Kimberton Making News

Invest in ergonomically friendly tools in retirement

September 24, 2026 by Katherine Zuber

Tools that work with you can make the kitchen experience more joyful.

Article in the Reading Eagle written by KWS parent Courtney Diener-Stokes about KWS Woodworking teacher James Pierson

Invest in ergonomically friendly tools in retirement

When people retire, many have bucket list items to check off on their list that involve travel and unique experiences, but there are some who simply choose to be more present and intentional within their everyday lives.

That includes time spent in the kitchen cooking and experimenting without time constraints smothering any joy that might be had there.

One’s financial situation can impact decisions made, regardless of whether it’s time spent on the golf course; going on a new adventure; when cooking or entertaining and deciding to buy ingredients for six to host a dinner party; or a cozy late summer alfresco meal for two with a glass of wine under the stars.

Tools and accessories

Your kitchen is most likely stocked with the tools and accessories you have accumulated that are needed to execute your culinary vision.

Many of those items and their quality were typically driven by your financial picture at the time and whether or not you were looking for something to simply do the job or an item of quality to add to your collection, such as a custom wooden spoon that takes ergonomics in mind, complementing your bodily motions because it was made to work with you instead of you having to adjust your grip or movement to work with something that was not thoughtfully designed.

Some handcrafted spoons by artist James Pierson. (Courtney Diener-Stokes)

When artist James Pierson spends time in his studio in Exton, Chester County, making handcrafted wooden utensils among other creations, there is more of a thought and design process involved than meets the eye.

More enjoyable experience

The end result is a product that conforms to you, not one that you have to conform to, enabling it to work with you in a way that it is comfortable and beneficial for your everyday motions in the kitchen. That’s typically a more enjoyable experience because your body‘s natural motions are being taken into consideration. The thoughtfulness is more inclined to complement your dexterity, which declines as you age.

When designing wooden kitchen tools, James Pierson keeps ergonomics in mind. (Courtney Diener-Stokes)

“I want the things I make to be both beautiful and genuinely useful,” Pierson said. “Within my craftsmanship, ergonomics starts with paying attention to the hand and to how a tool is actually used.”

Most of the time he doesn’t begin with a strict formula.

“I shape a piece, hold it, move it through the kinds of motions someone would use while cooking, and keep refining it until it feels natural,” he said. “I think about balance, weight, handle thickness, pressure points, leverage, and the transition between the handle and the working end of the utensil.”

He sometimes will design based more on aesthetics, for example when he uses the lathe to shape a handle, but even then his experience gives him knowledge as to what is likely comfortable and functional.

Practical arts teacher

Pierson, who is also a woodworking and practical arts teacher at Kimberton Waldorf School in Chester County, uses many of the tools he makes in his own kitchen located on the same property as his studio.

“That gives me a chance to test them over time rather than simply imagining how they might work,” Pierson said. “I notice what feels comfortable, where something could be improved, and what I might change in the next version.

“In that sense, I’ve probably learned as much about designing kitchen tools at the stove as I have at the workbench.”

He said that every piece he makes teaches him something.

“On some of my longer spoons and spatulas, for example, I carve two shallow recessed areas, or grip coves, into the handle,” he said. “They create two natural holding positions — one allows the user to hold farther back on the utensil for reaching comfortably into a deeper pot. The other lets the user choke up closer to the spoon bowl or working end when more leverage and control are needed, such as when scooping or moving something heavier.

His goal is to let the tool adapt to the task and to the person rather than requiring the person’s wrist, hand, or arm to compensate for the tool.

He explained that those considerations can become even more important as grip strength and fine motor control change with age.

“A utensil that is well balanced, easy to grasp, comfortable in the hand, and doesn’t require excessive force, can make an everyday task easier and more enjoyable,” Pierson said. “At the same time, I think good ergonomic design benefits everyone, not only older adults.”

Good craftsmanship

When he thinks about ease of use, his ideal is that the tool almost disappears into the experience.

“You shouldn’t have to keep thinking about how you’re holding the spoon or fighting with the utensil,” he said. “You should simply be able to cook. To me, good craftsmanship isn’t only about how an object looks when it’s finished. It’s also about how well it serves the person using it.”

For an older adult choosing kitchen utensils or other functional objects, he encourages them to physically pick the item up whenever possible and consider: does it feel secure without requiring a tight grip? Is the handle substantial enough to hold comfortably? Is the weight appropriate? Does it feel balanced and easy to control? Are there uncomfortable edges or pressure points?

“A beautiful object is wonderful, but if it’s meant to be used, it should make the task easier rather than demanding more from the person using it,” he said.

KWS Alum Azaria Van Der Stok-Smallwood ’22 Featured in NYOTA Magazine

September 10, 2026 by Katherine Zuber

Full article by Britt Starghill II at NYOTA Magazine.

For Kimberton Waldorf School, the impact of a Waldorf education can often be seen years after a student leaves campus—in the way alumni approach their work, their communities, and the world around them.

We’re delighted to celebrate alum Azaria Van Der Stok-Smallwood (KWS ’22), whose work as an emerging fashion designer was recently featured in NYOTA Magazine.

Azaria’s journey into fashion began long before she entered the world of design. Growing up in a multigenerational Waldorf family, she experienced an education deeply rooted in creativity, handwork, and the natural world. Her grandmother Raymonde van der Stok, a longtime KWS Eurythmy teacher, helped make that Waldorf tradition part of her family’s story.

“[I]t wasn’t even a choice,” Azaria shared with NYOTA. “My grandmother taught there, my mom went, and so did my sister.”

From kindergarten onward, handwork was simply part of everyday life. Azaria learned to knit, crochet, and spin yarn, while time spent outdoors connected those skills to the natural world. She recalls collecting wildflowers from campus, boiling them down to create natural dyes, and using those dyes on yarn.

“It was such a normal thing in the education I grew up in to take from the natural world and create art with what was around you,” she said.

That early experience continues to resonate throughout Azaria’s work today.

From Waldorf Handwork to Fashion as a Visual Language

After graduating from KWS in 2022, Azaria pursued her passion for fashion and design, carrying with her the creative foundation she developed as a Waldorf student.

For Azaria, clothing became much more than an artistic medium. Growing up navigating very different communities and environments, she came to understand the power of clothing to shape perception and communicate identity.

Today, she describes fashion as her way of communicating—a “visual language of dress.” Her work draws on her personal experiences, her community, cultural history, and questions of identity and social justice.

That combination of personal storytelling and social commentary is particularly evident in her recent collection.

Turning Waste Into Beauty

One of Azaria’s favorite pieces from the collection began with something most people would simply throw away: scraps of muslin.

While working in her studio, she collected discarded muslin scraps from pattern-making throughout the year and from other students’ work. She then painstakingly tore the material into strips, transforming the waste into a material resembling raffia.

The finished garment combines a crocheted halter-neck bodice with a dramatic, voluminous skirt made from the repurposed material. The design also incorporates individually hand-collected mussel shells from the shores of Rhode Island.

For Azaria, the piece represents far more than sustainability in fashion. It connects environmental responsibility with Black cultural history, family, place, craft, and the transformative power of making.

She draws a connection between transforming discarded materials into something beautiful and the long history of Black Americans creating nourishment, art, and culture from what society has discarded.

The hours she spent tearing fabric and crocheting by hand also carry meaning for her. She describes the repetitive, meditative nature of these processes as a way of connecting with ancestry and cultural memory.

In many ways, the philosophy behind this collection echoes something deeply familiar to Waldorf education: the value of working with our hands, paying attention to the materials around us, and transforming the ordinary into something meaningful.

A Waldorf Education That Travels With You

Azaria’s story is a beautiful reminder that education is not simply about what students learn while they are at school. It is also about the habits of mind, creative confidence, and relationship to the world that they carry forward.

At Kimberton Waldorf School, we believe that artistic and practical experiences are essential parts of an education. Handwork, movement, music, visual arts, and a connection to nature give students opportunities to experience themselves as capable creators and to see possibility in the world around them.

