The Light of Things

Dear Members of The Waldorf School of Santa Barbara Community,

A member of our community who works in local public schools tells of walking down hallways and peering into classrooms where children sit in desks, in masks, all gazing in unison at their respective iPads. Even very young children. While we know that many inspiring people work in these schools (many!), it pains the heart to learn of this. But it also steels us—steels us here at WSSB where children learn in the classroom, and outside the classroom; where they learn sitting down, and where they learn standing up; where they learn gazing onto books, knitting needles, chisels, chalkboards, herbs, fruit trees, bunsen burners, algebra problems, topographical maps, violins, and squawking chickens—but never while gazing onto screens. If the medium is indeed the message, we believe our message is a curative one; it says to the children (borrowing from William Wordsworth): "Come forth into the light of things."

Again and again, it’s important to bring awareness to what "community" means—having in common. And what we have in common here at WSSB is a love for the children, a desire to do right by them by providing a healthy, broad, reverent (and screen-free) education. And we also humbly hope, by means of a kind of cultural osmosis, to affect the way children are educated elsewhere. By cultivating our small field with reverence, intelligence, and art, we hope others might cultivate their fields likewise. Writes Pema Chodron: "Instead of seeing it as futile or depressing, we can see the limitlessness of the job ahead of us as a source of continual inspiration." May it be so.

To support our work here at WSSB please give money to our Annual Campaign. Our goal this year is $60,000 with 100% school-wide participation (parents, faculty/staff, and board). An amount equal to one month’s tuition is the recommended gift. If that is too much, give what you can. Remember that fundraising covers 10% of our total budget, bridging the gap between revenue and expenses. Click here now to support us as we cultivate our beautiful field:

https://waldorfsantabarbara.org/annual-giving-fund

Finally, very big heartfelt thankyous to all who helped with our two recent life-nourishing events: The Halloween Journey/Festival and Dia De Los Muertos. Both were wonderful. "It is difficult to be religious," writes Clement Miles, "impossible to be merry, at every moment of life, and festivals are as sunlit peaks, testifying, above dark valleys, to the eternal radiance."

With thanks,
The WSSB Admin Team

PS The poem of the day is the (truly remarkable) "Snack Blessing" for our 7th/8th Graders:

As we begin this meal with grace,
Let us become aware of the memory
Carried inside the food before us:
The quiver of the seed
Awakening in the earth,
Unfolding in a trust of roots
And slender stems of growth,
On its voyage toward harvest,
The kiss of rain and surge of sun;
The innocence of animal soul
That never spoke a word,
Nourished by the earth
To become today our food;
The work of all strangers
Whose hands prepared it,
The privilege of wealth and health
That enables us to feast and celebrate.