fbpx
Aligning
Tradition &
Innovation

April 2019 E-News

~ Celebrating 100 Years of Education Worldwide ~

| April 2019 |

Don’t Forget You can Shop and Support the
Waldorf School of Garden City with the
following
organizations!

A Note from the Faculty Chair

Dear Community,

As our Spring break comes to an end, a worldwide event begins: Screen-free Week.

Did you let your children indulge in too much screen time over the break? Are you ready for a challenge?

The Screen-Free Week (screenfree.org) is a brief challenge to awaken us to the habits into which we’ve unconsciously fallen.  The real challenge, however, occurs after the week is complete.   Do we go back to our old habits, or do we take the next step?

As I consider the next steps for my household, I must share with you my experience since last summer.   What I hear over and over again in my house is, “Glen Brook was so much fun!  When will it be summer again so I can go back to Glen Brook?  I’m going to write a letter to friends I made at Glen Brook.”    I don’t hear any woes about it being a screen-free campus.  Not one.

I encourage you to telephone Kate Fuller in the Camp Glen Brook Office at 603-876-3342 or go to the website www.glenbrook.org.   The screen-free aspect isn’t the main point to Camp Glen Brook.   It’s what the campers DO with their time instead.  (By the way, they also leave behind their watches.  So campers get to forget about time while at Glen Brook.  They get to BE.)   Through the community meals, chores and evening singing, through experience of the outdoors and cooperative games, a sense of independence, confidence and social skills grow in the campers.   If you’ve been a part of my talks on adolescence, you know this is exactly the type of experience we need to provide for our young people.  Check it out.  You might want your whole family to have the Glen Brook experience.  In that case, sign up for family week in late summer.

Before summer carries us away, please join me in the last Conversations with the Faculty Chair of this school year.  On Monday, May 13th from 7:30-8:30 pm in Bonner Hall, we will focus on grades 1-3 and how the curriculum uniquely meets the children in these grades. Please RSVP if you plan on attending!

Warmly,

Kelly O’Halogan
Faculty Chair

What’s Happening in Athletics?

Baseball and Softball season are in full swing! All of the students are playing hard and of course, having fun. We are fortunate this year to have a robust team of 22 players on our Softball Team. The Team kicked off the season earlier this month, with a 20-2 victory over Lawrence-Woodmere. Likewise, the Baseball Team has participated in some highly competitive and very well played games so far this season, with every member of the Team giving it their all.
There are only a few weeks left in the season. Come out and watch our student-athletes play……they love support!

Please check the Waldorf athletics calendar for updates and to make your plans to attend and cheer on our teams!

Announcements

Support The Waldorf School of Garden City & Camp Glen Brook

By supporting the Gala, you also support the Early Childhood play area renovations and energy efficient, environmentally friendly new heating system in the Glen Brook Dining Hall!

All proceeds from the Gala, including donations, sponsorships, journal ads, and ticket sales will have a direct effect on a child’s experience at the School and at Camp Glen Brook.

If you cannot attend the Gala and would like to make a donation of any amount or purchase a journal ad please visit www.waldorfgarden.org/gala. For those of you that have already contributed to the Gala, your gesture is deeply appreciated.

Here is a full view of the reimagined Early Childhood Play Area which will be completed in September 2019, and additional views of Camp Glen Brook.​

Click the image to see the full flyer

Spring Festival is this Weekend!

We invite you to join us for the Waldorf School’s annual Spring Festival this Sunday, May 5th, 10:00 am – 2:30 pm.

Come and celebrate the season with a traditional Maypole dance, music, gardening and seasonal craft activities, and more, all in a fair-like atmosphere.

The festival will feature:

  • Maypole dancing and musical celebration led by grades 4 and 6
  • Puppet play presented by our Early Childhood teachers
  • Floral crown making
  • Gardening and seed planting
  • Heirloom vegetable plants and flowers for sale
  • A guided Nature Trail walk – an opportunity to learn about our beautiful outdoor trail
  • Intergenerational games
  • Petting zoo
  • Information tables for Waldorf Summer Program and Hawthorne Valley CSA
  • Camp Glen Brook – purchase eggs and maple syrup from our school’s farm

Bring a picnic blanket and a packed lunch; sandwiches and refreshments will be available for sale.

