today’s Professor Elizabeth Leer, who have each enriched and deepened the educational pedagogy of both schools.

In 1974 when Professor Iverson, a Fulbright Scholar at University of Pune in India, returned to the St Olaf College campus in Northfield, Minnesota, he strongly advocated for an international student teaching program in India. The idea of “going abroad” and “international study programs” was a new, popular concept spreading across the American higher education landscape at the time. It has since become a point of pride for St Olaf College, which has been ranked for many years as the top undergraduate institution in the U.S. for the number of students who study abroad (Star Tribune, November 29, 2006). Ansgar Sovik, a welltravelled St Olaf religion professor and co-founder of the International and OffCampus Studies programmes, knew of this special boarding school in the foothills of the Himalayas and facilitated an introduction to Woodstock School for Professor Iverson.

In that age before email Professor Iverson started up vigorous handwritten correspondence with Woodstock Principal Alex Bean, Assistant Principal David Kibblewhite, and Superintendent Bob Alter on how such a novel idea could be put into practice. His tenacious persistence paid off when in 1977 the first group of four student teachers from St Olaf headed to India, including Joe Iverson’s son and Maureen Hofrenning (who spoke at the Friends of Woodstock School’s 2015 Khana Banquet).

St Olaf started a total of seven international student teaching programmes, including at Kodaikanal International School in Tamil Nadu and at schools in New Zealand and East Asia. However, the two programs in India are the only international student teaching programmes still operating today.

Professor Iverson reminisced that early reports coming back from the student teachers were that Woodstock used a lecturestyle teaching model in which the students were largely silent receptacles of knowledge. The student teachers were able to introduce cutting-edge teaching philosophies to Woodstock staff, successfully engaging their students with the course material. The mutual institutional exchange deepened with the late Prof Mark Schelske and Woodstock staff member Kathy Hoffmann, who helped organize the “St Olaf Staff Development” programme at Woodstock. The programme designed to take place every other year was held two times with the help of Prof Elizabeth Leer and others before Woodstock entered into collaboration with the University of London in 2013. To date over 80 student teachers have spent a semester on the Garwhali hillside, immersing themselves in the Woodstock community and educating students in a variety of subjects under the guidance of master teachers.

Ten St Olaf professors have visited Woodstock to oversee the student teaching programme or to offer professional development to Woodstock staff members. Nine Woodstock graduates have gone on to St Olaf College for their undergraduate studies, and eight former student teachers from St Olaf have returned to Woodstock as full-fledged staff members upon graduation. In 2022 two more St Olaf women embarked upon another chapter in the warm legacy between the two educational institutions by joining the

Woodstock living and learning community for the fall semester. Ruby Reyes (English) just completed her student teaching assignment and hopes to return to the hillside soon. Greta VanLoon (Mathematics) will be extending her stay at Woodstock to cover the maternity leave of our Mathematics Teacher Ms Kalpana Singh (congratulations, Kalpana!).

The late Professors Joe Iverson and Myron Solid were educators who passionately believed in the benefit and opportunity of international exposure. Strong supporters of Woodstock School, Iverson and Solid worked hard to create an academically vigorous educational experience for the young teachers and send Woodstock the best talent within their student body. Myron spoke proudly of the notable difference of returned Woodstock student teachers: “These brave young men and women not only weathered culture shock but also the challenge of standing –perhaps for the first time - in front of a classroom with 30 pairs of expectant eyes looking only at them. The level of maturity of the returned student teachers was remarkable.”

Such a relationship as St Olaf College and Woodstock School have is unique and special, and it is fitting that we take time to reflect on this success. With the vision of Prof Iverson and the continued enhancements and hard work of Myron Solid, the late Mark Schelske, Maria Kelly, and Elizabeth Leer, the Woodstock Student Teacher Programme is thriving for the benefit of all.

Special thanks to Lorrie Doman-Sheydayi ’87 for providing the 2015 article that was used as the basis for this piece. Thanks also to Sue Couture, St Olaf College Coordinator of Licensure and Field Experiences, for her assistance in providing initial information on the history of the St Olaf Student Teacher programme when the original version of this article was published in 2015. We appreciate her help and memory for details. Finally, thank you to Kathy Hoffmann, former Woodstock School English teacher and Academic Dean and current Woodstock School Board Member for providing important updates to this article.

