"Educate them in love..."
One wise human, Shunyru Suzuki, said, “The most important thing is to remember the most important thing.” One important thing perhaps worth remembering (and perhaps remembering often) is this phrase of Rudolph Steiner’s: educate them in love. Remembering love is not always easy. Nor is the practice of it. But both seem urgent.
At a recent Carpinteria Unified School District board meeting, the superintendent explored the findings of this year’s California Healthy Kids Survey, an annual document that seeks to gauge California public school students’ well-being. According to The Coastal View newspaper, the superintendent highlighted “areas of concern, particularly for seventh graders, as 28 percent reported experiencing chronic sadness/hopelessness, 20 percent reported alcohol or drug use, and 16 percent reported seriously considering suicide.”
Such figures (among seventh graders!) are searing to contemplate. But, along with the heartbreak, they make us feel anew the importance of our Waldorf education and our WSSB community. We believe that the education provided at WSSB, while not some foolproof cure-all, does help address today’s wounded social ecology. WSSB’s emphasis on a heart-felt, hands-on, academic learning that engages the whole of the child; the emphasis on grounding rhythms; on beauty-attuned learning (and beauty-attuned learning environments); on earth reverence and earth stewardship; and on face-to-face, screen-free encounters all help, we believe, mitigate the isolation young people can feel in our modern world in 2019.
Our campus in Goleta is one of the few places where you never see children competing against screens to get the attention of adults. Think about this for a moment. When parents drop their children off at school they know their children will receive undivided attention from their teachers and WSSB staff members. They know their children will be seen patiently and individually and that they will be held with intention and care. Waldorf Education consultant George Hoffecker pointed out in his recent visit to our school that it is easier and easier to be less and less human these days. This retreat away from the human is not happening at WSSB. “Educate them in love.” This wisdom is a guiding principle humbly practiced at The Waldorf School of Santa BarbaraOtherwise, “Enrollment Season” is off and running. We encourage those interested in enrolling their children in WSSB to visit our campus. We are holding an Open House on April 6th, 9:00 to 10:30 a.m. Personal tours are also available. Click on the link below for details: