CGI - 2011/2012 Proposals
Dear Northwest Region Developing Schools,
Orcas Anthroposophical Trust, OAT, with great pleasure, announces Sandpoint Waldorf School-Science Classroom as the selected grantee of our Collaborative Granting Initiative 2011/2012.
We are pleased with the participation of nine area schools in the application and selection process and thank all committee members for time and effort dedicated to this task. As Waldorf teachers, parents, and board members you are making a difference in the world.
Sincerely,
Rita Worth, Betsy Taguchi, and Leith Templin
OAT Trustees
Proposal 1 of 10 - Bright Water School - Science Laboratory
Bright Water School offers Waldorf education to a diverse urban student population in the heart of Seattle. Because of our location, we have found ourselves blessed with students from all over the Pacific Northwest while, simultaneously, grappling with inadequate science facilities and equipment to maximally explore the grades five through eight science curriculum. Currently, BWS’ upper grades science program functions out of two portable science carts and storage crates of limited equipment in the basement of our school. Evaluators have identified BWS’ need to create a science laboratory that would house adequate supplies in an organized, designated space.
We request funding to construct a science laboratory at BWS, converting space previously used by a college of the arts as darkrooms. The laboratory will become the science center for grades five through eight. While providing a much-needed science space for the students, the development of the laboratory will serve the whole BWS community as well as the greater community in the following ways:
1. Increasing enrollment in the upper grades’ classes: Many (potential) students and parents look for a solid science program as part of the students’ grades 5-8 educational experience.
2. Strengthening community at BWS through an exciting, anticipated science space for the students: Parents already have offered to volunteer time, energy, and resources toward development of the space.
3. Inspiring faculty to seek advanced training in Waldorf science education
4. Reaching out to the greater community through an annual BWS science fair inviting entries by Waldorf schools in the Pacific Northwest
5. Sharing the Waldorf phenomenon-based science curriculum with non-Waldorf schools: The capacities built in the Waldorf science laboratory will inspire the many teachers and administrators who visit BWS’ classes each year.
With this generous grant, the science laboratory will become a reality in 2012-2013.
Proposal 2 of 10 - Corvallis Waldorf SchoolNo proposal submitted
Proposal 3 of 10 - Cedar Valley Waldorf School - New Hall
Cedar Valley Waldorf School began in 2002 with six children in a living room, growing and moving to a space in a church, an office building, and finally our own building in 2008. We have 76 students (preschool to Grade 8) with over 50% in the Grade 5-8 classes. We now find ourselves at a crucial point in our growth.
Up to 2011 we enjoyed a wonderful central hall which needed to be divided to create an additional classroom. With the loss of our hall we no longer have space to engage in eurythmy, spacial dynamics, indoor team sports, performances, plays, wood working or to build an orchestra. These are vital activities for students in grades 5-8.
An expansion of our school is essential. A new hall will allow us to fully meet the needs of our Grade 5-8 students for movement, music, wood work and performance. We have raised $29,000 of the minimum $40,000 required. Our community has contributed to the best of its ability in this challenging economy and we require assistance to bridge the gap. An additional $7,000 would place that goal within our reach; we are confident we could then secure the remaining funds.
Many of the Grade 5-8 students have been with us since preschool and we feel an obligation to continue to support them in the education they know and love. We strive to offer the opportunities they deserve with a full curriculum including artistic expression and physical activity. Retaining enrollment as well as attracting new students in this age group is paramount for the health of the school and the class’s social dynamic. It is due to this pressing need for a new hall next fall that we respectfully apply for this grant.
Proposal 4 of 10 - Cedarwood Waldorf School – Flowform
We propose to fund the installation of a flowform at the new entrance to our campus. This will stand as a uniquely anthroposophic icon welcoming people to our community. The harmony demonstrated by this installation will ripple through the souls of all those who encounter it.
We imagine this will serve our students in the middle grades by providing experiential learning opportunities relating to this project. This will also remain a focal point to draw the interest of others in the community, affording an introduction to our Waldorf school and to anthroposophy.
The curriculum of grades 5-8 readily relates to this project. Investigations in botany, study of the water cycle in nature, and geometric patterns can all find a reference point in this emblematic feature for our school.
We propose to have a presentation by the artisan/vendor at the opening ceremony and to educate the faculty, parents, and community members.