The PTA will also be collecting books for their book drive. Click the image to the left to see the full flyer.

We are grateful to Adelphi University for allowing us the use of their lots and to the Garden City Police Department for giving us “special event parking” from 10:00 am – 4:00 pm. You will be allowed to park on both sides of Cambridge Avenue, from the School up to Nassau Blvd.

This festival is a wonderful spring tradition – rain or shine. Bring your friends and family and enjoy the day!

 

Show your Waldorf Pride!

Shop and Support

Until May 25th, receive 15% off an order of $75 or more on the Waldorf BSN Sideline store by entering the code May19.  A variety of merchandise for students, teams, alumni and current families is now available to show your Waldorf pride.

Senior Play – Seussical!

Special Announcement! The Class of 2019 will perform the musical, Seussical, as their final Class Play before graduation! Save these performance dates:

Thursday, June 6th at 8:00 pm
Friday, June 7th at 1:00 pm
Saturday, June 8th at 8:00 pm

Enjoy The Cat in the Hat narrating the story of Horton, an elephant who discovers a speck of dust that contains the Whos, including Jojo, a Who child sent off to military school for thinking too many “thinks.” Horton faces a double challenge–not only must he protect the Whos from a world of naysayers and dangers, but he must guard an abandoned egg, left in his care by the irresponsible Mayzie La Bird. Although Horton faces ridicule, danger, kidnapping, and a trial, the intrepid Gertrude McFuzz never loses faith in him. Ultimately, the powers of friendship, loyalty, family, and community are challenged and emerge triumphantly.

Join us for this fun and performance by the senior class. Appropriate for all ages!

News

Junior Daniella Kata Wins at NY Concert Festival International Competition

Congratulations to Daniella for being a 1st Place Winner of the New York Concert Festival International Competition. Daniella was chosen for her Piano performance of Arabesque #1 by Claude Debussy.

Earth Day 2019: In Service of the Earth

Hands-on activities, engaged learning, and meaningful service was completed by our students, faculty, staff and extended community during our Earth Day celebration. Read more and see photos at the link below!

GSA Raises over $100 for LIGALY with Day of Silence

The School’s Gay/Straight Alliance (GSA) recently sponsored a Day of Silence to raise awareness about bullied LGBT youth. Each High School student who took part donated $5 and received a button (pictured left) to wear throughout the day to indicate their participation. The GSA donated $138 to Long Island Gay and Lesbian Youth (LIGALY), an organization that works to build community, provide a home and safe space for all, and end anti-LGBT bullying.

High School Trip to Martinique

Spring break featured a trip to the Caribbean island of Martinique for a group of High School students. The trip served as a companion to the student’s regular French curriculum by immersing them in a culture deeply rooted in the French language. Highlights included visits to the Salines Beach, the Balata Gardens, the city of St. Pierre, and more. See a gallery of photos from the trip by clicking the button below!

Alumni

Alumni Notes

Congratulations to Nombulelo Malunga ’15 on completing her Bachelor of Arts degree, majoring in Psychology and Philosophy, at the University of the Witwatersrand. Nombulelo is now interning in human resources at Clicks Limited Group’s head offices in Johannesburg, which is one of the biggest pharmacy stores in South Africa.

Annie Harrigan ’18 has been awarded the David Rockefeller International Experience Fund Grant towards the Harvard Summer School Study Abroad Program in Paris, France. Congratulations, Annie! We can’t wait to hear about your summer abroad.

Congratulations to Taisha Thomas ’09 on your engagement! Taisha’s fiancé Ryan Hodgetts, proposed on March 23, 2019 after six years of dating. Ryan runs a sports program for adults with disabilities, and Taisha works in the music industry, while also going to nursing school. We wish you the best of luck during this exciting time!

