Three-Legged Stools; Nine-Patch Quilts; and the Miracle
Dear Members of the Waldorf School of Santa Barbara Community,
Life at WSSB is particularly rich right now.
The Sixth and Seventh Grades recently had their Knighting Ceremony; Saint Nick and his impish friend, Rupert, paid the school a visit, enchanting, sagely advising, and entertaining all; and the WSSB students recently walked the Advent Spiral. Moreover, the Early Childhood is enjoying the new play structure in the expanded orchard; the Grades students are tending a variety of young plants in Gardening class (cabbage, cauliflower, beet, carrot, and snap pea); and the upper Grades are rehearsing Themes from the Nutcracker, Silent Night, Christmas Canon, and Legends of Glory in Strings. The Third Graders just finished their fastidious and wonder-inspiring shelter projects; the First Graders are learning about Hannukah and vowels; and the Eighth Graders are making three-legged stools (joinery without nails and screws) in Woodworking class; and making nine-patch quilts on sewing machines in Handwork class (quilts that will be donated to the needy). Next week we have our Winter Performance, our festival of Santa Lucia (a festival held by the Second Grade), and our Eighth Grade play, A Christmas Carol.
The French have a song titled “What Are We Waiting for to Be Happy?” Recognizing all the beautiful things the children are doing here reminds one of that worthwhile question. “To be alive,” writes Thich Nhat Hanh, “is a fantastic thing. To be present in the here and now, breathing, is a miracle.” Yes, indeed.
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Thank you to those who have given to this year's Annual Fund Campaign.
Our goal is $80,000 with 100% participation from every parent (as well as staff and board member) at our school. Please know that this campaign is of primary importance as it helps us cover our operating cost. And please do not see giving as some abstract duty you perhaps ought to fulfill. Instead see it as an opportunity to concretely support the wellbeing of your child and her/his classmates. Please also see it as a way to support WSSB’s faculty and staff who work in service of your child and her/his classmates. Amid unprecedented inflation and a soaring cost of living, help us keep (and hire) the faculty and staff who make our great school what it is. We owe it to the children (and the world they inhabit) to expend every resource available to support WSSB's Slow Education. Please click here to support your child:
https://waldorfsantabarbara.org/annual-giving-fund
Heart to heart,
The Admin Team
PS The thought of the day is from Myla Kabat-Zinn:
"To parent consciously requires that we engage in an inner work on ourselves as well as in the outer work of nurturing and caring for our children."
PPS The second thought of the day is from Mary Pipher:
"We must clear a path to the strength and energy at the core of family life...which will challenge each of us to face the truth about ourselves, and to find the courage to protect, nurture, and revitalize the families we so cherish."