Proposal 5 of 10 - Kelowna Waldorf School - Outdoor Play Structure
The Kelowna Waldorf School is a medium sized school located in the interior of British Columbia. We have two pre-schools and Kindergarten through grade eight classes. Although we have a couple of acres at our disposal we do not have enough space upon which to build a gymnasium. As the older children require a greater variety of physical activity and like to be challenged we have come up with an idea that we believe will meet their needs and can be designed and built within the scope of the Orcas grant.
We propose to build an outdoor play structure that incorporates many aspects of a gymnasium as well as other challenging physical activities. This play structure would be built adjacent to the older children’s playground. The structure will essentially be an outdoor room about 12’ by 15-20’ and 10-12’ high with a flat roof. One wall will be a climbing wall with removable pieces so that the climbing routes can be modified at any time. There will be climbing ladders, a taller pole or post supporting a climbing rope, thick tumbling mats that can be placed on the ground below so that the children can jump off the top, a platform with a zip line to the ground on one side, netting for climbing on one side, a horizontal net for fun, windows and a crawl passage inside, a nice inside space for sitting, a perimeter guard rail around the flat roof, and any other ideas we come up with during the design process.
This idea was generated by some of the older students while they were planning their participation in this year’s Christmas Craft Fair. We will incorporate the ideas of these creative children. We also thought it would be a good idea to turn a part of this building project into the annual grade three building project in order that the younger students may look forward to their transition into the older children’s playground.
This play structure will serve the needs of our grade four to eight students at recess and during their organized games and P.E. classes. A versatile activity structure will provide many hours of imaginative and challenging play among the older students who need to feel that they have different choices for recess and games play.
Proposal 6 of 10 - Madrona School - Marimba Program
Established in 2000, the Madrona School has 135 students from Kitsap County. We have 26 students in 5th & 6th grade and due to earlier gaps in the grades we currently do not have a seventh and eighth grade. Madrona School has previously graduated three eighth grades. Those graduates are all successfully navigating their lives and remain connected to the Madrona community. As our school has grown we are excited about having every grade and a middle school that includes two classes in a row.
One of our strategic goals is to strengthen our middle school program. Making connections to the community is one of key areas that would further enrich and deepen our program. Faculty has identified adding marimba to the middle school curriculum as a way to help to meet this goal. The students would develop a relationship with a local musician/builder and build their marimbas. This relationship would continue as they learn to play. A broader connection would be made through performing for other Waldorf schools in our region and local groups such as the senior citizens in our community. This will create opportunities for service work as well as serve as outreach for our school.
Benefits:
• Meets specific Strategic Plan goals
• Enriched curriculum
• Retention of maturing student body
• Would bring in a multi cultural African influence to our music program, we currently have two African
students in our 5th grade class.
• Working relationship with musician and builder in our community
• Outreach to the local community
• Service work
A grant of $7,000 would provide the funds to acquire:
• Materials to build 6 Marimba’s, $3,000
• Teaching and building instruction for the instruments, $1,000
• Student instruction for approximately 15 weeks, twice a week, $3,000
Proposal 7 of 10 - Sandpoint Waldorf School - Science Classroom
Well-developed science programs are important to every Waldorf School. Waldorf early childhood education is universally respected and appreciated by parents. There is less confidence about Waldorf middle school science. Many schools find the development of an strong and inspiring middle school science program challenging – it must be carried by class teachers, lesson preparation is intensive and requires deeper understanding of science, science teaching is not fully addressed in teacher preparation and summer training programs, and the resources, equipment and supplies needed are not always easily found.
SWS faculty, in consultation with experienced waldorf science teachers, will create a model middle school mobile science classroom that provides a set of resources to help any school in developing a comprehensive portable middle school science program. The resources will be shared with other NW schools to help make the strengthening of their programs easier and more straightforward.
The program will include:
• Mobile science carts with sink and storage.
• Kits with supplies, equipment, lesson plans and resources for Botany, Geology, Physics, Optics, Thermodynamics, Electricity-Magnetism, Mechanics, Chemistry, Physiology, and Meteorology.
• CD with the following for each kit:
* Handbook including lesson plans from various sources
* List of materials needed for experiments, including sources, quantities and costs.(with comparisons
* Background articles for teachers related to each block
* Articles for parents about Waldorf’s unique approach to science
* Resources related to safety for students and lessons, and storage of materials.
* Annotated experiment notes.
