From left: Alee Danyluk, Naomi Pitman, and Milena Stanton, with their painting

Led by Naomi Pitman, a team of 9th graders from the Great Barrington Waldorf High School that also included Alee Danyluk and Milena Stanton created a painting of an X-ray cat for the window of the toy store Matrushka on Main Street in Great Barrington to help celebrate Halloween. Students from Waldorf, Steiner, and Monument Mountain swarmed Main Street and Railroad Street on Friday, October 22, to decorate dozens of windows. Their work will remain on display through October 31. Happy Halloween!

Alexander Souri, founder of Relief Riders International, visited the Junior and Senior Seminar on the History and Culture of India, taught by Peter Elliston, on Friday, October 22. He spoke about his inspiration in creating the adventure tour-international relief organization, combining his desire to honor his Indian heritage, his desire to help an area of the world that needs it, and his love of riding horses. Relief Riders traverse 250 miles of Indian desert on expeditions to bring goats to villages and families that need them and, in the past, to offer free eye surgery to those who could not afford it.

Class of 2010 with Peter Elliston, left, and Alexander Souri, right.

OPEN HOUSE, Thursday, 10/12, 7:30 p.m. Student work, refreshments. Brief presentation of program, questions and answers. See our great little school up close. Next Open House: Tuesday, December 7, 7:30 p.m.

The Parent Association will meet on Monday, September 20 right after school at GBWHS.  New families are welcomed and encouraged to attend.

Oliver writes by the campfire.

An arthropod observes Martin.

KayLee paints on Joe's Head.

Julian contemplates a poem about the sea.

The Class of 2011.

Martin in the microscope lab.

Sunday, September 19 – Friday, September 24
Each fall, our Seniors join seniors from several other Waldorf schools across the country to study zoology on Hermit Island, Maine. This year, we will join approximately 100 Waldorf school seniors from eight schools on the east coast. This unique adventure combines phenomenological study of invertebrate zoology—part of the twelfth grade Waldorf curriculum—with marine-based science labs and artistic activities. This collaborative, field-based academic trip meets the needs of today’s adolescents in a way that no classroom can.

Our first bake sale is set for Saturday, September 18, from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon in front of Carr Hardware. Come and enjoy delicious homemade cupcakes, brownies, cookies, and cakes. All proceeds benefit the schools renowned foreign language programs, which include extraordinary trips to foreign lands! Two other bake sales will be on Saturday, October 2 & Saturday, November 6.

Martin, Oliver, and Phoebe play cards in the rain...

For the past nine years, all the students at the Great Barrington Waldorf High School begin their fall trimester at Camp Hi-Rock. Our small school experiences this orientation in the beginning of every year, and it makes an important impact on the social experience of the students for the whole year. It’s not just about high ropes – it’s about hiking and running, and low ropes, and bonfires, and swimming, and watching the stars – together.

All parents and students are invited to a Back-to-School Potluck/Grill and Parent Evening on Tuesday, August 31 at 4:30 p.m. at the home of Ramona and Chris Bellamy, parents of senior KayLee. This is a wonderful opportunity to see old friends and meet new ones! We will gather for a brief information session presented by Dr. Stephen Sagarin after supper, and everyone is welcome to enjoy a dip in the heated 15’ x 30’ pool, so please bring bathing suits and towels. There will also be other activities set up, such as ping pong, badminton, basketball, bocce ball and croquet. In the evening, there will be a firework celebration in honor of the start of the ninth year for the Great Barrington Waldorf High School!

Chloe and Dana Rohn painting bookshelves.

Chris Bellamy and Oliver Kress (hidden) install shelves.

Karen Seltzer paints the German room.

Stephen Sagarin, Faculty Chair, lying down on the job.

Many. many thanks to the 18 students, parents, and teachers who showed up Saturday, August 21, for our Work Day, organized by parent Dana Rohn.

We painted the Spanish and German rooms (2 coats), installed bulletin boards in each, painted and installed Chris Bellamy’s beautiful shelves in the “library,” washed windows inside and out, and touched up trim paint throughout the second floor.

Participants, in no particular order, included Dana Rohn, Chloe Rohn ’10, Phoebe Rohn ’12, Oliver Kress ’11, Sam O’Brient ’13, Nick Sagarin ’14, Ann Sagarin, Christine Joffe, Chris and Ramona Bellamy, Teresa O’Brient, Nick and Karen Seltzer, Lelia Bruun, Erik Bruun, Ursula Wirth, Robert Oelhaf, and Steve Sagarin. Thanks to all and thanks also to Elizabeth Lombardi and Tom Sierau for the loan of many dropcloths.

From left: Anna Sierau, Tilo Jackson, Evan Crispell, Darius Graeff, Chloe Rohn, and Elizabeth Orenstein

The Great Barrington Waldorf High School announces the graduation of its Class of 2010: Evan Crispell, Pine Plains, NY; Darius Graeff, Chatham, NY; Tilo Jackson, Great Barrington, MA; Elizabeth Orenstein, Great Barrington, MA; Chloe Rohn, Litchfield, CT; and Anna Sierau, North Egremont, MA.

Graduation ceremonies took place Sunday, June 13, at the Kellogg Music Center of Bard College at Simon’s Rock.

This is the fourth graduating class for the Waldorf High School, which was founded in 2002.

Mark Eurich, a teacher at the Great Barrington Rudolf Steiner School, addressed the graduates, and Faculty Chair Stephen Sagarin, Ph.D., presented them with their diplomas.

Each of the graduates also spoke briefly. Speaking to the teachers, Crispell said, “When I think about the problems facing our world, I wonder if just a few more teachers such as you wouldn’t solve them all. From you I have learned to question everything and to move with grace under the load of meaning.”

Crispell will attend Sarah Lawrence College, NY, next fall, where he plans to study anthropology, literature, and history. Graeff will attend SUNY Albany as a pre-med student. Jackson will return to the Waldorf High School for a postgraduate year as he prepares to apply to college. Orenstein will study classics at the University of Kings College, Halifax, Nova Scotia. Rohn will attend College of the Atlantic, ME, where she plans to study marine biology and oceanography. Sierau will travel to Germany next year, after which she plans to attend William Wood University, MO, or Cazenovia College, NY.