Earth and Sun and Stars

Dear Members of The Waldorf School of Santa Barbara Community,

A wolf is on our Central Coast of California, the first in 200 years. Born two years ago near Oregon’s Mount Hood to the White River Pack, the young male, as wolves do, left his family looking for a "mate," heading south into California, passing through Modoc County, Mono County, Tuolumne, Mariposa, and Madera counties; Fresno County, San Benito County, Monterey County; and now San Luis Obispo County. The gray wolf -- traveling roughly 16 miles a day, at a trot of roughly 15 miles per hour -- has journeyed through Northern California lava beds, over snowy Sierra Nevada passes, through Yosemite, across three major freeways, through farmland, and now roams the mountains above San Luis Obispo near California’s sand. The wolf has traveled 1000 miles in two months. A director of a wolf advocacy group said his arrival is "something akin to a moonwalk." The last such wolf was spotted on the Central Coast (in Monterey County) in 1826. The Chumash -- for thousands of years -- called this once-abundant creature miy. There are fifteen wolves left in our state.
"This is what is the matter with us: we are bleeding at the roots because we are cut off from the earth and sun and stars," says D.H. Lawrence. At WSSB, we seek to redress -- in our humble, fallible, small-scale way -- such earth-alienation. That's why, in addition to math, reading, chemistry, and history, we have gardening class; we incubate and keep chickens; we babysit lambs; we plant fruit trees; go for hikes; and do beach cleanups. At WSSB we know modern education would benefit greatly from heeding our homegrown prophet Aldo Leopold who said: "Examine each question in terms of what is ethically and aesthetically right, as well as what is economically expedient. A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise." May the gray wolf, somehow, flourish here again. And may we heal at the roots, returning ourselves to the earth and sun and stars.

In other news, our annual Hike-A-Thon is coming up (next Thursday). This is our only major fundraiser led by our WSSB students. As you may know, tuition alone does not cover The Waldorf School of Santa Barbara’s costs: we rely on money from events such as our Hike-A-Thon to provide our love-based, earth-honoring education. This year funds raised by this event will help pay for the outdoor classrooms, campus care, and our tuition assistance program.

This year's Hike-A-Thon goal is $200 raised by each student and 100% participation of WSSB families. To that end, please visit -- and share with family, friends, colleagues, and coworkers -- the link below:

https://waldorfsantabarbara.org/hikeathon

With gratitude,

The WSSB Admin Team

P.S. The pensée of the day is by Aldo Leopold: "Conservation is a state of harmony between (wo)men and land."