Budget ($7000) includes:
Mobile Science Carts
Complete materials, equipment, and storage kits for each block in 6, 7,
and 8
Faculty time for compiling resource collection
Production, copying and distribution of resource CD for other schools
Consultation with experienced waldorf science teachers
Proposal 8 of 10 - Swallowtail School - Outdoor School
Swallowtail School is a Developing Waldorf School in Hillsboro, Oregon. We own 26 acres of farmland a few miles from our current location. We open each school year with a Water Ceremony and two weeks of outdoor classes at our farm. Many festivals, special projects and classes are held in this beautiful setting. This spring, Swallowtail is hosting the Medieval Games for Portland area Waldorf Schools. Our farm is also the site for our future school facility.
We respectfully request consideration for a grant to supplement the expansion of our outdoor school program. We envision our farm campus as a learning center that benefits the greater community. In addition to fertile farm land, a meandering creek, deciduous and evergreen woodlands, a pond, wetlands, fields and a seasonal floodplain are all waiting to be studied, explored and enhanced.
Our plan is to build above-ground observation decks within or near each unique ecosystem. Students in grades 3-8 will be involved in identifying specific locations and construction. These decks will allow for safe observation while protecting the environment. We also envision
weather-proof tents that can be erected upon these decks, converting them into overnight "cabins" for outdoor school programs for middle school students. We are researching simple, sturdy tent designs which would allow students to work together as a community to set up their
"home" at the beginning of their event and take it down collaboratively as a closing activity.
This grant would enable us to purchase materials to construct two decks and tents during September outdoor school. We are seeking other funds to build additional observational decks. Once completed, this project will be made available to other Waldorf schools, local school districts and community gatherings.
Proposal 9 of 10 - Three Cedars Waldorf School - Regional Conference
Middle school is an important time of transition in the Waldorf School: Main lesson blocks in lab sciences are added to the curriculum; recorder music gets more complex—involving multiple “voices”; strings music curriculum moves towards an ensemble or orchestra; a new subject lesson of woodoorking is added; and students begin to do more community service projects.
Our school’s middle school program is still very young, with four 8th grade classes graduated. Each year, we continue to build our middle school program so as to offer a fully developed curriculum to our students, delivered by qualified and experienced teachers. In addition, our strings program is very robust, with both a strings ensemble and a ukulele ensemble. Multiple voice recorders are well in hand, and we also offer a middle school choir. We have a science cart with most of the supplies necessary for the various science blocks of middle school, and we are committed to sending our middle school faculty to the ‘Sensible Science’ training – specialized science training for middle school - in the summer of 2012. We are in the process of building workbenches for woodworking and have some of the tools necessary to launch this part of our program, as well as staff qualified and willing to take up this additional teaching.
As we continue to focus on developing our middle school curriculum, practical needs, and staffing, we become increasingly aware that most schools in the region face the same challenges as we do: build a middle school program that best serves the developmental needs of our current students, in ways that engage parents in a continued relationship with our school. We view the deepening of our understanding of the Waldorf curriculum in the context of child development as a fundamental need in strengthening our middle school. In the spirit of collaboration dear to our Waldorf Schools, we would like to make the following proposal, which we sincerely hope will strengthen our shared understanding of child development, appropriate curriculum, and resources:
Host a Regional Conference in February 2013 highlighting middle school programs and specific needs.
This “Focus on Middle-School” conference would take place during the normal mid-winter break.
All Waldorf schools in the Northwest region will be invited to participate in a two or three day seminar with presentations encompassing child development in the middle school and the purpose and value of practical arts for teenagers, offered by experts in the field.
With funding from the Orcas grant, we hope to provide this conference at a reasonable cost to all schools in the region.
Proposal 10 of 10 - Whidbey Island Waldorf School - Manual Arts
Whidbey Island Waldorf School is a 26 year old school set on 100 acres of beautiful forest trust preserve land. In our rural location we serve between 110 and 130 students in Nursery through Grade 8 each year.
If we are fortunate enough to receive the Orcas Anthroposophical Trust Collaborative Grant we would use the funds to establish a vibrant Manual Arts program in our middle school. Manual Arts is a relatively expensive program to develop yet is critical at this stage of our school’s biography for several reasons. As a small, rural school, we have had some success in developing a Handwork program over the years that has served us well. Yet especially for the sake of the middle school students we feel we need to balance our programming with Manual Arts including Woodworking. Because their feeling life gives them little to hold on to, the middle school student is often in turmoil and transition and craves a physical relationship with the world that will personally empower them. Manual Arts engages the creative will in so many ways, and gives them something to hold on to. We are so eager to bring this to our middle school students!