For Azaria, those experiences became part of the foundation for a career in fashion—one that brings together artistry, cultural storytelling, sustainability, and social awareness.

And her story continues to unfold.

On September 18, Azaria will present her collection at New York Fashion Week. She will also exhibit her thesis collection at an event connected with New York Fashion Week and Climate Week and participate in a discussion about sustainability and fashion design in the contemporary world.

We are proud to celebrate Azaria and to see the creative seeds planted during her years at Kimberton continue to grow.

Congratulations, Azaria! We can’t wait to see where your work takes you next.

Article published by Tenth Grader Maitreya Kershner: Schrödinger’s Race | Discovering Identity Beyond the Binary

June 1, 2026 by Katherine Zuber

Originally published in Fair For All

Growing up, my race always felt like a very important part of my identity. And yet that importance always seemed to be projected onto me by outside forces, not born out of my own experience. My family culture feels like a thing on its own, disconnected from racial stereotype or assumed cultural identity. I felt I was being taught, through my community, that being biracial was supposed to mean something. But I could never place what that meaning was supposed to be.

Many people see me as white. This makes sense. I have light skin and hair. I don’t look like the “stereotypical” white person, but I certainly appear to be one. When I was little, being seen as white bugged me. I wanted my skin to be darker. I wanted it to be obvious; to take on my heritage as a kind of birthright, something that would make me stand out, that would let people see I was unique.

Some people see me as black, mostly people of color. I’m undeniably a person of color too. Ironically, calling me black follows the same logic the slave masters used, where “just one drop” turned you into the tragic mulatta of a minstrel play. Even so, I wanted to be seen as black. It connected me to a historical struggle. It made my existence feel like disobedience to racist ideology. We all long to be part of something bigger. I fell so deeply into that longing that I would become defensive whenever I felt “misidentified,” or when attention was drawn to the lightness of my skin.

Looking back, I can see that wanting to be read as black and resenting being read as white were really the same impulse: I was letting other people’s categories tell me who I was.

I’ve tried to put my struggles with racial identity behind me. And yet the questions still come up: Who are you? What are you?

The simplest answer is biracial. The term is accurate enough, but it doesn’t explain my experience as an individual; it doesn’t even specify which races. Mulatto is more specific, but it has, for good reason, fallen out of common speech. And again, it doesn’t really capture the way I experience the world. Why do I feel like I need a word to categorize myself in the first place? In a world with so many words to describe all the things a person can be, it sometimes feels like it isn’t enough to just be a person.

I like to think of my experience as “Schrödinger’s race.” In a famous thought experiment, a cat sealed in a box is imagined to be simultaneously alive and dead until someone opens the box to look, both states existing at once. Like the cat, I am both black and white, a kind of quantum superposition in human form. The box, in this metaphor, isn’t meant to be opened. And yet people keep trying. We long for the binary, for simple categories that can be easily explained. We long to understand one another, so we create an array of boxes to place ourselves in. And still we don’t understand. We just create smaller and smaller, ever more specific boxes, hoping we will one day be able to summarize all the perfect complexities of a human being.

Much of this comes from the dualism that runs through our society. We see things as one or the other — right or left, good or evil, black or white — and we deny the gray areas that are always there. We are slowly learning to escape these patterns, but their hold is hard to release. The issue lives not only in the systems we’ve built but in the way we interpret and express our reality. Most of us can’t pull ourselves out of our day-to-day perceptions long enough to see past them. And even when we glimpse a deeper truth, we struggle to put it into words.

I struggle with this often. The true feeling I’m experiencing doesn’t seem to conform to the words I know. So, I search for more words. I imagine some perfect term: a combination of sounds so self-evident that anyone hearing it would immediately understand. But even when it feels just on the tip of my tongue, the perfect word always reveals itself to be a perfect delusion. Only the feeling remains.

Maybe the feelings hardest to express are the truest ones we have. Maybe identity itself is supposed to be partly indescribable, because so many things shape who we are and how we see the world. Beyond every stereotype lie real experiences, but those experiences are never the whole story. Even people who share the same experience will process it differently, because they’re carrying different experiences of everything else. And deeper than that, there seem to be parts of each of us that don’t stem from any lived experience at all.

Through some combination of life experience and pure happenstance, I’ve found that as a queer woman of color, I don’t feel particularly connected to the identities of “queer” or “woman of color.” I feel more connected to my identity as a person, moving through space. An ever-changing human being who contains multitudes. An individual, just like everyone else. The boxes other people use to read me have never really told the truth about who I am.

When I let go of the imposed binaries, I can finally stop trying to fit myself into them. The individual pieces of an identity will never add up to the whole of a person. The cat in the box stays the cat in the box, regardless of what label gets attached. The surface things matter less than the living of an actual life. And a life, lived honestly, can never be summed up by a category.

Swinging Back in Time

April 14, 2026 by Katherine Zuber

by Courtney Diener-Stokes

Article written by KWS parent Courtney Diener-Stokes about other KWS parents Jesse Sychterz and Dan Tiffany. Originally published by the Reading Eagle.

Jesse Sychterz Tiffany of Kimberton, Chester County, was just 5 years old when she first began doing World War II reenactments with her grandmother. At the events, she received an introduction to swing dances, which were usually a part of the events.

“When I turned 18 I decided to take a lesson and became hooked,” she said. “Incidentally, my very first swing dance lesson was where I met my husband, Dan.

These days, you’re likely to find them on the dance floor at SunnyBrook Ballroom in Lower Pottsgrove Township, Montgomery County, on the first Sunday of each month in addition to other locations

“It’s the closest place that has swing dances,” Tiffany said. ”There’s a swing lesson from 3 to 4 p.m. followed by a live band from 4 to 7. Philadelphia also has an active swing dance scene, as well as Lancaster.”

One of her instructors over the years introduced her to dancing at retirement homes in Chester, Montgomery and Berks counties.

“My dance instructor at the time needed help at some demos and asked if I was interested because I looked the part,” Tiffany said. “I happily obliged and soon, quite a few activity directors from local nursing homes were asking us to come dance.”

When she goes to the homes, she is typically in period dress and takes a dance partner.

“One of the things I love most about dancing at these centers is I’ll catch residents, even with advanced Alzheimer’s, tapping their feet to the beat,” she said. “If I go up to them and take their hands you can feel their rhythm — you can just tell that 60-plus years prior they were cutting a rug.”

Some residents will stand up, and she’ll dance with them for as long as they’d like, while others might sit in their wheelchair and she’ll dance with them holding hands.

They perform various routines for residents that take them back in time.

“One of the routines is called the Tranky Doo, performed to the song ‘Dipsy Doodle’ by Ella Fitzgerald,” Tiffany said. “It’s a solo routine originally performed back in the early 1940s.”

Tiffany loves seeing residents reminisce when she dances for them.

“If it were not for their generation keeping this dance I love so dearly going, I wouldn’t have grown to know it, meet my husband through it, or have met all these wonderful people,” she said. “I think of it as a way to give back.”

Last year, Tiffany was invited to perform at a 100th birthday party with a few other dance friends.

“Boy did her face light up when she saw us dancing to some of her favorite tunes the way she used to 70 years prior,” she said.

Ciara, Ona, and Josephine O’Hara Featured in Lilipoh!

February 26, 2026 by Katherine Zuber

In this month’s digital Lilipoh, we’re celebrating family and growth!

KWS graduate Ciara O’Hara ’24 shares a heartfelt essay about her bond with her little sister Josephine, while the Featured Author in this edition is Early Childhood Lead Teacher (and Ciara & Josephine’s Mom!) Ona O’Hara! Miss Ona pens the inspiring piece “How We Rise Is How We Raise” – a must read for all.

Click the link HERE to read both articles and be inspired by their stories of love, learning, and the impact of family.