2022 St Olaf student teachers Ruby Reyes and Greta Van Loon share about their time at Woodstock

Greta (Mathematics):

“What have you enjoyed most about being here?

I enjoy the freedom of the IB curriculum and the way it helps us to care for the whole student. In math it's so easy to boil everything down to the individual mathematical skills, but here I've been able to work on different overall parts of student thinking within math.

“What is one of your favorite accomplishments while teaching on the hillside?

Being able to reach more students through office hours. I started holding office hours during lunchtime and after school on certain days, and this has really helped me to get to know my students better and to give them the help they need. Sometimes it's so chaotic in the classroom that not everyone gets to ask their questions, so it's been great opening up to students over email and in office hours so that they can really feel like I am here for them.

“What do you want to tell others considering student teaching at Woodstock?

My advice would be to ask lots of questions when you get here! Ask questions of people in charge, other teachers, dorm parents, and students. Everyone has a unique

The Soviks and the Lindells: Origin of the St Olaf – Woodstock Connection?

Ansgar Sovik (1917-2007), co-founder of St Olaf’s International and Off-Campus Studies programmes, suggested Woodstock School as the site of a St Olaf student teaching programme in India. He was born in Hangzhou, China, to Lutheran missionaries and attended the American School Kikungshan (ASK) for his elementary education before entering high school in Northfield, MN and attending St Olaf. His sharing of a familiar personal story with many Woodstock and Kodaikanal Third Culture “Mish Kids” has aroused curiosity around who Ansgar’s connection at Woodstock was.

Lorrie Doman-Sheydayi ’87, whose 2015 writing on the history of the Woodstock – St Olaf connection forms most of this article, recently received this information from Naomi Lindell States ’67 about her family’s potential role in bringing Woodstock to Ansgar Sovik’s attention:

“The connection likely started in China, where Ansgar Sovik and his cousin Margaret Sovik attended ASK. The three brothers, Paul, Jonathan, and David Lindell also attended ASK around that time. Paul Lindell eventually married Margaret Sovik in Minneapolis and became director of World Mission Prayer League under which his brother Jonathan Lindell and his family went as missionaries to Nepal. Jonathan’s children attended Woodstock School.

Jonathan and Evelyn Lindell’s children are:

Nancy Garrison ’64

Naomi States ’67

Rachel Nelson ’74

Bethany Friberg ’77

David Lindell was a missionary in South India, and his children attended Kodaikanal International School. Two of their children attended St Olaf. Margaret Sovik’s brother Edward Sovik was in the same class at ASK as Jonathan Lindell. Edward also taught at St Olaf for many years in the Art/Architecture department.

It is entirely possible that this tight network brought Woodstock to Ansgar’s attention. The Soviks and Lindells knew each other at ASK and had the same vision of international outreach and service to the Lord.” perspective and unique knowledge about what makes this school work, and I've learned so much just through conversations with other people at Woodstock. It's a very niche community here, and you have to ask around to be able to understand it better. After I go back home I'd like to write up important information about Woodstock for future student teachers because this is a much-needed resource for student teachers preparing to live, teach, and learn at Woodstock. There was a lot I needed to know in advance that I didn't even know I needed to know.

But help is everywhere: teachers I have met here have helped me with everything from getting things fixed in my house to classroom management. They are full of great wisdom and experience that have helped me survive the semester.

Ruby (English):

“What have you enjoyed most about being here?

My favorite part about being at Woodstock

School would definitely be the community! It is so incredibly rare to find such amazing people all in one place, and that makes me think about how special Woodstock is to have gathered such a group. I've really enjoyed creating beautiful memories with the teachers and students at this learning community, and the breathtaking view definitely helps make it an even more memorable time. I've learned so much from my short five months on the hillside. From lessons on becoming and being a classroom teacher to becoming and being a human being who makes the most out of every gift life has to offer.

When I applied to student teach in India, I comprehended how terrifying it would be at first, how nerve wracking the first class I taught would be, and how stressed out I would get trying to stay on top of things. But I never in my wildest dreams would have imagined all the amazing things that I would be part of in and out of the classroom.

