By Jonathan Steckel, Class of 1996

Life for me after Kimberton Waldorf School in 1996 was focused on studying at Oberlin college and playing sports.  I felt like I had to find an area of study that I was passionate and excited about and that would lead me on a career path towards the ability to earn a good salary to support my desire to travel and eat well.  My first year at Oberlin was dedicated to playing varsity soccer and lacrosse with less focus on taking the standard prerequisite classes.  I felt lost with no class subjects or idea of what I wanted to study pulling me forward.  I pushed through the academic system last minute a one-year study abroad in Bologna through Brown University and spent my second year of college in Italy.  I studied Italian literature, architecture, and history at the University of Bologna, but spent most of the year traveling around Italy and emerging myself in the culture.  That year I met my current wife, Francesca, that lead me down a path of a lifelong connection to Italy and Europe’s culture.  My third year of college at Oberlin after my year abroad exposed me to Chemistry and Physics and everything clicked.  I was excited to study and dive deeper and I had found an area of study that pulled me in and allowed me to explain the physical world I saw around me.  I worked hard and threw all my energy and passion towards chemistry for my remaining time at Oberlin, which lead to a PhD in chemistry at MIT in Boston that started in 2001.

MIT challenged me like nothing I had ever experienced previously in my life.  Once I understood how to leverage all the resources around me and ask for help from all the amazing people working by my side, I started to thrive.  My first year was miserable and I almost quit and walked away several times.  I’m thankful I had Francesca there with me encouraging me and forcing me to continue in the toughest moments.  After all the grueling classroom work and cumulative exams in the first two years, the lab work focused on the development of a new class of materials called quantum dots was great fun.  In close collaboration with a professor in the electrical engineering department, we made new types of light-emitting devices (LEDs) using thin films of these semiconductor nanoparticles or quantum dots (QDs).  We made infrared emitting devices, red, green, and blue emitting devices for displays, and developed a new way of fabricating and patterning these light emitters, which led to several patents and publications and ultimately to us founding a company called QD Vision.

At QD Vision we commercialized the world’s first solid state light bulbs containing QD materials in 2010 and then in 2013 we commercialized the world’s first TVs containing QDs with Sony in their Bravia line.  The company was sold to Samsung in 2016 and was the basis for all the current QLED and QD-OLED TVs and monitors currently made by every display company in the world.  QD Vision was not a financial success for me personally, but it was a huge technological success that propelled my career significantly forward.  I joined Apple in Cupertino after my time at QD Vision and for many years worked on developing new display and sensor technologies based on quantum dot materials.  The sensor projects brought me to Europe frequently, where eventually I found a way to move to permanently by taking a new role at STMicroelectronics located in Grenoble, France.  I’m now a Fellow and Director of Advanced Technology in the imaging division at ST, where I have a very dynamic role working to commercialize a new QD image sensor technology that I have been working on for many years.

I’ve worked hard and had a lot of success in my career to date and am recognized as one of world’s top experts in quantum dot materials and devices, displays, and now sensors.  I give several invited talks and seminars at large technical conferences every year and I also try to give back to the community and do a lot of volunteer work.  I do guest editorial work, participate in several technical conference committees, and provide my guidance and advice to many startups as well as large companies in the US and here in Europe.  

Moving permanently from Silicon Valley to Europe 4 years ago was a very deliberate decision we made based on our desire to live a more balanced lifestyle, where quality of life is prioritized over career, where good food and local cuisine is prioritized over profits, and where the cost of living is more reasonable.  More vacation time and significantly better work life balance has provided so much more free time for me to spend with my family and begin to explore a key component in a balanced and happy life, which I’ve come to believe is building and creating with our hands.  As time passed since my days at Kimberton Waldorf school, I could feel that this was an important piece of life that was missing for me.  I started to feel the need to make stuff with my hands and to create and build things in my free time.  This brought me a sense of accomplishment and contentment as one idea sprouted and turned into a physical reality that we could use in our house or share with others.  For me this unfolded over the past several years in the form of woodworking as I took on more practical projects for the house like cabinets and shelves to more creative projects like carving fish with my daughter.  I’m now in the process of continuing to build out a more serious wood shop in our house and to take on more challenging builds of furniture and artistic pieces.

