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Aligning
Tradition &
Innovation

~ Celebrating 100 Years of Education Worldwide ~

| August 2019 |

A Note from the Faculty Chair

Dear Community,

Hello, and welcome to the new school year!

There are so many things to look forward to as you return to The Waldorf School of Garden City.   Take a peek at the new Early Childhood playground and you will be amazed.   Beautiful new curtains hang in our Bonner Hall, compliments of the PTA.  Living walls grace the breezeway and high school lobby.

While these improvements are wonderful, they don’t outshine the importance of reconnecting with old friends and making new ones.  The start of each new school year is rich with potential.  I encourage each of us to take time to set intentions for the coming school year.  A community as rich as ours provides ample opportunity for striving, growth, and joy.

Joining our community this year is Helene Smith, our new School Administrator, and her family.  I hope you will join us at our Opening Assembly where we will welcome Ms. Smith and other new employees.   The Assembly takes place the first day of School, September 3rd at 10:30 am.  At this time we will also hold our traditional Rose Ceremony, where our Seniors welcome the rising First Graders.  It’s not to be missed.

Wishing you all a wonderful start to the school year.

Warmly,

Kelly O’Halogan
Faculty Chair

What’s Happening in Athletics?

The Fall Season of Athletics began earlier this month as the Varsity Boys and Girls Soccer teams dove deep into pre-season practice. This season the Varsity Boys will be coached by Shane Flanagan (assisted by Roberto Splendori) and the Varsity Girls will be led by our new Coach, Jessica Rubio. Both teams are working hard in anticipation of a competitive season starting this September.

We are also looking forward to the 7th & 8th Grade Soccer season and Coaches Roberto Splendori (Boys) and Victor Kim (Girls) are excited to begin! Additionally, the Cross Country team is gearing up for an exciting year under Coach Shawna Thornton.

Click here to see the full schedules for our Varsity Soccer Teams!

Announcements

Back to School Information

We hope your entire family has had a wonderful summer. We are excited to welcome you back for the 2019-2020 school year! To ensure that families have all the information needed for a successful start, an email was previously sent with a link to a customized online resource page giving you 24-hour access to the forms and documents required for back-to-school planning.

To begin, click the link below and choose your grade level:

Grandparent’s Day

Grandparents, Extended Family, and Close Family Friends are invited to join us for a special “day in the life” of a Waldorf Student! Join us on Thursday, September, 26th for refreshments, to sit in on a class, and then join us for our traditional Michaelmas celebration. This annual fall pageant looks ahead to the future and celebrates what is truly human, our process of self-development. The Michaelic archetype symbolizes overcoming, transforming, or taming negative impulses (e.g. materialism, intolerance, etc.) through intelligence, courage, and strength as we strive toward our full human potential.

Please RSVP so we may customize your experience!

Waldorf 100 Community Events

September 19, 2019 marks 100 years since the first Waldorf School opened in Stuttgart, Germany.  While our “Gala 2019” celebrated this momentous anniversary, September will bring the additional commemorative activities outlined below.

Join our team! On Saturday, September 21st The Otto Specht School in Chestnut Ridge will host a Community 5K.  The Waldorf School of Garden City has partnered with other neighboring Waldorf Schools to support our common goal … to inspire and unite.  If you are interested in signing up to join the WSGC Stars team for $10 please register at https://www.raceentry.com/races/sport-unites-community-5k/2019/register. The team name is WSGC Stars and the password is Waldorf2020.

*Please visit the link below for other activities planned for September 19th & 20th*These events are not hosted by WSGC

https://www.waldorfeducation.org/news-resources/events-calendar

Register Today for Fall Parent & Child Classes!

Registration for the Fall 2019 Parent & Child classes is now open! Click here to register.

Please contact Carol Proctor at (516) 742 3434 ext. 301 or proctorc@waldorfgarden.org with any questions you may have.

School News

Re-Imagined Space for Play

Over two years ago, the Early Childhood teachers at the Waldorf School of Garden City were asked by then Administrator, Susan Braun, to dream big. They were tasked with imagining what an ideal playground would look like for the Mixed-Age Kindergarten children. With this special assignment in mind, the teachers rolled up their sleeves and began to work. According to Early Childhood Chair, Keelah Helwig, many factors were considered when designing the space. “We thought about our students, and what physical challenges a four-year-old yearns for, what would create opportunities for healthy risks for our five-year-olds, and what spaces would allow our six-year-olds to plan, negotiate, collaborate and initiate age-appropriate play.”

Meet the New School Administrator

The Waldorf School of Garden City’s leadership team is dedicated to furthering the mission of the school in all areas. As we continue this important work, we are delighted to welcome Helene Smith to our team! Helene joined our School community as our new School Administrator over the summer. We asked Helene a series of questions to help the community get to know her.