KWS Student Featured for Kroka Experience

January 15, 2026 by Kimberton Waldorf School

Wilderness program enriches teen’s educational journey

The immersion experience was hosted by Kroka, a nonprofit school in New Hampshire.

By Courtney Diener-Stokes for the Delco Daily Times (Original Article)

When Daniel Zebrowski, 17, of Chester County learned about an opportunity through his private high school to get educated beyond its walls through a three-and-a-half-month outdoor adventure experience, he jumped on it.

“Originally I signed up to go on the adventure of a lifetime, but once logistics shifted, my approach turned to one of an intention of self-growth,” said Zebrowski, the second-oldest of five children. “I wanted to learn as much as I possibly could about myself, and I wanted to see what kind of changes I would see in myself after three and a half months in the wilderness.”

Immersion experience

Hosted by Kroka, a nonprofit wilderness school based in New Hampshire, the immersion experience offers a limited number of students from across the globe, ages 16-21, the opportunity to engage in accredited semester experiences.

Once Zebrowski went through the application process and was accepted into the program, he was given a list as to what he needed to do to prepare for the trip, including preparing food and training physically to enable him to acclimate to the daily physical demands, which included wearing a 70-pound backpack that contained everything he needed for the duration of the trip.

Zebrowski, a junior at Kimberton Waldorf School in Chester County, participated in Kroka’s fall program in Arizona and Utah for for their “Roaring Canyons Experience,” where he participated in backpacking, tent camping, whitewater paddling, rock climbing and more.

“I was in Utah for the expeditions and then spent three weeks in Arizona,” he said. “We camped each night there, and we spent most of our time on the move on expedition, and a few days were what we called layover days, where we would stay in one spot for a few days.”

44-hour solo

On one of the layover periods, each student did a 44-hour solo.

“We spent our time alone with no tent — just a journal and water — fasting the whole way through,” he said. “The fast was optional, but most of us chose to do it.”

They took on many challenges and did a wide range of activities on their daily expeditions.

“We canoed, hiked, crossed rivers, rappelled down canyons, made our way through slot canyons, swam in rivers and went rock climbing at Cochise Stronghold in Arizona,” he said. “We also hiked the Grand Canyon, rim to rim.”

Opportunities for learning

But beyond the physical challenges, there were many opportunities for learning. Zebrowski appreciated not having traditional daily homework, but valuted that they were still learning in the process of the excursion — just in a different way.

“Not having homework showed me what learning really is,” he said. “It allowed me to be completely present in the moment to take in the lessons and experiences.”

Since he didn’t have to worry about getting an assignment done by a certain date, he said that allowed him to truly live into what he was doing each day.

“Almost all the learning I did was different than what you would expect in a typical classroom,” he said. “I say this not simply because the material was different, but because of the way we learned.”

For example, they did a three-week study of the Mexican-American border crisis.

“It’s one thing to be in a classroom and look at pictures and discuss complicated topics such as this, and a whole other story to be there,” Zebrowski said. “It’s an entirely different thing to stand by that massive wall and look through it, seeing the houses and streets. To be there in the place of the thing you’re learning about — you see it, to breathe in the smells, to taste the air, provides you with a much deeper sense of the topic.”

Flash floods

When they learned about how flash floods create canyons, they stood in those canyons.

“We touched the rough sandstone walls, carved by thousands of years of water flowing there,” he said.

They learned practical skills for survival in the wilderness, such as how to read maps, plot coordinates, keep a constant sense of their cardinal directions and how to cook over fires, preparing meals such as a lentil and cheese dish over rice.

“We also learned the history of the places we were in, and how to process and handle our emotions,” he said, adding that he learned to live in a community, and how to be there for one another.

Zebrowski said he made lifelong friends through sharing the experience with his semester mates.

“All of this showed me that learning isn’t solely about numbers and facts, but that it is about a never-ending search for knowledge — a learning to live,” he said.

Zebrowski described a typical day when they would set up camp.

“The assigned cooks would begin to make dinner, and when camp was set up, we would journal about our day, write personal reflections and answer the prompt the instructors gave us,” he said. “When dinner was ready we would eat, then finish up our journaling and do dishes, then have what we called evening meeting.”

Evening meeting

During their evening meeting they would read a group-assigned book, give appreciation to their peers, bring up concerns they had, have a class the instructors would lead, talk about the day and discuss the next day’s plans before going to bed around 8:30 p.m.

“We would be in charge of telling the group where we go and we would have to make sure everything was done right or someone could get hurt, and many other responsibilities,” Zebrowski said. “Through this knowing that we were capable of leading and taking care of ourselves, I found a confidence in me I hadn’t had before.”

He said he became more self-reliant because of the program.

“I gained a sense of being capable of taking care of myself and others,” he said. “The responsibilities we held with decision-making, prep and even being given the chance to do the risky things we did were just a few of the many things that contributed to a very strong sense of self reliance.”

Rappel down canyons

Cooking over fires, navigating with maps and compasses, paddling whitewater and learning to rappel down canyons were all things he said he may never have learned how to do had he not particpated in the program.

“I was excited to go see the world, and that was my way to do just that,” he said. “It gained for me new perspectives on so many aspects of life.”

Daniel’s parents, Ania and Dominik, were supportive of his interest in the program and what he gained from it.

“What impressed me most about the Kroka program is its strong focus on learning through experience, teamwork and building independence in a supportive nature environment,” Ania said. “I felt that this practical approach was ideal for Daniel and helped him develop more self confidence, responsibility and self awareness. Daniel returned more self assured, resilient and proud of what he had accomplished.”

Daniel said he feels this is an experience that can make a student stand out to colleges.

“After spending three and a half months on an adventure like this, your character begins to stand out a bit in a good way,” he said. “The ways you think, your philosophies and all the experiences you have under your belt at such a young age, I believe, make you stand out to colleges as a mature young person, and they see it.”

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Understanding the Human Brain and the Historical Significance of Waldorf Education

September 11, 2025 by Katherine Zuber

We are excited to share an essay that Head of School Brad Kershner wrote in response to a request (and grant offer) from Waldorf Publications. It is a thought-provoking exploration of how an understanding of the hemispheric brain can help us understand cultural history, and appreciate the underlying problems that Waldorf education has the potential to resolve. You can find the essay online here. Earnest readers are encouraged to reach out to Brad with reflections or questions (bkershner@kimberton.org).

Our Varsity Girls Basketball team won the League Championship!

February 24, 2025 by Kimberton Waldorf School

by Anwar Abernathy, Varsity Girls Basketball Coach and KWS Athletics Director

I couldn’t be prouder of the Kimberton Lady Bulls for winning the PJAA League Championship! This victory is a testament to the team’s unwavering dedication and relentless preparation. We embarked on this journey back in November with one clear goal: to avenge our loss in last year’s championship. The KWS Lady Bulls were focused on one word—redemption.

The road was challenging, filled with tough opponents, but we never lost sight of our mission. After a heartbreaking defeat to the reigning champions, New Foundation, in the divisional championship, we knew we had another chance in the league playoffs. Our path wasn’t easy, facing undefeated division champions at every turn. Yet, we pushed through, defeating Mastery of Camden in a nail-biting game filled with lead changes, securing our place for the rematch we desired.

With a championship showdown against New Foundation ahead, our girls stayed locked in. Despite falling behind early, our resolve only grew stronger. Led by our senior guard, Ciara O’Hara, and the phenomenal MVP Camron Nixon, the Lady Bulls rallied back, forcing overtime in a dramatic display of skill and grit. In the extra period, Camron took charge, dominating the game with 38 points, 16 rebounds, and seven steals.

We’ve achieved what many thought impossible, and it feels incredible! I will cherish this special group of girls and the memories we’ve created for the rest of my life. Together, we’ve shown that hard work and determination truly pay off. Congratulations to the Kimberton Lady Bulls—champions!

GO BULLS!!

Our Food For Thought Lunch Program Featured in GRID!