I’ve come to believe that all of us need to spend some amount of time expressing a little creativity and using our hands to build or create.  Some people turn to playing music, others to painting, and in my case, it was woodworking that filled this missing piece in my life and brought back a sense of contentment and peace.  I was lucky to attend Waldorf school from 2^nd to 12^th grade where we spent so much of our time crafting and making with our hands.  I now understand why and believe that this aspect of life is one of the most important for us to engage in regularly throughout our lives to give us a sense of wholeness and feel complete inside.

Our two-acre school garden is a very busy place over the summer! Scroll through to see happenings in the garden during summer 2022. – Celia Martin, Gardening Teacher

Anyone who has a yard or garden will tell you that there is a lot of work that goes into caring for it during the summer months. Our two-acre school garden is no exception. When the students leave for their summer break in June, they are leaving behind a freshly planted vegetable, flower, and herb garden that is just beginning to grow. Then, in September, they come back to productive and well-maintained beds that are ready to be harvested. But what happens in our school garden between those two times? During the warm days of summer, plants, including weeds, grow very quickly and it is the job of the garden crew to keep up with them. If it were not for a handful of paid students and a few dedicated volunteers, this would not be possible.

“Gardens are not made by singing ‘Oh, how beautiful,’ and sitting in the shade.” – Rudyard Kipling

The summer starts with the harvesting of herbs such as oregano, mint, basil, chamomile, thyme, parsley, calendula, and lemon balm. We can get several cuttings of these herbs throughout the early summer and the harvested leaves cover all of the table tops in the garden building as they are drying. We dehydrate very large quantities of them for later use in teas, salves, and our very coveted Kimberton’s Own Herb Salt.

The first vegetables to be harvested are the allium family – garlic and onions. Both are dried for a few weeks on the windowsill before being cleaned and trimmed. The onions go to Hilla Haut, the kitchen manager for our Food For Thought lunch program, along with some of the garlic. The remainder of the garlic will be used to make garlic powder with one of the fall classes while the very best ones are saved to replant in October.

String beans and summer squashes are the next vegetables to come into season and we harvest them three days a week. In late July the tomatoes also start to ripen along with cucumbers. Hilla picked up huge amounts of all of these vegetables each week throughout August and processed them for later use in our organic, homemade lunches. Potatoes, winter squashes and dent corn will all be harvested by the gardening classes after school starts, along with fall raspberries, sunchokes, and dried beans. Soon we will be planting the fall crops such as lettuce, broccoli, cabbage, and Brussels sprouts.

In between all the watering, weeding, harvesting, and mulching, we managed to put together our brand-new cider press! We used some early ground-fall apples to make a few gallons of fresh apple cider with delightful results. All the fall classes will have a chance to make some cider using our new press and our own apples. It looks like there is a very bountiful crop of apples this year. No doubt that our six hives of bees were very helpful in pollination during the spring.

After much lively discussion and debate with the students over the color, the garden building received a new coat of paint this summer and it now looks brand new. For those who are interested and were hoping for their favorite color – it was painted color choice #5, Cobble Brown, with the trim in Shade Tree Green. Please be sure to notice and admire it next time you are in the garden.

I personally want to thank Aaron, Anika, Jojo, and Sarah for all their hard work and dedication to the garden this summer. This was Aaron’s fifth summer working in the garden and he has been especially indispensable in reminding me of what needed to be done and taking charge to do it. I will miss our conversations but am looking forward to hearing about where his life journey takes him. I appreciated all of Anika’s attention to detail in doing all the little jobs without being asked, being able to find all the beans and cucumbers that everyone else missed, and her incredible ability to clean everything spotlessly afterward. I appreciated Jojo’s fascination with every bug we came across and I’m looking forward to seeing his inspired insect collection. I appreciated Sarah’s positive attitude and her special enthusiasm for our tomatoes which, I agree, have no equal. Kudos to Ram and Luca for being dedicated volunteers who kept showing up and whose contributions to the garden were hugely significant. I especially appreciated Ram’s great enthusiasm for mulching. Honorable mention to Jacob and Tula, who showed up unexpectedly and helped to do whatever we were working on.

I also want to thank Hilla Haut who came one or two times a week to collect what we had harvested to preserve for the lunch program. Tomatoes were made into sauce, peppers were sliced and frozen, apples were made into applesauce or sliced and frozen for future dessert, cucumbers were made into pickles, basil was frozen for future pesto, and many, many, many string beans were processed and frozen for future soup days. Growing and then preserving food from our garden is not the easy way or even the least expensive way, but it is the best way. Growing and eating our own organically grown crops is one of the most environmentally responsible things we can do, and the quality and taste cannot be beaten. We are committed to our very unique, organically grown, garden-to-kitchen program!