Shop & Support Waldorf

Until August 31, receive 20% off any order of $100 or more on the Waldorf BSN Sideline store by entering the code BTS19.  A variety of merchandise for students, teams, alumni and current families is now available to show your Waldorf pride.

Alumni

Alumni Weekend 2019

Save the Dates! Alumni Weekend will take place from Friday, October 18th – Sunday, October 20th.  The weekend will kick off with our Waldorf Symposium – An Alumni Introspection: Experience the Journey after Waldorf on Friday at 8:00 am. Join us for a Happy Hour at Prost Grill that evening from 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm. Saturday will be a fun-filled day for all! Fall Fair and our Alumni Soccer Games will kick off at 10:00 am! Don’t leave town without stopping by for an Alumni Farewell Breakfast on Sunday from 9:00 am – 11:00 am. RSVP here. We look forward to seeing everyone soon!

Alumni Notes

Thank you for submitting your Alumni Notes for the e-newsletter and the Annual Magazine. We received amazing feedback with heartfelt stories of graduations, engagements, nuptials, births, new jobs, promotions, career moves, and life transitions.  Although the deadline has passed for the magazine please continue to send your notes to us as we love hearing from our Alumni.  Staying connected with each other and our School sustains us as a community. We are happy to share some notes with you now and many more will be included in the Annual Magazine you receive next month.

Sincerely,
Nicole Littrean

Through a Humanitarian Fellowship, Ariella Kissin ’18 spent two months in Kakuma Refugee Camp, situated in northern Kenya. Kakuma hosts roughly 187,000 refugees fleeing political instability and violence from neighboring countries, including South Sudan, Burundi, and Rwanda, as well as the local Turkana tribe. Ariella worked with IsraAID, a non-governmental humanitarian aid organization that supports communities worldwide. In the refugee camp, IsraAID works hand-in-hand with the Waldorf Kakuma Project in the Child Protection sector, Ariella was involved in several Waldorf endeavors as well, facilitating workshops and activities. For more information visit https://medium.com/@IsraAIDStories/reflections-from-kakuma-refugee-camp-e384c5bb8e5c.

Jeremy Wechsler ’13 is working as a Motion Graphics Designer at a creative advertising and PR agency, IMRE. Visit his website https://www.jeremywechsler.com/ to see some of his work and learn more about him.

Chris Thatcher ’79 was featured in the VoyageDenver in an article titled “Meet Chris Thatcher.” Chris talks about his life story and how he got to where he is today, running a successful Acting Studio in Boulder, Colorado. To read the full article, visit https://voyagedenver.com/interview/meet-chris-thatcher-chris-thatcher-acting-studio-boulder-colorado/.

Conchetta Bohm ’18 spent the month of June in Prague, Czech Republic studying abroad through her school, The Citadel, where she studied European History and Public Policy. On the weekends Conchetta had the opportunity to visit other countries with her classmates.

On Saturday, June 29th, alumni from the class of 2009 gathered for a 10-year reunion at The Biergarten at The Standard. It was a beautiful day under the High Line, and nearly half of the graduating class was in attendance along with the two class of 2009 advisors, former Math teacher James Harrell and former French teacher Reina White. The class looks forward to continuing their 10-year celebration during Alumni Weekend at the School in October.

Some classmates from 1999 got together this summer for their 20-year reunion and their lovely children Nola Torres (Meri Wanzer), Giovanni Guzman (Meredith Williams Guzman), and Ethan Blumenthal (Josh Blumenthal) joined in the festivities.

 


Stephen Shaffer ’88 is living and working in Panama as President of the Colon Container Terminal, a subsidiary of the Taiwan-based Evergreen Group. Stephen has over 500 employees, 98% of which are Panamanian and mostly from the Colon province. Stephen explains “In a place like Colon where government-provided services and care are poor or non-existent, it behooves companies such as my own to fill part of that void. As such I have developed the terminal’s first corporate social responsibility policies, increasing the terminal’s involvement in community education, cultural and environmental projects, and am aiming to reduce the terminal’s carbon footprint in the coming years as we convert to hybrid and electric equipment and make great use of renewable energy sources to supply the terminal with its energy needs.”

Fiona Somers ’18 spent the summer interning here at The Waldorf School of Garden City. Fiona helped in all departments including Development, Communications, Admissions, and even assisted the School Nurse with the end of year work! Fiona also made time this summer to continue her passion for Yoga and taught her first ever solo class. Congratulations and thank you, Fiona, for all your hard work. We wish you the best of luck in your second year at Dickinson!

On July 29th Sydney Bossuk ‘19 and her peers joined Broadway stars to perform in a benefit concert to support The Fund for College Auditions (TFCA) called, “Broadway for a Day” at the Leonard Nimoy Thalia Theater at Symphony Space in NYC.  TFCA offers financial support and college guidance to acting and musical theatre students –particularly those who identify with groups who are underrepresented in theatre, film, and television — with limited resources and who want to audition for post-high school training programs.