January 4, 2025 by Katherine Zuber

Kimberton Waldorf parents, students and staff grow, harvest and cook the school’s daily lunches

Click HERE to read the article on GRID’s website! Or find the January 2025 print issue at your local Kimberton Whole Foods location.

Every Monday around 9 a.m., Kimberton Waldorf School’s Food for Thought lunch program stocks up on Seven Stars Farm maple and vanilla yogurt. Located just across the street, the biodynamic farm is among the many local food producers and growers the school uses to source ingredients for their daily lunch menu.

The agricultural hub of Kimberton, located in Southeastern Pennsylvania’s Chester County, makes the school’s location ideal for easy access to a range of seasonal produce that’s either organically or biodynamically grown. Current partners include Seven Stars Farm, Kimberton CSA, Sankanac CSA, and Lancaster Farm Fresh Co-op, among others.

Right on Kimberton’s 430-acre campus, the school’s two-acre organic/biodynamic garden provides opportunities for the kitchen to preserve their bounty to last through the upcoming school year. “I look forward to working closely with the planning of the garden to compliment a seasonal menu,” says Lianna Criniti, the school’s newly appointed kitchen manager and chef.

Gardening is interwoven with the curriculum and children at KWS experience the school’s acclaimed garden program from the elementary years through high school, so they give a hand in helping to create Criniti’s wholesome meals.

Lianna Criniti, left, is Food for Thought’s kitchen manager and chef. Photo by Melissa Kelly.

“The students plant a seed and, with love and care, watch the tiny seedling grow into a strong plant, which is then settled out into the garden — they get to witness the miracle of how the Earth provides for us,” says Celia Martin, KWS science teacher and student support coordinator, who previously served as a gardening teacher at the school for 16 years. “When they finally get to eat the fruits of their months-long labor, they savor it and truly appreciate the time and care that went into growing it.”

The students benefit from the hot lunch program and garden program partnership in multiple ways, including expanding their palate, enjoying nutritious food, and realizing what goes into producing food.

“The kitchen benefits by getting free, fresh, very local food that the students are excited about and want to eat,” Martin says.

Items like homemade tomato sauce and pickles are among the more common pantry staples in the kitchen, compliments of last year’s harvest. Apple cider, made from apples grown in the school’s orchard that were sponsored content picked and pressed by students, is highly anticipated come fall. Leftovers are frozen into ice pops come spring when students can buy them at the snack bar after school. At the snack bar, they can also find Criniti’s plump, warm chocolate chip cookies.

Wednesday’s snack bar day is the designated spot for parents who are soup and sourdough bread boule subscribers, to pick up their share. The slow-simmered soups, whether butternut squash, Italian wedding or potato leek, are packaged in 32-ounce Mason jars that are later returned by parents to be reused. Parent volunteers help run the snack bar and earlier in the day, they provide necessary help in the kitchen to prepare each day’s lunch.

Food for Thought’s parent volunteer program is beneficial to both the running of the kitchen and for the building of community among parents. Ania Zebrowski, who has four children at KWS, has a strong passion for cooking and feels that through volunteering, she can make a positive impact on the community while also gaining valuable culinary experience and skills.

“Knowing that we, as a community, prepare simple, delicious and healthy meals for the children and faculty gives me lots of joy,” Zebrowski says. “Seeing the smiles on the kids’ faces as they come up for seconds is always heartwarming.”

Getting a chance to spend time with other members of the community is also a perk. “Working with other parents who share the same approach to the importance of cooking healthy food creates a good work environment,” she says. “I deeply believe that volunteering at the KWS kitchen brings joy and fulfillment to everyone’s life.”

Kimberton Waldorf School’s gymnasium is transformed into a dining room daily, with fresh flowers at every table. Photo by Melissa Kelly.

At about 11:30 a.m. each school day, a flurry of activity happens in the school’s gymnasium as Zebrowski and other parent volunteers work to transform the gym into a dining room complete with fresh flowers at every table, serving stations and a salad bar that offers a variety of toppings and sides, such as homemade applesauce and granola to top the Seven Stars yogurt.

After lunch, students place any leftover food in designated scrap bins. “The sixth grade comes and picks it up to dump in the compost bin on campus every day and sometimes the scraps are fed to the third grade’s chickens that live on campus,” Criniti says of their zero-food-waste approach.

She feels strongly that the involvement of the children in each aspect of the meals they’re eating is imperative to growing them to be food-conscious humans. “It’s a gift to be a part of passing that knowledge on to them and the community.”

Read on for a couple of Criniti’s tasty recipes that are beloved by students, faculty and parents of Kimberton Waldorf School!

Potato Leek Soup with Fresh Dill

Potato leek soup is one of the beloved soups served for lunch by Kimberton Waldorf School’s Food for Thought program on ‘soup day’ every Wednesday. Serves 8 to 10

2 leeks, ends removed, chopped
4 stalks celery, chopped
1 large white onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, peeled and kept whole
1 tsp. Paprika
3 Tbsp. fresh dill, chopped
3 Tbsp. kosher salt
2 tsp. cracked pepper
5 pounds Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and left whole*
6 cups vegetable stock 2 cups heavy cream**

In a large pot on medium heat, sauté the leeks, celery, onion and garlic in a small amount of olive oil for 10 minutes. Once the onions and celery are soft and translucent, add your spices and half of your dill.
Continue to cook for 5 more minutes.
Lastly, add your potatoes and stock, making sure to only use enough stock to barely cover the potatoes. Bring to a boil for 5 minutes and then reduce to a simmer until potatoes begin to fall apart.
Finally, using an immersion blender, blitz your soup while slowly adding your cream until you’ve reached your desired consistency.
Fold in the remainder of your fresh dill and enjoy.

Notes from Chef Criniti

* It’s very important to leave the potatoes whole during the cooking process because it allows for the natural starches in the potato to break down at a slower rate, thus making your soup rich and creamy.

** This soup can be made dairy-free by simply swapping out the cream for a dairy-free option. I prefer oat milk!

Lemon Buttermilk Pie

Chef Criniti is known for the tasty pies she makes for the school’s bake and pie sales held on campus. Serves 6 to 8

10 eggs
3 cups sugar
3 lemons, zested and juiced
2 cups buttermilk
2 tsp. vanilla ½ cups flour
3 Tbsp. melted butter
1 unbaked pie shell

Preheat oven to 350°. Whisk together all ingredients except the buttermilk. After fully mixed, slowly whisk in the buttermilk.
Pour mixture directly into a cold, unbaked pie shell. Bake for 50-60 minutes. Pie will jiggle when finished.
Allow to cool completely at room temperature, then refrigerate for one hour before serving. Pairs best with fresh whipped cream

Turning Pandemic Learning Losses into Student Silver Linings: Independent schools use an array of helpful strategies

October 29, 2024 by Kimberton Waldorf School

This article was originally published in County Lines Magazine, and features quotes from two of our teachers: Ms. Maggie Kincheloe and Ms. Ona Wetherall-O’Hara

Written by Cara Corridoni

New student test data has again raised concerns over the lingering effects on students of the adaptations used by school during the pandemic, including such things as remote learning, mask mandates and a loss of extracurricular activities. While earlier improvements after return to classes had many educators hoping the worst was behind them, test scores from last winter and spring show this isn’t the case.

“Unfortunately, data from the past two school years no longer supports this conclusion,” testing company NWEA told the Washington Post in July. NWEA tests pre-K to grade 12 students in math, reading, language and science.

Maggie Kincheloe, a teacher at the Kimberton Waldorf School in Phoenixville, has a unique view of pandemic impacts. It’s common in the Waldorf tradition for teachers to “loop” through the lower grades, staying with their students for a few years. Teachers start in first grade and then teach that same student group through fifth or eighth grade. In 2020, Kincheloe welcomed a cohort of first graders. This year, she’ll shepherd those same students through fifth grade.