Thanks to everyone who helped in our school garden this summer!

Alumni Spotlight Iona Bruckner ‘99, By Sarah Courtney Tudor ‘98 

Iona attended KWS from early childhood and graduated in the class of 1999. Always the artist, she was seen frequently with charcoal smudges on her fingers and her trademark paint brush or pointed sticks tying up her white-blond hair. “Free spirit” may have been a familiar descriptor, but she surprised many of her peers when she revealed her incredible focus and passion for the more buttoned-up title of “Architect” for her career. 

I had the privilege of attending high school and college with Iona where I saw her throw herself wholly into her passions. She was the first person that came to mind when I thought of doing an alumni spotlight for this month.  

Here’s a brief recap of what Iona’s been up to since KWS. She graduated with a B.A. in Architecture from Bennington and went on to receive her Masters of Architecture at the University of Texas at Austin. She then spent 2 and a half years as an Architecture Intern at the Philadelphia firm Re:Vision. From there, she went on to teach at Philadelphia University as an Adjunct Professor of Architecture, focusing on Sustainable Technologies in Architecture.  

Iona’s first big project was a dream job for her. She had always loved art spaces, having spent so much time at Bennington’s award-winning art space, VAPA (for Visual and Performing Arts) as a college student. She jumped at the chance to work at a new Performing Arts school with a big International Firm in Houston. The final project was 5 stories tall and a full city block in size, housing music, creative writing, and visual and performing arts. 

Projects these days are a bit more intimate for Iona. She is a busy mom of 2 young boys and she focuses her efforts on a small boutique firm of about 20-30 architects. She is still drawn to designing schools, theaters, art facilities, and churches. Her current project is a 3-story facility of studios with ceramics and digital arts.  

Iona is known for her concept sketches that resolve complex problems in unique ways. She attributes much of this out-of-the-box thinking to her time at Kimberton. “As Waldorf students, we were very used to considering the big picture, and, in many ways, Architecture is the ideal pursuit for a Waldorf student. You are quite adept at pre-visualizing solutions where nothing has existed before.” 

For example, on a recent project, she was presented with only a site map.  The main feature of the landscape was a hill. In this case, she had to pre-visualize which direction the building would face. Of all submissions, her model was chosen because of how the building interacts with the landscape. This is something 12th-grade classes consider in-depth during their History through Architecture block and on their trip to Frank Lloyd Wright’s “Fallingwater.”

When asked about what she appreciates most when looking back at her school experience at KWS, Iona remarks how lucky we were to learn and exist in beautifully thought-out spaces where the human experience was considered and we could be surrounded by art and beauty.  She also values the big picture and interdisciplinary approaches to learning.  It’s no surprise that Iona often looks at larger social issues in her work through the lens of her art form. As a Community Designer, Iona facilitated discussions on Design Justice through Community Engagement and Social Justice through Community Design. She continues to look at her work from all angles and will be forever inspired by how people live, work, and interact with the spaces she designs. 

Producer, songwriter, manager, entrepreneur, and self-proclaimed “Waldorf lifer” Jeremy Skaller ’90 (TWS) sat down with John Graham ’97 (KWS Alumni Association) for a conversation about artistic decisions, meaningful musical experiences, and why failing uphill is the only way to live. A piano player turned Producer,  Skaller started his songwriting career as a founding member of several bands. Later, he became a successful entrepreneur in the music industry as a co-founder of Orange Factory Music (OFM), the production team that brought Cash Money Records and Cultural Icon, the artist Jay Sean to the forefront of the global musical stage. OFM has also produced, remixed and/or written for many artists including Nicki Minaj, Lil Wayne, Yoko Ono, and Fabulous. To date, as a Publisher, Producer, Manager, Writer and Label owner, Jeremy via his companies The Heavy Group and Orange Factory Music, has sold over 75 million records worldwide. 

In the mid-’70s to early ’80s Skaller attended Kimberton Waldorf School and then also attended Waldorf schools in Germany, Scotland, and Canada where he graduate from the Toronto Waldorf School in 1990. He currently lives in Los Angeles, California.

Your career has so many layers, so many stages, it’s as if you’ve already lived multiple career lifetimes. How and when did you get a big break? 