Visit or Join our Alumni Facebook Group:


We are proud of our Alumni! Please tell us what’s new:

Camp Glen Brook

Make Lifelong Family Memories at Family Camp:

In The Shelter of Each Other, author Mary Piper states that the three things that children remember the most from their childhood years are time together around the table sharing meals, family vacations, and time spent together outside in nature. She might as well be describing Family Camp at Glen Brook! We hope you will join us this summer August 14th-18th for a week your family won’t forget.

The pace of each day is the usual Glen Brook balance of play, work, and leisure time. We offer your family many summer camp activities including swimming, canoeing and kayaking, hiking, arts and crafts, helping on our farm, archery, games of all sorts, and singing by the campfire. And, as always, delicious farm-to-table meals are a major component to the week!

Family Camp, August 14 – 18, 2019 – Cost: Age 14 to adults = $650, Ages 2 – 13 = $350, Under Age 2 = free. A maximum charge of $2,000 for a nuclear family.

Summer Camp at Glen Brook:

There’s nothing like the good ol’ fashioned fun of a Camp Glen Brook summer. We offer special 10 day sessions for 3rd & 4th graders. We also have some space available for 5th and 6th graders. Bring a friend and you and your buddy will each enjoy a $300 Buddy Discount (one of you must be new to summer camp at Glen Brook). Visit our website to learn more.

We hope to see you at Glen Brook this summer!

Summer at Waldorf Approaches!

The Summer at Waldorf program is open for registration. Learn more by attending the Open House on Sunday, May 5th during the Spring Festival. For questions contact Co-Director Carol Purdie at (516) 742-3434 ext. 327 or email summerprogram@waldorfgarden.org.News from AWSNA

Keep up with all the news from the Association of Independent Waldorf Schools in North America by subscribing to their monthly E-News. Learn more by clicking the button below!

click for full flyer

Hawthorne Valley Farm CSA

Hawthorne Valley Farm is a certified biodynamic and organic farm in Ghent, NY. We offer a 20 week CSA program with pick up at Garden City Waldorf School on Thursday afternoons from mid-June through late October.  Each week you receive a box bursting with fresh, delicious seasonal produce with the option to add on fruit, eggs, dairy, bread and meat!  Joining a CSA is a great way to get the freshest, healthiest food while supporting local farms and building local community!

Visit our website www.hawthornevalleystore.org for more information or to sign up!

Save These Dates

Senior Arts Reception
Saturday, May 4th at 5:30 pm

Spring Festival
Sunday, May 5th 10:00 am – 2:30 pm

Junior & Senior Prom
Sunday, May 5th 7:00 – 11:00 pm

Professional Development Day (ALL SCHOOL CLOSED)
Monday, May 6th

High School Foreign Language Plays
Thursday May 9th at 2:00 pm

Conversation with the Faculty Chair
Monday, May 13th 7:00 – 8:30 pm

Parent Child Tea and Play
Tuesday, May 14th – 2:00 – 3:00 pm

Open House (Grades 6-12)
Wednesday, May 8th at 8:30 am

8th Grade Play – The Madwoman of Challiot by Jean Giraudoux
Friday, May 10th at 1:00 pm
Saturday, May 11th at 8:00 pm

PTA Meeting
Friday, May 17th at 9:30 am

5th Grade Greek Olympics
Thursday, May 23rd 10:00 am – 1:45 pm

Memorial Day (ALL SCHOOL CLOSED)
Monday, May 27th

Gala 2019 – Celebrating 100 Years of Waldorf Education Worldwide
Friday, May 31st – Heritage Club at Bethpage

Sports Night (All Student-Athletes Grade 7-12)
Wednesday, June 5th

Senior Play – Seussical
Thursday, June 6th at 8:00 pm
Friday June 7th at 1:00 pm
Saturday June 8th at 8:00 pm

Closing Assembly
Thursday June 13th at 10:00 am

8th Grade Graduation
Thursday June 13th at 8:00 pm

Senior Commencement
Friday, June 14th at 10:30 am

Facebook Page
Instagram
youtube
Twitter