Sydney was thrilled to sing the part of Elphaba in a mash-up from Wicked, arranged by Jon Ranger and performed with Michael Campayno and Chris Peluso who both played Fiyero on Broadway! Read more about the event, and TFCA on Broadway World:

https://www.broadwayworld.com/cabaret/article/J-Mark-McVey-Anne-L-Nathan-More-Join-Benefit-for-Fund-for-College-Auditions-20190724

Congratulations to Emanuel Spitalny ’16 who will be starting a new job as Field Mentor at Confluence Behavioral Health (https://www.confluencevt.com/) located in Thetford Center, Vermont. Emanuel credits working at various camps, including Camp Glen Brook, as the root of his passion for this field. He has enjoyed working as a camp counselor, trip leader and mentor to students over the past 5 years and looks forward to continuing his work in a similar setting. Good luck, Emanuel!

Congratulations to Leo Bruno ’07 on passing his School Building Leader Licensure Exams! Leo attended Adelphi University to complete his Advanced School Leadership Degree program. We were lucky enough to have Leo on staff as one of the Head Teachers for our Summer at Waldorf Camp Program. We wish you the best of luck, Leo!

Caitlin Li ’19 is spending the summer traveling Asia visiting places like Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial, The Shifen Old Street, and Raohe Night Market. Caitlin will be staying in Asia this fall to assist at Waldorf schools in China. To follow Caitlin’s journey, visit her blog: https://caitlinjessamyn.wixsite.com/website. Good luck on your next adventure, Caitlin!

Visit or Join our Alumni Facebook Group:


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

SAVE THESE DATES
Upcoming Alumni Events

The Waldorf Symposium
Friday, October 18th

Alumni Weekend 2019
Friday, October 18th – Sunday, October 20th

Fall Fair 2019
Saturday, October 19th

Camp Glen Brook

What a summer it has been!  The Meadow seems a bit empty now without the playful shouts of children; the farm animals seem just a bit mopey now that they’re not being visited daily by curious campers; the lake is still as glass without the swimming, diving, boating, and swinging that filled the water only a few weeks ago.  The breath before the fall season is pleasant in its way, but the Glen Brook staff are already dreaming of next summer.

Of course, before summer comes spring, winter, fall, and all of the WSGC students that visit us here at your New Hampshire campus through the cycle of seasons.  I’m thrilled to be stepping into the role of School Program Director, now that Mark is working more on summer camp through the rest of the year.  And our two Land Stewards, Katie and Sam, are bringing all of their summer camp experience to their work with the Waldorf School of Garden City students this fall.  This is one of my favorite times of the year, and I can think of few better ways to spend it than sharing the beauty of autumnal Glen Brook with the 9th, 12th, 8th, 10th, 5th, 4th, and 6th grades.

Jake Lewis
School Program Director and Gap Director

Call for Cafeteria Volunteers!

Volunteers for the cafeteria are needed on Mondays, Thursdays, and/or Fridays from 11:30 am – 1:30 pm to operate the cash register during lunchtime. Free nutritious lunch included! Contact Aviva Gill at cafeteria@waldorfgarden.org or ext. 308 or Ramona Owens at owensr@waldorfgarden.org or ext. 306 to apply or learn more.

Your assistance will be greatly appreciated!

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!

Winkler Center for Adult Learning

Are you interested in learning more about the foundations of Waldorf Education? Please join us in an Information Session about the Foundation Studies program:

Tuesday – Friday  8:45 – 9:15 AM
September 10-13th
in the Main Lobby

The sessions will meet in the main lobby of the School. For more information, or if you are interested and cannot attend the meeting, please call Tomomi Aozono at 516-776-6037

SAVE THESE DATES

Labor Day – SCHOOL CLOSED
Monday, September 2nd

First Day of School for grades 1 – 12 (12 noon dismissal)
Tuesday, September 3rd

Opening Assembly
Tuesday, September 3rd- 10:00 am – 12:00 pm

First Day of School for Nursery & Kindergarten & Kindergarten Afternoon Program Begins
Monday, September 9th – 8:10 am – 12 noon

PTA Meeting
Friday, September 13th – 8:30 am

Nursery Early Drop-Off & Afternoon Program Begins
Monday, September 16th

Michaelmas/Grandparents Day
Thursday, September 26th

Rosh Hashanah – SCHOOL CLOSED
Monday, September 30th
Tuesday, October 1st

Yom Kippur – SCHOOL CLOSED
Wednesday, October 9th

Columbus Day – SCHOOL CLOSED
Monday, October 14th

Photo Day
Tuesday, October 15th

The Waldorf Symposium
Friday, October 18th 8:00 – 10:00 am

Alumni Weekend 2019
Friday, October 18th – Sunday, October 20th

Fall Fair 2019
Saturday, October 20th – 10:00 am – 4:00 pm

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