There are many ways that our school will be able to support a Manual Arts program if we receive the grant. We already have a woodworking teacher with 14 years of experience on staff as well as a serviceable facility. What we are lacking are therather expensive tools and equipment to establish a vibrant program.
We are excited to imagine the possibilities if we receive this grant. Whidbey Island Waldorf School is already the home of the regional Potlatch for all of the 4th grade classes each year. These students, representing 9 schools, typical have a woodworking experience that could be enhanced by upgraded and sufficient equipment as well as the addition of WIWS 8thgrade mentors. In this way, the fruits of the Orcas Anthroposophical Grant would actually serve to benefit all of the regional schools.
The addition of a Manual Arts program would fill a big need in our middle school programming while strengthening our entire school as well as the northwest Waldorf community (through the Potlatch woodworking experience).
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December 15, 2010
Dear Northwest Region Developing Schools,
Orcas Anthroposophical Trust, OAT, with great pleasure announces SUNFIELD WALDORF SCHOOL-OUTDOOR SHELTER as the selected grantee of our Collaborative Granting Initiative-2010.
We are pleased with the participation of nine area schools in the selection process and thank all committee members for time and effort dedicated to this task. We have also appreciated hearing the needs and ideas of all the participants and hope that each school will find inspiration for further plans.
Although feedback from participating schools was not originally requested this month the OAT trustees would benefit from comments from any committee or individuals who have time to respond. We meet the first weekend of January, 2011, and will be reviewing this project at that time.
Thank you again for work as Waldorf teachers, parents and board members. Your gifts and talents positively affect children’s lives and the future of mankind.
Joy, peace and love,
Rita Worth, Leith Templin and Betsy Taguchi
OAT Trustees
Proposal 1 of 9 - Kelowna Waldorf School - Library
We would like to accept your invitation to participate in the collaborative granting initiative. Our idea for the use of $5,000 would both improve the environment of the children and provide our school community with a common focus for our diverse energies. Our community building project involves the collecting of new and contemporary books, both novels and resources books, for our somewhat outdated library collection.
We propose to come together as a community to participate enthusiastically in a complete overhaul and renewal of our student library. Our Grounds and Maintenance Committee has set aside a considerable portion of its budget for a new floor and uplift of the room itself in conjunction with this project. Our Parent Council has also committed funds for the purchase of books and many parents have pledged to donate new books as well.
A grant of $5,000 would enable us to widen the scope of our proposed acquisition of new books. As well, it would provide us with the opportunity of hiring a professional librarian to help with the proper cataloging of the books and the modernising of our library system.
This project is set to begin in the New Year with the replacement of the old floor. The whole community is ready to help with the project. We will have quite a few work parties to move the books and prepare the room. It will require many person hours to sort and cull old books to make room for the new ones. Our community will thereby have many opportunities to work, eat and laugh together as we accomplish our goals toward the completion of the project before the end of the school year.
On behalf of the Kelowna Waldorf School Community, we thank you for the opportunity to participate in the collaborative granting project and we look forward to hearing from you.
Driven by an unwavering commitment to providing Waldorf education to the families in Kitsap County, the faculty, staff, board of directors and parents have nurtured Madrona School to blossom from a small collective of students to a school that now serves 110 families and 135 children.
We are the only Waldorf school in Kitsap County, and some of our students regularly commute 45 minutes each way. What’s more, several Madrona graduates now attend the Seattle Waldorf High School.
Historically relying on volunteers for all fundraising, we now need the guidance of a paid Development Director to strengthen and expand these efforts. In addition, the school has grown to the point of requiring a new campus within the next two years which will necessitate a significant capital campaign. The timing of this hire is crucial to our future. A grant of $5,000 will provide seed money to fund this position.
By hiring a professional Development Director now, the school will be able to reinvigorate its fundraising efforts and cultivate relationships with even more donors to support our school and to become part of this amazing community. The growth and health of Madrona School contributes to the well-being of all area Waldorf schools. Please help us ensure that our fundraising activities continue to be a secure bedrock upon which to build the future of Madrona
School.
Proposal 3 of 9 - Cedar Valley Waldorf School-PE/Physics Programs
Established in 2002, Cedar Valley currently has 79 students. Enrolment indicates steady growth with the addition of grades as the student population advances. This year a Grade 6/7 was established and with it new curriculum needs.
Faculty has identified the development of physical education and physics programs as key to nurturing well-rounded students. Currently PE is limited to basic exercise, and physics is introductory, with minimal hands-on opportunities.
We wish to take advantage of the considerable expertise of our current upper grades teachers who understand the needs of this age group. Given the appropriate equipment, our PE teacher (deeply experienced in spatial dynamics and movement) can lead skill-based PE for all grades.
Students are enthusiastic about the proposed enhancements.
A grant of $5,000 would provide the funds to acquire:
1) Physics teaching tools used to explore electricity (eg. bell circuits and crystal radio), magnetism, energy (pulleys), simple machines and motors, thermal energy, technology (robots), mass, and the nature of force.
2) Sporting equipment for gymnastics, Waldorf Olympics, street/floor hockey, baseball, basketball, football, soccer, and volleyball.
Once established, we are committed to replacing items as necessary to maintain these programs.
Benefits:
- Meets specific Strategic Plan goals
- Enriched, more-balanced curriculum
- Increased professionalism and profile
- Interactive, participatory learning
- Better high-school preparation
- Draws for new students and retention of maturing student body
- Equipment sharing through Waldorf school exchanges
- Supports higher grades development (Grade 6-8 science block)
- Co-operative team-building skills; option to pursue extra-curricular sports
Proposal 4 of 9 - Sunfield Waldorf School- Outdoor Shelter
Sunfield Waldorf School is growing rapidly! We are grateful. However, this growth has brought challenges related to our lack of sheltered space—for instance, our two kindergartens share a single classroom in shifts, becoming a “forest kindergarten” for part of the day.
We seek funding to build an outdoor shelter using logs harvested from our woodlands, with a living roof and rolldown canvas sides. It will serve the kindergartens and become our community “center.” Currently, we have no group meeting space, and lack resources to build a traditional building.
The shelter would protect from the elements, but do much more:
Help increase enrollment. Some current and prospective kindergarten parents are concerned about the lack of sheltered space. This shelter would alleviate these concerns, and increase enrollment.
Build community. Provide a space for assemblies, plays and festivals presently held outdoors or off campus.
Help us fulfill our mission to serve the greater community. Last year, 19 public schools visited Sunfield: we anticipate this number can grow. A shelter is needed where these classes can meet.
Allow us to educate in biodynamics and strengthen the Waldorf movement. More Waldorf schools are requesting visits. At a recent overnight campout, the Plough Day Jamboree, 82 third graders from five Waldorf schools visited our biodynamic farm.
With volunteer labor, donated material from our community, materials from our land, and the $5,000 grant, we can complete this project and create a place of beauty, manifesting the heart space of our community.
Proposal 5 of 9 - Bright Water School- Middle School Boys Basketball
This year, our school is looking to provide an opportunity for our middle school boys with what we feel is a very important offering: basketball! We have a lack of sporting opportunities for our middle school boys, and this is one of the things that makes our school less attractive both from a parent perspective and from a student perspective. We find that at these crucial middle school years when a Waldorf school can be just the right place for adolescents, we are losing those students to other schools. We believe the lack of opportunities for boys is one reason we are experiencing attrition; the result is that we have a very small number of boys in grades 6-8. Out of 37 students in those grades, only 11 are boys.
Having a boys’ basketball team will help the social life of our students at this critical stage of development. Not only will they benefit from working together as a team, they will also thoroughly enjoy the opportunity to interact with boys from other schools. We have found this to be true for the girls taking part on our volleyball team. Adolescents are really asking to move out into the world, and having a sports team that competes with area schools will allow them to do so. The team will also provide BWS parents with the chance to meet other parents from area schools; this is welcomed by parents, who sometimes feel that a Waldorf school can be insular.
Proposal 6 of 9 - Sandpoint Waldorf School- Gardening Program
With grant money, Sandpoint Waldorf School (SWS) will enhance our current gardening program by building a greenhouse to extend our short growing season (with a $2000 grant already obtained by a parent in 2007 together with $800 from this grant). We will also build needed terraced raised beds on a south facing hill of our playground ($1200 for lumber, $800 for soil and compost, $1000 for excavation and irrigation, $700 for fencing materials, and $500 for more gardening tools and supplies). This program has the enthusiastic support of all school groups and a commitment from two experienced gardeners/faculty members for project completion. Our program goals are:1) Enhance the Curriculum
From Preschool students planting seeds to Eighth Grade students doing soil experiments, this program will offer students opportunities to use chemistry, botany, mathematics, and scientific process in a practical way. In addition, the garden experience will provide students with life skills, problem solving strategies, and a reverence for nature.