I could have never imagined the feeling I was going to get after reading an amazing short story a student wrote and the laugh that escaped me as I read it. I could have never imagined the awe I would feel as I witnessed the Winterline for the very first time. I could have never imagined the happiness and joy I would feel gathered around a dining room table with the most amazing educators I know as we shared a meal – talking about life and learning. I could have never imagined how familiar the Edgehill path would become and how happy I would be going down it to see my students first thing in the morning with some ginger + honey + lemon tea from the Tangerine Boxx in hand. I leave knowing each moment was well spent! It feels like a lifetime has passed and not just a semester studying abroad. I am so grateful for my time at Woodstock.

“What was one of your favorite accomplishments/interactions with a current student or staff member?

It happened during activity week. It had been an eventful week with Grade 10. We were on this beautiful hike in Dhanaulti after spending three months together in the classroom. We had decided that our group needed a rest day at the second base camp after two hectic days of navigating dirt roads and zigzag paths. On my end spending time with students outside of the classroom was a gift.

It was a time when I didn't have to make sure they were paying close attention to learning how an allusion functions as a literary device. It was a time when I didn't have to pour all my energy into getting them to stay quiet for more than five seconds of instruction. It was a time when I didn't have to circle the classroom dozens of times to make sure they were actually working on their laptops instead of watching a new Netflix series that in my personal opinion wouldn't help them edit the multitude of run-on sentences still haunting their pieces of written text.

Finally this was the moment when we could just leave Language and Literature behind for a little bit and focus on all the beauty around us. Of course our carrying fifteen-kilo backpacks and their phantom itch to check the phone they left behind at dorms didn't aid in creating this nature moment I was ready to have with them.

On this fateful day, though, the sun was high up in the sky, and the morning had been spent going on casual walks and taking cat naps on the grass. The afternoon came, and everyone was either fully knocked out in their tents or suffering from a bad case of boredom. At mid-afternoon I awoke to the sound of laughter and singing coming from the other side of the hill. I followed the familiar voices of five of my students lying in the grass on a slope among the trees and actually enjoying nature. I asked to sit with them, and we stayed there for about an hour or so just talking about life and getting to know each other.

It's a simple memory, really, but one I think I will cherish forever if only for the reminder of why I wanted to be a teacher in the first place. I wanted to be a teacher not only because I don't quite mind teaching them how allusions function or how to help their run-on ghosts (sentences) pass onto the other side (off the page preferably), but because I enjoy moments like these. Moments of connection and humanity that help truly build a space where we can become a learning community that can acknowledge each other as people who can learn from each other in many contexts.

“What do you want to tell others considering student teaching at

Woodstock?

I would say go for it! Woodstock is an amazing place to grow and learn. I came in with close to no expectations, and I think that served me well. Let yourself truly experience Woodstock for yourself without other people's memories or experiences of it impacting too much of your first steps there. Prepare to walk a lot, to be terrified of the monkeys a lot, to eat a lot of new things, to cry a lot (either from laughter or a tiring day), to be human a lot (student teaching can bring that out of you), and also prepare to surprise yourself a lot because you will. You will be surprised by how much you grow, how much you thrive, and how much you learn when you truly let yourself be part of everything that is happening on the hillside.

It's not going to be perfect, but hopefully you will find the community just as warm as I did, and you will find yourself looking forward to lunch in the Quad with coteachers and teatime conversations with students. Hopefully even in the crazy, busy schedule you will be subjected to during student teaching you'll find the time to look around and appreciate the sun, the sky, the trees, and being somewhere so incredibly different from what you know.

In the ’80s Kathy Hoffmann (Woodstock School Board Member and former teacher and Academic Dean), who hails from Minnesota, had become an important liaison for the St Olaf programme. For student teachers she was a comforting link to things familiar in an otherwise new and challenging Indian environment.

Prof Myron Solid saw in Kathy an excellent educator with a Minnesotan Teaching License who could ensure the high standards expected of a collegiate student teaching programme.

In 2008 Prof Schelske formalized her role as an Adjunct Professor for St Olaf, involved in administration of the program and directly corresponding with the St Olaf Education Department. Upon her retirement from Woodstock School in 2009 Kathy returned to Minnesota and joined the St. Olaf Education Department, teaching education courses and supervising student teachers.