“I’ve thought about this a lot,” she said. “Every year I look at my students and ask, ‘Are they where I want them to be?’” And for the most part, she said, they are. “Because we were open throughout it all. I can’t draw any lines between the kids needing academic support and the pandemic,” she said.

The effects of the pandemic measures seem to swing like this, from worrisome to barely there to, dare we say, positive. Several local educators reflect on the lingering impacts of the pandemic and show that even the darkest clouds have a silver lining.

Lessons That Carry

Mindy Wawrzyniak can attest to that swing. As Head of School at the Center School, an Abington-based school that specializes in supporting students with educational gaps, she’s seen student struggles firsthand.

“The learning losses are great, and they’re really across the board,” she said. Wawrzyniak reported welcoming middle school students who can’t read, some who don’t know all their letters. “When a child is very far behind, it’s not only difficult [because of the amount of educational ground that needs to be covered], but they tend to be a little more resistant,” she said.

Students’ attitudes toward school are largely developed in elementary school.

Dr. Jon Hall, Head of School at Media-Providence Friends School, agreed. “The attitude children have towards school is formed primarily in the younger grades,” he said. “With the exception of the rare few for whom virtual school was aligned with who they are as a learner, the experience made school harder and more stressful for kids. And the challenge schools face today is changing that attitude.”

To close learning gaps, schools must tackle academics while limiting stress. At the Center School, they start by grouping students by level. They also work to promote project-based learning and strengthen learning strategies. “We have to learn to break [bad] habits in a caring, understanding way and teach them new habits,” said Wawrzyniak.

Dr. Kim Wagner, Head of Lower School at Tatnall School in Wilmington, has found that sometimes it’s the teachers who have to break old habits. In helping to recuperate missing skills in reading, they found proficiency to be an even better basis for advancement than mastery. “Why that works,” said Wagner, “is the skills don’t go away when you move up.” Using this method, they’ve found they can more efficiently progress through foundational skills and get students to critical thinking skills more quickly.

Many teachers are taking their lessons to the great outdoors.

Sister Margaret Fagan, principal at Bryn Mawr’s St. Aloysius Academy, said they made the most of their natural assets when things got tense. “We’ve tried to use the campus we have to get the boys outside,” Sister Margaret said of the school’s 42 acres. “Science outside. Reading outside. Playing games while learning.” The shift seems to have worked. “Academically there was a little slip, but our boys are back and better,” she said.

Social-Emotional Skills

In addition to remote learning, students also faced periods of limited socialization and increased levels of stress and anxiety, especially during the height of the pandemic. These experiences may have led to lagging social-emotional development.

Post-pandemic schools are increasingly focused on social-emotional learning.

“I’ve been a teacher for 20 years,” said Wagner. “[Every year] I’ve seen boys fight over a game of football, but now the emotions are so much larger.”

Wawrzyniak at the Center School agreed. “We’re seeing more kids with anxiety and difficulty managing stress,” she said. “Our curriculum is definitely geared toward skills academically, as well as socially and emotionally.”

Kimberton Waldorf, too, has expanded its mental health support system. At Tatnall, they have a social-emotional teacher and curriculum. “I think schools are looking at social-emotional needs more than we were before,” said Tatnall’s Wagner.

Ona Wetherall O’Hara, Kimberton Waldorf Early Childhood Section Leader, has even noticed a change among the school’s youngest students. “Many of our incoming students over the last two years have been ‘Covid babies,’” she said.

Many schools are adding more extracurricular activities for their youngest students.

Compared to their predecessors, the so-called Covid babies are more likely to have a single caretaker, usually a grandparent or a long-term babysitter. These kids, O’Hara has found, are more likely to observe rather than enter directly into the action. There can also be a slight lag in speech, communication and skills like cooperative play. Yet these gaps tend to close naturally once the kids adjust to the classroom environment. “The kids are super eager and really excited to be with each other,” she said.

At St. Aloysius, they’ve increased the number of early elementary extracurricular activities offered. Cross-country running is now available to students as young as kindergarten, and this fall they added firstand second-grade flag football teams.

“To see those kids running up [the campus] hill away from their computers and enjoying each other. It’s great to see,” said Sister Margaret.

A Greater Good

Has Covid left a permanent mark on our students? Nearly all educators agree it has but not necessarily in the ways that tend to make headlines.

Schools are limiting screen time in the classroom.

Technology in the classroom has found its place, which is often now in the background.

“We’re pushing back [on technology use] here at Tatnall,” said Wagner. “We’re only using screens if the screens have a real impact. I’m hoping to see that more. Teachers taking back the classroom.”

Some surprising benefits remain. “They became excellent handwashers,” said Kimberton Waldorf ’s Kincheloe of her nowfifth graders. “I think this generation of kids is going to view illness in a new way. I think there’s more of a tendency to be empathetic.”

The end of the pandemic has brought about a renewed appreciation for the school community.

Most educators have also reported a renewed appreciation for the school community. “We all thought about quality of life during Covid. There was a real longing for those social activities that were taken away from us,” said Wagner.

Now that they’re back in school, parents and students are not just showing up, they’re happy to be there. “When you work really hard to get through something together, I think you have a new understanding and appreciation for each other,” said O’Hara.

It also means you don’t have to go it alone.

“[The students] aren’t afraid to say ‘I need help,’” added Sister Margaret. “They’ve learned to lean on one another, and that’s what community is all about.”

Adult community education helps combat cultural crisis

October 21, 2024 by Kimberton Waldorf School

by Courtney Diener-Stokes, Proud KWS Parent of three children, KWS Varsity Tennis Coach and award-winning journalist

Article initially published in the Reading Eagle, posted on the KWS Blog with their consent.

Dr. Brad Kershner, Head of School at Kimberton Waldorf School

Schools are always abuzz during the day with educational programming for children, but after hours, there’s a private school in Chester County, Kimberton Waldorf School, that’s taking advantage of its campus in the evenings when it typically sits quiet.

Kimberton Waldorf School's library, active during the daytime for various uses, serves as the location for the lectures that mostly take place in the evenings and occasionally on weekends. (Courtney Diener-Stokes) — Kimberton Waldorf School’s library, active during the daytime for various uses, serves as the location for the lectures that mostly take place in the evenings and occasionally on weekends. (Courtney Diener-Stokes)

The school is offering community education to adults — all free of charge and open to the public.

After the school day, Kimberton Waldorf School welcomes adults to partake in a lecture series in their aim to cultivate community. (Kimberton Waldorf School)

Intended to focus on important and timely topics for all parents and educators, the series of public lectures are led by KWS’s Head of School, Dr. Brad Kershner. Each event, held in the school’s high school library, will include time for questions and discussion.

Cultivating community

Earlier this month, the first lecture to kick off the series centered on “Cultivating Community: Overcoming Cultural Fragmentation in a Polarized World.”

In the context of an upcoming presidential election, they explored ways to understand our cultural and political predicament from a developmental, growth-oriented perspective, with an emphasis on recognizing some of the most prevalent patterns and dysfunctions that inhibit the health of diverse communities.

“The evening was also a time to lay some groundwork and plant some seeds for big ideas and themes that will run through these and other gatherings, and to begin to build a robust educational community where adults are actually struggling with big ideas and striving to deepen their understanding about what is happening and what needs to happen in the world today,” Kershner said. “We want adults in this community to understand the nature of the crises we are facing as a society, and to see themselves as the answer to those crises, because ultimately, building educational communities is the best answer to cultural crises that we can have.”

Co-creating an educational community

Offering lectures is a natural extension of Kershner’s ongoing mission and intention to serve humanity by leading and co-creating an educational community that is at the leading edge of human culture.

Cultivating an educational community among adults on important and timely topics can help deepen conversation and and understanding. (Pexels) — Cultivating an educational community among adults on important and timely topics can help deepen conversation and understanding. (Pexels)

“I’ve gotten positive feedback from earlier talks and gatherings, and I was looking for the next logical step to take to move the conversation forward as a school,” he said.