2) Support Parent Education
The SWS Parent Council has made a commitment to invite presenters to offer workshops for parents so they may expand their knowledge about small‐scale gardening. Subjects may include Biodynamic gardening, soil prep, amendments, greenhouses, and seed preservation.
3) Community Building
This is a unique and rewarding opportunity for hands‐on collaboration between the students, faculty and parents. Homegrown food will be donated for community service and outreach. Information, updates, and photos about SWS gardening will be shared with community members, potential parents, and alumni.
Proposal 7 of 9 - Cedarwood Waldorf School- Science/Math Advisor
Cedarwood Waldorf School appreciates the opportunity to respond to the Orcas Anthroposophical Trust’s invitation to apply for a $5000 grant to improve Waldorf schools. We look forward to participating in the proposed collaborative granting initiative, and thereby further deepening our ties to the wider Waldorf community.
Our school is in its thirteenth year of growth, and is considered one of the fastest-growing Waldorf schools on the west coast. We offer a large Early-Childhood program with parent-child classes, a pre-kindergarten and three full kindergartens. Our grades program enrolls 181 students, and at the end of this year we will have promoted three eighth grade classes. We offer a full Waldorf program, including a full language program with Japanese and Spanish, Eurhythmy, movement, and orchestra. We have outgrown our current historic building, and are in the midst of a capital campaign to expand our facilities. At this adolescent phase in our growth, we are looking to enhance our academic programming, and have identified science and math as growth areas for our school.
In keeping to the OAT’s stipulation that the grant money fund something beyond our current school budget, we would use the grant to hire a science and math teacher in an advisory capacity to help us study, redesign, and improve our existing science and math curriculum, as well as work with our faculty to enhance science and math teaching skills. We are a young school, and feel that this represents the next stage of academic development for us. We aim to strengthen the science and math currently offered in grades one through five, and expand our middle school offerings in order to grow a stronger program in the middle grades.
Thank you again for this opportunity to imagine a stronger program for our school. We look forward to beginning the process.
Proposal 8 of 9 - Sun Haven- Eurythmy Program and Waldorf Training/Conferences
We at Sun Haven Waldorf School on the Sunshine Coast of B.C. are grateful for the opportunity to apply for this grant. After careful consideration, we have identified two vital projects, both discontinued this year due to a reduced school budget, that we feel will most benefit the social health of our school at this time, thereby attracting the spiritual world for further growth.
Firstly, to enhance our curriculum and make it truly Waldorf, we would use $2000 to re-establish a Eurythmy Program. In the past we have conducted sporadic classes. With the use of this grant, we envision a more cohesive program: four weekly visits/term by Christian Seeley, a eurythmist currently teaching at our neighbouring schools. Classes would encompass our entire student body (Preschool-Grade 3-4) as well as an adult class for faculty and open to the broader community. We fully embrace the restorative qualities of eurythmy and its power to unite us in healthy movement.
Secondly, to truly strengthen the heart of our developing school, we are striving to support a dedicated faculty of teachers, mostly without Waldorf training. With a shift to increase stability by hiring local teachers, only two of our five class teachers have foundational training, almost completed. We would like to establish a fund of $3000 to allow our teachers to attend the February Conference, and to contribute towards their ongoing training, as an investment and commitment to Waldorf education in our community.
Proposal 9 of 9 - Three Cedars Waldorf School- Student Community Service Program
Our impulse is to build a developmentally-appropriate and “doable” Student Community Service program for 11 to 18 year olds and their teachers/administrators and to inspire other Waldorf schools beyond our immediate area to implement similar programs throughout the Pacific Northwest.
This $5,000 grant would best serve our development of a missing component in our middle school (grades 6-8) program: Student Community Service. In the past 10 years, several initiatives for upper elementary grades community service projects have started and stopped due to lack of sufficient research and whole school “buy-in.” Our faculty would be greatly aided by professional staffing to manage the strategic and logistical aspects of creating a sustainable community service program, including documentation for program purpose, goals, means, and promotion: effective service in the greater community (“thinking globally, acting locally”), collaboration between Waldorf schools and other local social justice NGOs, developmental benefits to students, “how to” guide for faculty and administration, etc….
We anticipate that the values of interschool community service projects might include supporting each individual student’s maturation from self-focus toward other-focus, enabling age-appropriate interfacing of students with their greater community, awakening a sense of awareness of the needs that live in the greater community, and building a sense of empowerment that the student can make a positive impact for the good of others. We also wish to provide the additional opportunities for middle school students to cultivate relationships with potential, future Waldorf high school classmates in order to support the growth of our local Waldorf high school.