You know it’s funny, it’s kind of the opposite. I never got a big break really, it was always more about failing and learning from each failure. I like the idea of “failing uphill” because I think that accurately describes my life and career. Each loss only fueled me with the energy to continue walking upwards, or taught me a valuable lesson, not to be repeated (hopefully)… in that way, each failed moment has moved me “Uphill.” 

I will say that working really hard allowed me to be in the right place at the right time. I remember having the opportunity to work with Yoko Ono in the early 2000s, and of course, she was such a legend, it was extremely intimidating to be working with her. But at the same time, I learned from that experience that I have something to offer that even legends need; I found my place. But I also learned a lot from the experience of being completely dirt poor in New York City, and having to choose whether to buy a bagel and walk to the studio or forego breakfast to instead buy a bus ticket across town. It was either/or in those days and there was no external pressure, it was just me against the city. I had to put pressure on myself to get better and be better.  I had very supportive parents of course as well, and they probably wouldn’t have let me starve…but I never REALLY told them how dire it got at times.

But success did come, and you have the resume to show for it! Tell me how you look at success. 

You know, I’ve worked with big artists, and I’ve helped them be “commercially” successful for sure. But success for me is about being creative and helping other people be creative. It’s about making a difference through creative-to-creative empathy. Let me give you an example. When I was shopping for Jay Sean, an Indian singer from England, all the major US labels could not or would not commit to the idea of an Asian Popstar. It was too unknown, too risky (in their estimation). He didn’t fit the profile of what they thought could work in America. But together, along with him, we pushed harder because we knew deeply that the stereotypes and racial biases. in the Music Industry needed to be challenged, and now was the time. There had to be some representation and Jay was the one to start it. We finally found the right Label for Jay Sean (Cash Money/Republic Records), and he blew up because of talent, determination, and lots up Failing uphill moments…just because the industry wasn’t ready, doesn’t mean that the market wasn’t!  There are always ground-breaking artists, and Jay Sean is one of them. Jay is the first South Asian (or Asian of any kind) to have a #1 Billboard single in America. 

Tell me about your own journey into music as a child.

My father is a piano player, and I started playing at a young age. I was pretty serious about it for a while. I also had incredible musical experiences at Kimberton, from Kimberton onwards. My class teacher Gerry LeDolce challenged me to expand my comfort zone, so instead of just playing the usual Recorder, I played piccolo and then Alto, and finally the Bass recorder with the class. He intuitively knew that he needed to push me or I would have been bored. His insight is not lost on me 40 years later. Mrs. Karp was the orchestra teacher, and she was just amazing. I have so many memories of her. One of the most impactful was when I was supposed to play the song “Wish upon a star” on the piano for class recitals. I wanted to jazz it up of course… I was always pushing.  But instead of any of the other responses that many teachers might have given, I remember Mrs. Karp just being joyful at my desire to be a little disruptive and hence, creative. “Do it differently,” she told me, “I’ll support you.”  It’s those kinds of early support moments that give Creatives like me the confidence to do what I do now. I felt completely safe exploring my creativity. She also told me at one point, you’re not a French Horn player, you need a Trumpet in your hands. And she was right! She knew music, and she knew her students.

I also had incredible music teachers at Kimberton that encouraged creativity! How about musical experiences in your later years?

There were so many. But a couple of teachers really stand out. In Toronto, David Willkenson was my homeroom teacher and he didn’t just encourage me to learn guitar, he wanted to jam with me. I think that was the first time I started to see myself as an artist, not just a player. That level of support absolutely helped me feel safe to start writing songs, which in turn led to me starting some bands (most of which didn’t do much) and then finally having an actual career with my band Belizbeha. (We toured for years sometimes doing upwards of 150 shows per year for many years in a row!)  Also, my choir teacher in Toronto, Dorothy Haller is just a phenomenal musician. I mean really world-class. Instead of letting me sing in the bass section (which is where I wanted to be), she put me in the tenor section where I really had to learn to use my upper range. This was another “failing uphill” moment because I was pretty terrible as a tenor at first,  But that switch forced me to develop a muscle that I would not have otherwise developed. Mrs. Haller also knew, long before many others that my talk about becoming a Lawyer was nonsense. She knew, even before I did, what journey I was about to embark on.  

What else in your Waldorf experience informs your decision-making today as a music industry insider? 