In recent years, the school has had guest speakers come, but this year Kershner decided it was best for him to lead the topics of discussion because there were many that he had been thinking about.

“It felt that it would be helpful to our community to have these topics brought forward in a coherent and consilient way,” he said, “meaning not only are all these topics relevant and interesting for many reasons, but we as a school want to have and articulate an overarching worldview that is able to address and respond to each of these topics in a consistent, coherent, and comprehensive way — and the only way to do that is for there to be actual thought leadership within the school to form and shape that vision.”

Insights and information

Each lecture aims to bring together insights and information from multiple books and perspectives that will enable those attending to continue their education beyond his lecture series.

“At each talk, I will bring a collection of books related to the topic that I recommend and that people will be able to browse,” he said.

The next lecture on Oct. 28 at 6:30 p.m. will be centered on the topic of “Mental Health in a Changing World: Raising Children in a Digital Society.”

“This lecture will summarize recent research and insights related to mental health, the impacts of digital technology, and how some cultural trends are exacerbating the problems our children must learn to resolve,” Kershner said.

On Jan. 14, 2025, at 7:30 p.m., the topic will be ‘Artificial & Natural Intelligence.”

“Amidst the hysteria of hype about AI, and the elusive and perilous promise of AGI, there are fundamental and important distinctions between AI and humans that are not being well communicated or understood,” he said. “This talk will try to summarize some important insights and distinctions related to AI and humans, to clarify what we should be concerned about and how we can shape and respond to the evolution of technology.”

Relationship to the natural and social world

On Feb. 22 at 10 a.m., the lecture topic will be “As Within, So Without: Understanding the Hemispheric Brain and the Genius of Waldorf Education.”

“This lecture will explore the ways in which our individual and collective experience is filtered through and shaped by our hemispheric brains, and the ways in which Waldorf education offers an integrated and balanced approach to learning that enables holistic understanding of and relationship to the natural and social world,” he said.

Pre-registration for lectures is not required and all are welcome to attend.

Free adult education lecture series
Each event is open to the public and includes time for questions and discussion. Learn more here: www.kimberton.org/lecture-series.

Location: Kimberton Waldorf School, High School Library, 410 W. Seven Stars Road, East Vincent Township, Chester County

KWS Student Featured – Summer Program For Teens Inspires Next Generation Of Environmentalists

September 25, 2024 by Katherine Zuber

by Courtney H. Diener-Stokes

This article was originally posted with the Pottstown Merc. We have received their permission to post the story here.

Yatin Kapu, 16, a 10th grader at Kimberton Waldorf School who lives in Chester County, spent a week on the Schuylkill River this summer participating in the Schuylkill Acts to Impacts program, which aims to foster young stewards of the river.

The fully-funded opportunity which is free to participants is made possible through a partnership with the Schuylkill Headwaters Association, Fairmount Water Works, Schuylkill River Greenways and Take It Outdoors Adventures.

The application-based program for high school students involves a selection process to determine which 10 to 15 applicants would be best suited for the educational adventure.

“I really wanted to attend the program because it was centered around environmental science, water quality and conservation – all the things I am interested in,” Kapu said. “At the same time providing such a unique experience by kayaking in the Schuylkill River, camping and exploring all the aspects that affect the Schuylkill’s health.”

LIKE-MINDED INDIVIDUALS
He also saw it as an opportunity to network with like-minded individuals, environmentalists and conservationists. Each day of the program included a different lineup of activities, including a trip to a coal mine, an urban farm, a dairy farm, and a mussels lab. They also did a river health assessment, along with many other river-based activities.

“All these activities were with a professional in that field,” he said. “Some days we would also volunteer, for example, doing an invasive crayfish removal, collecting data on water health, and helping on the urban farm.”

At the end of each day, they would set up camp along the Schuylkill River to spend the night. Even the evenings were maximized with educational opportunities.

“After we relaxed and set up camp, a guest speaker would come after dinner and talk about her or his career and causes they support,” Kapu said.

ENGAGED WITH THE PROGRAMS
Ayashe Ramey, education program manager of Schuylkill River Greenways, who was along on the trip, appreciated Kapu’s curiosity.

“He was super interested and was really engaged with the programs we were doing,” Ramey said. While Kapu enjoyed the entire, week-long experience, he shared one of the highlights.

“Going into the coal mine was my highlight of the trip and learning about abandoned mines and their effects on the river’s health,” he said. “There are a lot of things I learned, such as assessing a river’s health through water sample tests; how pH affects creatures in the stream and is affecting the pH to drop; mussels as natural filters of water; abandoned coal mine effects and solutions, and more.”

POSITIVE IMPACT
The experience showed Kapu how the river connects us all in ways he had never thought of and why we should protect it for our own, along with nature’s well-being.

“I learned how I can have a positive impact, and it inspired me even more seeing all the people dedicated to teaching our generation and protecting our watersheds,” he said.

Kapu also had the opportunity to make some new friends with whom he has stayed in contact.

“Everyone was really nice and they could not have made my experience better,” he said. “It was so fun talking and hearing their experiences and opinions of the world. Since there are two people picked from each country in the Schuylkill watershed, we had a really diverse group.”

Helping kids navigate the digital age

May 29, 2024 by Kimberton Waldorf School

by Courtney Diener-Stokes, KWS parent ’27, ’28, ’30

Excerpt from article published March 14, 2024 in the Delco Times. See the original article

The first time Karen Hite, a grade-school teacher at Kimberton Waldorf School, Chester County, began teaching the Cyber Civics curriculum to a sixth-grade class six years ago, she found it was a good and easy curriculum to fit into a 40-minute lesson each week despite not having any specific specialization or training.

“It is designed to begin in sixth grade because middle schoolers have more exposure to social media, phones and online,” Hite said. “It’s when a shift happens and they begin looking outward to their peers more, and that increased awareness of their peers and peer pressure is part of why the curriculum was designed.”

Identifying misinformation

Cyber Civics lessons range from simple concepts to more advanced ones. It begins with what it means to be a citizen in any community and how to apply that to the digital world and later moves into privacy and personal information, identifying misinformation, reading visual images, recognizing stereotypes and media representations and ethical thinking in future technologies.

Hite said the curriculum for sixth graders delved into how a computer works, how to do research and then moved more into discernment.

“They learned about fact checking and fake news and how do you trust what you see — how do you look at a story and figure out if it’s true,” she said.

There is also a lesson that involves taking some old computers apart to show them the insides.

“It’s demystifying this magic box and showing them what makes it work,” she said.

Engaging activities

Recently, she taught a Cyber Civics lesson to her eighth-grade class that involved questions and activities to do in small groups.

“They had to figure out which pictures from the internet were real, and which were fake and they were all over it,” she said. “The activities are very engaging.”

Next, they’ll be venturing into what is safe to share online.

“We will discuss that there are trolls out there looking for your information and data,” she said.

Unicorn.pdf — Students practiced creating avatars using safe online practices.

Hite appreciates that the curriculum is designed so your average teacher can bring lessons to students that are valuable without any specialization in technology.

“It’s a valuable resource because it’s a comprehensive curriculum that addresses issues regarding devices on the internet in a very age-appropriate way,” Hite said. “They are learning how to navigate technology as ethically as possible.”

News Feature: Phone-free schools address global problem

October 25, 2023 by Kimberton Waldorf School

Kimberton Waldorf School was recently featured in the Daily Local News for becoming phone free. Read the full article below or at the Daily Local here.

Phone-free schools address global problem

A private school in Chester County implements new systems to address distraction by technology.

A phone-free space improves student engagement, class management and reduces distraction, among other benefits.
(Courtesy of Kimberton Waldorf School) — A phone-free space improves student engagement, class management and reduces distraction, among other benefits. (Courtesy of Kimberton Waldorf School)

This fall, the landscape looks different at Kimberton Waldorf School in Chester County.

Kimberton Waldorf School implemented new systems across the entire school to address technological distraction.(Courtesy of Courtney Diener-Stokes)

Nothing has impacted the appearance of the picturesque campus that lies along French Creek in the historic district of Kimberton Village. Instead, it was a change the school felt was necessary to make to its technology landscape after its governance identified an increasing concern over the grip that cellphone usage was having on students nationally, and the impact this was beginning to have on their own school environment.

This resulted in KWS deciding to make the entire school cellphone and smartwatch free during the school day.

“One thing that has become clear in recent years, no less for us than for thousands of other schools, is that social media is having a negative impact on our students,” said Dr. Brad Kershner, KWS’s Head of School. “We see this in terms of how it captures and degrades their attention and in terms of how it influences the process of identity formation.

“The amount of overall exposure is therefore a serious concern, and what we see in schools is that even the mere presence of cell phones has negative consequences. The lure is just too strong.”

Lockable Yondr cellphone pouches are kept in bins that are organized by grade in Kimberton Waldorf School's high school.(Courtesy of Courtney Diener-Stokes) — Lockable Yondr cellphone pouches are kept in bins that are organized by grade in Kimberton Waldorf School’s high school.(Courtesy of Courtney Diener-Stokes)

Beginning on the first day of school, KWS implemented new systems to address the problem of technological distraction in the lower school, middle school and high school. For the high school, they joined a movement of schools that have partnered with Yondr, a company that creates phone-free spaces by way of lockable pouches.

“For those who bring devices to school, we are piloting the program with Yondr in the high school, and in our middle school we are collecting phones and putting them in a lock box during the school day,” Kershner said. “Grades four and below are asked not to bring devices to school.”

A phone-free space is aimed at improving class management, reducing distraction and enhancing student engagement among other benefits, resulting in improved student behavior, academic performance and student connectedness.

“Educators around the world are seeing the damaging effects of phones on student engagement, social development and mental health,” Yondr says on its website.

Each high school student at KWS who brings a device to school is required to place it in their own lockable Yondr pouch upon arrival at school. The students are then in possession of their phone that’s in the locked pouch for the entire school day.

If a student has a documented medical reason that requires them to have access to their phone, the school will make an exception. Otherwise, necessary communications to parents come from the school’s staff as usual, and in the event a student needs to call home for any reason, there are landlines available.

A lockable Yondr cellphone pouch and magnetic unlocking base.(Courtesy of Courtney Diener-Stokes)

At the end of the day, their Yondr pouch gets unlocked by tapping the opening of the pouch on a magnetic unlocking base. They then place their empty pouch in a collection bin that’s organized per grade.

Tammi Stein, the admissions coordinator at KWS who has a child in the high school and another who recently graduated, discussed the benefits this change brings to the students.

“Yondr is a way to allow them to be free to focus on learning during the school day,” Stein said.

Not only does she feel this positively impacts her child’s time at school, but it also makes her feel more supported in her home life.

“I think it’s a hard issue to tackle alone as a family, and it’s nice to be a part of a community that is tackling it together,” she said.

Kimberton Waldorf School in Chester County partnered with Yondr as a solution for managing cellphones and smartwatches in their high school to make it a phone-free space during the school day.(Courtesy of Kimberton Waldorf School)

It’s no secret that we’re living in a time when it’s difficult for both children and adults to unplug. Clearly, schools are taking note, since Kimberton isn’t the only school looking to combat the issue. Yondr partners with thousands of schools across 16 countries.

“This is a global issue,” Stein said.

In addition to KWS taking action to address the issue during the school day, the school creates opportunities for parents to gather to talk about the issue.

“It’s being addressed at a school-wide level versus just leaving parents to address it as a family,” Stein said.

A book that was the focus of a recent KWS Community Education Event that was open to the public is titled “Stolen Focus: Why You Can’t Pay Attention — and How to Think Deeply Again” by Johann Hari. Through extensive research, the book explores how humanity’s focus has decreased over the years.

“It is addressing not just technology, but multiple issues that affect our focus,” Stein said. “This book brings up a lot of ideas.”

On the topic of technology, the book discusses the deliberate way that tech companies are working to get the attention of teenagers.

“It discusses how our society allows corporations to use technology this way, that it’s harming our youth and we’re allowing corporations to take our attention,” Stein said.

The book proposes and explores how collective action could address this issue systemically.

“It is important to understand that removing smart devices from schools is just one facet of a much broader constellation of solutions that are needed to address a systemic social problem,” Kershner said. “We want our students and families to understand how social media dysregulates and disrupts our social fabric, and how the overall well-being of our children requires a holistic approach to social, emotional, cognitive and physical health.

“Our decision to make our school phone-free is just one example of how we’re helping children and families to regain agency, balance, and well-being in an increasingly stressful and complex world.”

More information

About Yondr

Yondr works with educators, artists, organizations and individuals around the world to create phone-free spaces where genuine connection, focus, and creativity can flourish in the absence of technology. To learn more, visit www.overyondr.com.

Suggested reading

“Stolen Focus — Why You Can’t Pay Attention — and How to Think Deeply Again” by Johann Hari (Crown)

About the book: Our ability to pay attention is collapsing. From the New York Times bestselling author of “Chasing the Scream” and “Lost Connections” comes a groundbreaking examination of why this is happening — and how to get our attention back.

Source: www.amazon.com

For more information and to order, visit www.stolenfocusbook.com.

About Kimberton Waldorf School

KWS is a co-educational independent private school for early childhood through 12th grade located in Kimberton, Chester County. It’s a place where academics, nature and the arts converge to form a holistic-based curriculum that represents a 100-year heritage of Waldorf education. There are 1,000 Waldorf schools in 64 countries.

Gabriel Hughes ’13

September 4, 2018 by Kimberton Waldorf School

KWS Alumnus Gabriel Hughes ’13, created a video about his senior project for Prescott College which combines ecopsychology, deep ecology, natural history, and the wonders of the natural world to nurture care for ourselves, each other, and the environment. Gabriel says, “Through learning to love our true home more deeply, we foster ecological literacy, stewardship, and critical thinking skills that are critical at this time on Earth.”

Watch on YouTube

Jharna Jahnavi ’15 in the news

September 4, 2018 by Kimberton Waldorf School

Jharna Jahnavi, a Kimberton Waldorf 2015 graduate, spent the summer working as a clinical research intern at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia as a direct extension of her academic interests and another step on her path to a career in medicine. The pre-med biology major, who also minors in neuroscience and health studies at Haverford College has a deep interest in neuroscience and brain development.

Her interdisciplinary work has allowed her to work with neurologists, neurosurgeons, cardiothoracic surgeons, and other healthcare professionals, post-doc physicists, computer scientists, medical students, and other undergraduates. Jahnavi’s coursework at Haverford encompasses departments not just across the sciences, but also across the liberal arts, and she finds the lab environment to be similarly multifaceted.

Read the full article about Jharna on Haverford College’s website here.

Equipping Students with Skills for Lifelong Success

January 10, 2017 by Kimberton Waldorf School

When educating students for the future, preparing them with 21st-century skills that are critical in our information-based economy, together with a rich and rigorous curriculum, are instrumental. In our ever-changing world, employers desire more than just workers. They favor diverse thinkers who are knowledgeable in a wide range of fields, who are able to creatively solve problems. Individuals must be innovative and collaborative and possess strong communication skills. The majority of today’s business leaders report that creativity is the most important skill they seek when hiring. Read more about how Kimberton Waldorf School prepares students for the future in our feature article in Chester County Life magazine.

Student flipping house for senior project

February 1, 2016 by Kimberton Waldorf School

POTTSTOWN, PA — When Hannah Wolfram, a senior at Kimberton Waldorf School, was trying to come up with an idea upon which to base her senior project, she decided to defy expectation.

“Anything performance-based was kind of what the expectation was,” Wolfram said. “I decided I’d go out on a limb and do something I had never done before that was completely unexpected.”A lover of the performing arts who enjoys contributing her singing and acting talents to the private school’s theater productions, Wolfram decided she wanted to take on the challenge of flipping a house as the focus of her project.

TODAY’S SPONSOR:

“My parents had flipped houses before,” she said. “I painted and chipped in, but not quite so hands-on.”Senior projects at Kimberton Waldorf School in Kimberton, Chester County, are based on individual research and exploration of a topic over the course of the senior year.

Courtesy of Hannah Wolfrum | Wolfram spackles the dining room wall with the help of a friend.

Limited budget

After getting faculty approval to go ahead with her house flipping project, Wolfram set out with a family friend who was a real estate agent to find a property that matched her budget.

“I was working on a very limited budget,” she said. “I was looking at foreclosures that needed a lot of help. My parents guided me in helping with the initial search of the properties.”Around the start of the school year, she stumbled upon a property on King Street in Pottstown.”I had gone through a dozen houses before that,” she said. “I made settlement Oct. 5.”Wolfram, who lives in Upper Providence Township, Montgomery County, discussed the state of the house upon purchasing it.”Everything needed to be gutted,” she said. “It was an hour before settlement, and that’s when I found the copper pipes missing. The police had to come because there was a break-in. I thought, ‘Oh my goodness, what am I getting myself into.’ I almost had a heart attack. It was a fun start.”The brick, semi-detached home is in a historic district just one block off of High Street.”It’s an up-and-coming neighborhood,” she said. “There is an absolutely amazing vegan place across the street called iCreate that I go to all the time.”

Courtesy of Hannah Wolfrum | Hannah Wolfrum works on the outside back wall.

Devoting free time

Ever since settlement, when she purchased the three-bedroom/one bathroom home for just under $30,000 with the help of an investor, she has devoted almost all of her free time to her project.

“I have spent just shy of every weekend working on the project,” she said. “I spent almost every day of Christmas break working on it. I had my family there working on Christmas morning.”In addition to her family, others have also chipped in, such as recently when she needed some extra hands to move the bathtub.”I have had friends who have come over to help,” she said. “I’ve had numerous people helping me off and on, but the bulk of it has been just me.”Wolfram has been diligent about keeping track of her expenses.”It has been a lot of resource shopping, like Habitat for Humanity for new kitchen cabinets and things like that, so I’m able to do it as inexpensively as possible,” she said.She shopped at Habitat’s ReStore shop in West Norriton, Montgomery County, which sells new and used furniture, housewares, appliances, tools and building materials to the public at discounted rates.

Courtesy of Hannah Wolfrum | Wolfram works on removing a cabinet from the kitchen.

Most gratifying project

The most gratifying project thus far involved work she did on a mudroom addition that had been put on the home previously.

“The outer wall was rotted out,” she said. “I had to redo the wall and put in a new back door. That was probably the most gratifying, just because it was start-to-finish done, and it looks so much better having it complete. A lot of the other things I’ve been ripping out, but not finishing yet because of where I am with my work at this point.”Despite her being allowed to hire contractors according to Kimberton’s senior project rules, she has been intent on doing as much as she can herself.”I’ve done pretty great with the knowledge my parents have and some of my friends have that they are able to share with me, and I haven’t needed to hire anyone,” she said.Recently, a family friend with plumbing experience donated his time to show her how to rerun the plumbing.”It’s all connected in the basement, but it hasn’t been run through the floors yet because I don’t know exactly where I want them to run since I just ripped out the bathroom and kitchen,” she said.She also has a plan to add a second bathroom to the house.

Courtesy of Hannah Wolfrum | Hannah Wolfram cuts out the kitchen floor.

Life lessons

In addition to saving money by doing everything she possibly can by herself, she also sees the benefit of her gaining the experience of learning how to do it.

“It’s going to benefit me later in the life to have done all of this,” she said, “to learn how to do it all.”Wolfram said that in addition to learning some new skills, she has learned a lot of life lessons through the project as well.”I think a lot of it is self-discipline,” she said. “I know I have to get up early in the morning on the weekends, the little things to keep me moving, that motivation to keep moving even when it’s cold out. I have one little heater in there, but it’s not warm.”Wolfram has been documenting her project with photos to enable her to show the before and after at her senior project presentation in April. She also posts her progress on her “Hannah’s Senior Project” Facebook page in addition to posting messages seeking volunteer helpers on specific days.”People have offered different bits of knowledge,” she said. “They are also offering to lend a hand and general encouragement, which has been nice.”For safety measures, Wolfram has one person working with her at the house. It’s of particular concern when she uses power tools.”It’s more so accidents I’m alone if an accident would happen,” she said.Wolfram said she has no regrets about choosing such an ambitious project that has consumed so much of her time on top of her already-demanding schedule between school and her involvement in the high school musical.”There have been little things along the way that have made me realize, ‘OK, I’m getting somewhere. This is the light at the end of the tunnel,’ ” she said. “When we ripped up the carpet it was all hardwood floors. That was one of those moments I was like, ‘Yes, this is beautiful. All I have to do is refinish them and it will kind of tie the house together.’ “

Reading Eagle: Ben Hasty | A banner hangs on the house to let people know that it part of a senior project.

Memorable impression

The house doesn’t have to be sold by project presentation time given the size of the endeavor. The requirement is that the house must reflect an increase in property value.

“I think it would be lovely for any young family or young couple,” Wolfram said. “The neighborhood has a slightly hipster feel to it, and I think that appeals to younger people.”After selling the property and paying back her investor, Wolfram plans to use whatever money she makes toward her college education.”I want to be a theater major in college,” Wolfram said, sharing she had just paid a visit to New York City to audition at The Juilliard School. “I’m looking at Fordham, Barnard, Yale, and I just got into Ursinus.”Wolfram said she hopes to make a memorable impression when she presents her project in the spring.”I have seen senior projects in the past and there are always a few that stick out that are absolutely incredible,” she said, recollecting a student who hand-carved a totem pole and another who created a clothing line and put on a fashion show. “I think it’s a great opportunity to explore interests you have never been able to do before. It’s a unique opportunity that I’m not going to really have the chance to do again.”

Contact Courtney H. Diener-Stokes: life@readingeagle.com.

Audubon Pennsylvania’s Bird Town Flyer

December 13, 2015 by Kimberton Waldorf School

This is an article about Kimberton Waldorf School’s bird sanctuary published in Audubon Pennsylvania’s Bird Town Flyer:

By Tim Walsh and Celia Martin

Kimberton Waldorf School consists of a breathtaking 430-acre campus with rolling hills, farm, bubbling creek, and forest. We also have the magical French Creek Conservation Trail on campus, which is used daily by the students for both educational and recreational purposes.

The garden actively maintains about twenty bluebird houses in which Eastern bluebirds, tree swallows, wrens, and an occasional chickadee nest. We encourage these birds in the garden because they eat bugs so they are a natural insect control since we garden organically. We also have gourd houses for purple martins and a feeder for the hummingbirds that visit in the summer. On our campus, the birds enjoy the fruits of serviceberry, dogwood, mulberry, wild cherry, crab apple, and yes, poison ivy! Birds have also been known to take bites out of our apples and tomatoes and they usually eat all of the blueberries before we can get to them but we are willing to share. There are many birds that nest on our school campus and in the surrounding property in the woods. These include those already mentioned plus woodpeckers (including the magnificent pileated woodpecker), titmice, robins, mockingbirds, killdeer, mourning doves, cardinals, blue jays, many kinds of sparrows, and much more. Our fields are an active hunting ground for great blue herons, red-tailed hawks, kestrels, turkey, black vultures, and other birds of prey including an occasional bald eagle. We once had a sandhill crane walking through the fields which I think became lost during its migration. The

French Creek, which borders our property, is home to many geese and ducks including mergansers and wood ducks, and the rattling call of kingfishers can be heard frequently. At night we have heard the calls of both screech owls in the summer and great horned owls in the winter. We definitely have many kinds of birds living here, feeding here, and nesting here. Tours available!