I am a Waldorf lifer. I attended Waldorf schools all around the world, finally graduating from The Toronto Waldorf School. My parents were quite engaged with Anthroposophy, so I also experienced something of an immersive home life in that world.  

An important idea (certainly not an original one) that I often share, is that ”Art informs Art.” By that, I mean that our experiences with other art, informs and amplifies the creativity in our own sphere.  At Kimberton, like all Steiner schools, we had these sorts of artistic experiences on a daily basis. Painting, Handwork, Sculpture… etc. All of these artistic pathways served to inform me of where my music would eventually end up taking me.  They also allow you to see things from different angles and perspectives. For example, I find that I am well informed when talking about visuals (music videos or photo shoots) because I understand color and composition. It’s just inside me now. It’s that cumulative exposure to all of these arts as a child that gives me a level of comfort across so many mediums. 

Recently, there was a memorial zoom-gathering for Helge Rudolf, one of the founders of the Toronto Waldorf School, and almost everyone who attended brought a piece of handwork that they had created with her. I was so moved by this. The arts have a legitimate and positive physiological effect on us, that in my case they have helped me to remain healthy, mindful, and constantly evolving as a musician and as a result, also as a person. 

by Esther Walsh

In many ways, music weaves through the daily lives of each and every student at Kimberton Waldorf School. Not only do the students create music in their music classes and ensembles, but they sing and play music daily during their Main Lessons, in their class plays, in special subject classes such as Spanish and German, and during school festivals. Music is an essential, dynamic frequency that uplifts and enlivens the spirit of the school. What sets Waldorf schools apart, is the use of music during the day and the belief regarding the special influence of music on each child’s physical body, feelings, cognitive processes, social interactions, and inner development.

Rudolf Steiner described the human being as a musical being. He also suggested that creating music is essential in experiencing what it is to be fully human. The Waldorf music curriculum follows specific stages of child development. The aim is not simply to teach children to sing and play music, but actually, awaken qualities of the soul at each developmental phase. What is done in each grade builds upon the work of the previous year, deepening and broadening the skills and experiences already acquired. In the teaching of music, as in all Waldorf pedagogy, there is an awareness of the importance of bringing the right thing at the right time.

For example, if we look at the development of music composition through the grades, the reader will get a picture of how we build composing skills through the years. We could apply this to instrumental music and singing as well. 

In first grade, the students move, sing, and listen to many songs that have free rhythms and moods of the fifth and pentatonic scales. They are given simple chimes, bells, lyres, and flutes to play. As we sing simple songs, they improvise and create harmonious sounds that blend nicely with the songs and images that I bring them. Although they do not write music yet, they are listening and creating sounds that fit together nicely.

In second grade we continue to work on their instrumental and singing skills. I introduce a simple colored dot and slash system. The students write their own simple melodies for their pentatonic flutes and lyres using this system. 

In third grade, the students learn musical notation. The students transition from playing songs using the pentatonic scales to the C diatonic scales. We still color code the notes. Again, the third graders create simple melodies for their C flutes, the 12-stringed lyres, xylophones, and bells.

In fourth grade the students jump into the world of music notation, theoretical rules, rhythms, and they start playing a stringed instrument; violin, viola, cello, and bass. The knowledge learned during this year will enable the students in fifth and sixth grades to write nicely formed small pieces.

In seventh and eighth grades, we look more closely at rhythms, harmonies, themes, and the blues scale. Students continue to work in smaller groups with various instruments creating original works. Amazingly, most students will get to play at the very least ten different instruments from 1st-8th grades. 

By High School, many students have the capacity to write their own compositions, especially if they choose to take our electronic music class. We have had students write ragtime melodies, string quartets, vocal songs accompanied by guitar or ukulele, instrumental solo works, orchestral pieces, and electronic-sounding music. The goal is to have our students gain the music skills needed to be creative and independent musicians at all levels. They achieve an aesthetic awareness of beauty, expression, and confidence to bring music forth and share it with the world.

Kimberton Waldorf School is fortunate to have an experienced and talented music faculty. The teachers are passionate about music and strive to bring meaningful musical experiences to our students. A Cooperative work model, allows the students to experience, first-hand collaboration at a high professional level.

Our Music Department Faculty is:

Esther Walsh is Kimberton Waldorf School’s Music Director. She has been a Music Teacher at KWS since 1998. She helped develop KWS’s current music curriculum. Esther teaches general music classes, all choirs, group lessons, private lessons, and orchestras, and conducts many performances. She is an alumnus of KWS and has two children currently attending KWS.

Mike Ruhl is a classically trained pianist and accomplished performer.  He accompanies many of the ensembles in the music program. Mib Campbell, Hsiao Ming Chen, and Mike Ruhl also accompany the Eurythmy classes.

Hsiao-Ming Chen is a professional cellist. She teaches group lessons, private lessons, and orchestras. Her son graduated from KWS last year.

Ryan Leaver plays many different instruments professionally. He teaches group lessons, private lessons, orchestras, and electronic music classes. 

John Sergovic is a professional violinist. He helps with our orchestras and teaches private and group lessons.

Dan Smith is an accomplished guitarist. He teaches HS guitar. Dan also teaches sciences and math in the HS. He has two children who currently attend KWS.

Susan Schwaneflugel is an accomplished vocalist. She teaches 11th-grade History through Music Main Lesson. She also teaches German, handwork, and games classes. Her two children have graduated from KWS. 

“Music gives a soul to the universe,

wings to the mind, flight to the imagination 

and life to everything.”         

Plato          

by Annaleena Hoffmann

Handwork lessons are one of Kimberton Waldorf School’s distinctive curriculum features. The creative design of workpieces has always been seen as constitutive, even when the first Waldorf School was established. Handwork teachers are chosen with this foundation in mind; they should be artists and educators in the growth of manual dexterity and aesthetic expression. Handwork lessons teach not only the development of fine motor skills, concentration, and willpower – all of which are important and desirable side effects of learning– but also teach the children the joys of creating projects for themselves and having an aesthetic experience with handwork. 

During the first 9 years of school, the children sew, embroider, knit, crochet, braid, knot, wash and comb raw wool, spin it into yarn, dye wool, weave, and dye, process leather, knit socks and hats, and much more. Handwork classes allow for internal differentiation, making it simple to modify the criteria for different activities so that any child may participate and be encouraged in their growth. At first, the children are unaware of how instructive the handwork sessions are in terms of aesthetics and sensory experience. However, they quickly realize that they accomplish things in class that they can utilize. “What do you want to make, and what do you need?” I ask the students, and this is how flute cases, shoulder bags, hats, socks, Eurythmy slipper nets, hand puppets, and a variety of other items are made. It is because of this creative nature that children like handwork classes. 

The students are empowered in their creations and have the ability to then pass those creations on as gifts to their family members and friends–or keep them for themselves as tokens of their creative and manual capabilities. Hand-knitted or crocheted hats are worn proudly throughout the year and frequently not taken off even in the warm weather! Relatives and friends compliment the students on the visible proof of what they’ve learned and worked for. In the end, everyone holds their final piece in their hands, which was created in a variety of artistic processes. In handwork, children learn to persevere, appreciate the process, learn how art and function can coexist, and gain confidence in themselves through a sense of accomplishment. This not only supports and enriches their entire educational experience but offers them capacities they will utilize for a lifetime.

Our community knows that the Kimberton Waldorf School campus is a beautiful, tree-filled place, but do we really know the extent of the arboreal diversity on campus?  Well now we have a pretty good idea! 

The 11th grade in their main lesson time with Mr. Strevig worked to inventory and map the great variety of tree species on campus.  The class identified and located on an updated campus map the location and names of at least 49 unique species of trees and shrubs on our campus.  The list includes common native shrubs and trees, as well as fairly unique ornamental and imported tree species.  

The students also recounted stories of their favorite trees and submitted photos of their favorites for the map.  The list and map will continue to grow and evolve, as already several new native species have recently been planted in the riparian area next to Kindergarten Creek and near the track.

In the coming years, classes will work at inventorying and identifying exceptionally large trees in the wilder portions of campus.  By measuring the circumference of the trees, we can find a good estimate of the age of known species.  As we learn more about the individual trees and water resources on campus, we can come to a deeper understanding of the history of our campus as well as the overall health of the forest and creeks that we love so much.

The positive identification of so many trees would not have been possible without the help of our resident tree experts Celia Martin and Mike Ruhl.

When was the last time you baked bread? If you were a Preschool child at Kimberton Waldorf School, you would quickly respond: Last Wednesday!

Weekly bread day is exemplary of the independent private school’s mission to teach students, from Preschool through 12th grade, to be creative and critical thinkers and unfold their unique capacities to meet the world with confidence. “This education can begin as early as infancy, with parents who seek an intentional, holistic, and progressive education for their child and community for their family,” said Ona Wetherall, Rosebud Cottage Pre-Kindergarten lead teacher and co-administrator. “In a home away from home setting, the two-, three-, and four-year-olds feel secure, and learn in a cooperative social environment that nourishes their senses, builds self-esteem, and lays a foundation for a lifetime of learning and success. The children participate in their day together, following a rhythm they can expect and rely on, spending lots of time outside every day, and flowing naturally from child-led activities of play and teacher-led activities like circle, story, and eating. They help make their snacks and lunch, fold laundry, and help sweep with little brooms and dustpans. This stage is the beginning of their journey to become self directed, conscious, and compassionate human beings.”

The “how” of things is a critical part to a Waldorf student’s 10^th grade year.  How does the past influence the present in writing, in history?  How does ancient history reflect in modern history?  Physics class has them examining how force, motion, and gravity work.  Waldorf education brings this question of how out of the classroom and into the world with practicums. A practicum is an experience that requires the practical application of theory or conceptual knowledge.  These experiences allow students to explore in new ways and see how their learning relates to real life.

Our 10^th grade students have the opportunity to participate in an Artisan Practicum. “Traditionally, that has meant shadowing an artisan to learn how something can be created and brought to market. it is becoming more and more difficult to find artisans able to take in students, we have also placed interested students in small businesses, which will dovetail beautifully with the Entrepreneurship block they will begin after spring break.” explains Elisabeth Burgess, German and ESL Teacher & Exchange Coordinator.

We are so appreciative of the businesses who have hosted our students this year:

Sweetwater Bakery   

Bridge Street Chocolates   

Baba’s Brew 

Threads, Phoenixville

Handels, Royersford 

Handels, Berwyn 

Soltane Café 

Birchrun Hill Farm, Cheese Making 

Corkum Tree Farm 

Realty One Group 

Honey Flour Bake Shop 

Practicums are one more way that Kimberton Waldorf School helps students acquire skills for a lifetime of learning.  Read more about our all school learning goals here: All School Learning Goals – Kimberton Waldorf School

I recently caught up with my classmate Tobias Policha (class of 1997), who shared some reflections on how his education at Kimberton has influenced his life. John Graham, for the Alumni Association

John Graham: Tobias, you’ve led a fascinating life since our time as students at Kimberton. Where to begin? You’re working as an educator of botany and ecological science, can you tell me about that?

Tobias Policha: Well, after finishing my PhD research on orchid pollination in Ecuador, I began teaching here at the University of Oregon several years ago and I’m still here! I’ve just been promoted, and this coming year looks to be my most busy because a number of courses that I proposed to teach were accepted, so now I actually have to do the hard work to create them! But I love the process, I find it is one of the most creative things I do, putting together all of the course material in ways that are engaging and educational even for non-biology majors.

J.G.: What courses do you teach, and who are your students?

T.P.: I teach everyone! I have large undergraduate general education courses, I teach in the general biology series, upper division majors courses, graduate courses. Here are some of the names of the courses: Introduction to Ecology; Systematic Botany, Neotropical Ecology, Field Botany, and Plants and Society.

J.G.: Fascinating, I would love to take some of these courses. You are also an avid promoter and educator in community gardening. Do you still offer public workshops or engage with communities outside of your busy university commitments?

T.P.: Well the pandemic has thrown a wrench in everything, right? But yes, I still help organize the local Wildflower Festival at the local arboretum. I have taught several botany workshops for them too. I give presentations to whoever wants them, natural history societies, science pubs…. I volunteer at my local natural area, ecological restoration, that kind of thing.

J.G.: You published an incredible book, Las Plantas de Mindo: A guide to the cloud forest of the Andean Choco. Are you still involved with Ecuador? 

T.P.: As a matter of fact, I am planning a study abroad program for students to Ecuador to study biodiversity and tropical ecology. I was also part of a team that won a grant from National Geographic a couple of years ago to do a biological diversity study in Reserva Los Cedros because the area was being illegally targeted by the Canadian mining company Cornerstone Resources. Our findings were so incontrovertible that it turned into several lawsuits. They worked their way up through the appellate courts and last year I had to dust off my Spanish language skills to testify as an expert witness in front of the Ecuadorian Supreme Court on the case. We actually just heard that we won, which is kind of unbelievable considering the various power players involved.

J.G.: That is incredible! After high school you were a serious environmental activist. Now you’re a science professor and getting a new look at how to protect biodiversity in the face of destructive commercial forces. Did some of these impulses come from your education at Kimberton?

T.P.: Ha! Well if you remember, I was some kind of rebel in high school. We had a whole culture of questioning authority, which in those days was misdirected at our faculty, but in truth was all about developing critical thinking skills and the capacity to question and observe reality. I credit my friends for supporting me in those years, but I also credit Waldorf pedagogy and the courses that we took in literature with Susan Neumann and Mary Echlin and Tom Dews for forcing us to question and think about deeper social questions. 

J.G.: What else reminds you of your Waldorf education?

T.P.: I’ll tell you something from yesterday. We were taking our four year old son on a hike, which turned into a really long five-hour hike around a lake. Of course this was an epic voyage for our little guy, but he did it! The motivating factor for him were stories. I realized that if he was listening and engaged in a story, then he could walk all day, so I started telling stories. At first I wondered if I knew enough stories. But then I just started doing the same thing that I do in the classroom, which is describing plants and their relationships to their environments. Of course I made it more accessible for a pre-schooler, but essentially I was describing the environment that we were walking through, embellishing a little here and there with cameo appearances from mice or salamanders or ants. You know as well as I do that in Waldorf school, we were constantly learning through stories. It’s a way of seeing the world. It’s what I do now full time in my professional life, and yesterday I realized, it is also a big part of the way that I relate to my son and his expanding world.

Tobias Policha is a senior instructor in the biology department of the University of Oregon, teaching plant science, ecology, and environmental sustainability courses. He attended Kimberton Waldorf School from 1992-1996, ultimately graduating from the Toronto Waldorf School. 

Kimberton Waldorf School’s robust gardening program weaves its way into the curriculum across the grades. From connecting seasons and subjects to providing food for our organic lunch program, gardening provides opportunities to educate the whole child.

The approach of Waldorf Education reflects the prevalent theme in childhood and adolescence of growing and learning through varying iterations of Form and Freedom.  This is especially in the forefront of our Early Childhood programs.  In these first few weeks of school we are very consciously building the form of our classes through acute observation of what the children bring to us in their freedom, both as individuals and as a group.  This is how we meet the children and provide them with an education we bring through a form that can be met by them in their freedom.

Form and Freedom come in many different flavors.  In our work with young children form also often means boundaries and those boundaries, however simple, are sometimes the most important as they are laying a foundation for a lifetime of learning and contribution to humanity and the world.  These boundaries often come in the forms of living out truth, beauty, and goodness; we learn to be kind and have empathy, to have reverence and respect, and we learn how to be our very best selves.  Healthy freedom comes within these boundaries in the forms of child led play with explorations in the social, emotional, and cognitive realms through imagination, intuition, inspiration.

What mighty and important work our youngest students are doing!  We want to bring children into the world knowing and believing that anything is possible, to have an awe and wonder for life, and to trust in themselves.  We foster this in part through our festival life which connects us to the natural world and it’s ever changing seasons and to representations of spiritual presence which helps, guides, and inspires us. 

As we approach the Fall Equinox and the turning point between summer and winter, we celebrate the season of Michaelmas with the children. Michaelmas is a festival of courage that is celebrated in many Waldorf Schools at the end of September.  At this time of year, daylight and darkness are very close to their exact balance point and Michaelmas, on September 29^th, falls within the astrological sign of Libra, the Scales. 

The Archangel Michael and the story of Saint George and the Dragon represents courage and strength – just what we and all children especially need at this time year as the days grow short and dark and the outer world is going to sleep and we need a connection to our and life’s inner fire and growth and strength to meet our own dragons. Michaelmas is a time of finding our courage and acting, it is a time for being thankful for the harvest bounty, and it is the season when we must strengthen ourselves and hold within us the light and warmth that was received during the summer months.  Through-out history the Archangel Michael has been given a variety of attributes: hero of the sun, lord of the harvest, helper of human beings, protector of the globe, the ability to decide between good and evil, and to infuse humanity with the power to become effective in deeds.  These are all wonderful attributes to embrace and hold for and with the children. 

Wishing you all a beautiful and courageous season!

-Ona Wetherall,

On behalf of the Early Childhood Section