Songbirds tending to their class garden.

From Lauryn Morley, G3 Class Teacher

As part of learning about the indigenous people of North America and as a precursor to building models of traditional dwellings of those people, the third grade visited the National Museum of the American Indian in downtown DC yesterday. The engaging architecture and hands on activities drew out the curiosity and interest in the children. The artifacts and artwork enriched the indigenous stories of creation, time, and growth that the class has heard and written about.

The trip was followed by a long session in the library where the students researched various traditional dwellings of indigenous people in regions across North America. 

Editors' Note: When the class returned from the trip I could hear them excitedly discussing the museum as they passed by my office door. It was clear that they were intrigued and inspired by what they saw and experienced.

Thank you to all those who organized, sponsored and attended our annual Gala on Saturday, April 15 at Top of the Town! It was a beautiful evening, with gorgeous views of the city, and raised important funds for our school's ONE FUND and Financial Aid. 

We raised an estimated total of more than $145,000 in gross revenue! Everyone's participation is meaningful and valued, and we are so grateful to all those who give what they can to our school, to ensure that as many students as possible can benefit from the gift of a Waldorf education.

We still have a few Buy-In Parties with space available. Those will remain open until April 30.

Sign up today!

• Make a Felted Christmas Ornament - 4 spots
• An Evening in the Garden: Desserts and Digestifs - 20 spots
• Learn to Make Shrubs and Infused Spirits - 9 spots
• Birthday Crown Making + Wine & Cheese - 6 spots
• Gnome Making Party - 5 spots
• 5K Fun Run for Moms - Unlimited
• Austrian Wine Tasting - 1 spot
• Carve and Crave BBQ - 1 spot
• Adorn Your Home with a Holiday Wreath - 2 spots

Thank you to all classes who put together such gorgeous Raffle Baskets this year, and congratulations to all the winners!

• Adventures to Cloud 9 -- Stephanie Hanson
• Waldorf-Inspired Seasonal Play Table -- Dulce Govea
• An Evening at Wolf-Trap with Biodynamic Wine -- Rob Liebreich
• Sun-Flowers and Spices -- Cecilia Berg-Benson
• Garden As You Grow -- Melissa Wilets
• Grill Time! -- Jesse Travis
• Saints & Sinners -- Miki Yoshimura
• A View of the Stars -- Marilyn Noguera
• Wonderland Tea Party -- Vanessa Beckman
• A Bit of New Zealand -- Florencia del Villar
• Take It Outside -- Erin Foreman-Murray
• Beer, Botany & Ancient Brewing -- Jennifer Robinson
• Stock Your Library! with Inclusive Middle Grade Books -- Lelia True
• Imagine That! Playstand, Silks & Clips -- Maria Banda
• A Bookworm's Delight -- Mary Freij
• Take a Hike! -- Vanessa Beckman

Thank you to the Gala Committee!

Co-Chairs: Maria Monteverde-Jackson and Aglaia Benni

Committee: Jenia Beer, Maysoun Freij, Tamara Minor, Jesse Travis, Miki Yoshimura

We owe so much to our wonderful sponsors!

Last Sunday was a Seedlings class family gardening day. Thank you to the families for all their hard work and contributing plants to the garden! 

April

20/ Thursday

• Student Recipe Takeover - Linden (G6) will help prepare his family's fried rice recipe

21/ Friday

• NO CLASSES - Eid al-Fitr

22/ Saturday

• Broom Brigade, 10am-12pm (see below)

24/ Monday

• Craft & Conversation, 8:45am (see below)

26/ Wednesday

• Simplicity Parenting Class, 6pm (see below)

28/ Friday

• Spring Festival, 4-6pm

May

3/ Wednesday

• School Tour, 9-10:30am
• Lunch Music, 12:05pm

4/ Thursday

• Adult Education Talk with Jack Petrash, 7pm (see below)

5/ Friday

• Grandparents & Special Friends Day
• 12:30pm Dismissal

View the Calendar of School Days for the 2022-2023 School Year

Earth Day Broom Brigade Campus Beautification Event



Saturday, April 22 from 10-12pm

Bring the whole family to help clean up and beautify the school’s front grounds! Enjoy some time outside digging in the dirt, showing your children your family’s commitment to service, and getting to know your fellow families while making a positive impact. Bring basic gardening tools for you and your children if you have them (trowel, gloves, weeding and clipping tools, etc.), and snacks and/or lunch to enjoy as/after we work.

Photos from last year:

Craft and Conversation



Monday, April 24 from 8:30-10am in the school entrance hall

Come to the entrance hall after drop off to socialize and work together on handwork projects. All are welcome, regardless of skill level!

Subscribe to the list for updates at https://wwspo.groups.io/g/CandC.

Gear Shop

The weather has turned! As you put away your winter clothing, please donate your children's gently used, outgrown OUTERwear and boots/hats/mittens, sizes CG through G8, to the Gear Shop! There's a bin in the vestibule where you can drop them off. All proceeds from the Gear Shop are donated to ONEFUND.

To purchase items:

• View the Gear Shop inventory.
• Send an email to wwsgearshop@gmail.com that includes the line number of the item(s) you're interested in and/or to see a photo of any items.

4 Week Simplicity Parenting Class at WWS

April 26 - May 17

Wednesday Evenings from 6-8pm at WWS

Facilitator: Drew Sample (WWS Parent)

Cost: $100 per family (one or two parents/caregivers can attend per family)

Additional $30 fee for materials will be subsidized by WWS

Register

Simplicity Parenting provides the resources and tools needed to create a simpler and more fulfilling home life for children and caregivers so that they can worry less, feel more confident, have better relationships, and raise thriving, happy kids. Developed by renowned family counselor Kim John Payne, the Simplicity Parenting methods recognize how today's "too much, too soon" culture is overwhelming and stressful for children and makes it very difficult for parents to create the balanced home life they dream of for their family. 

As an antidote to this unbalanced frenzy, WWS parent and certified Simplicity Parenting group facilitator Drew Sample will offer a series of group courses about the small, doable, and effective steps Simplicity Parenting offers for reducing stressors and enjoying a simpler, more connected home life. The group offers opportunities to deeply explore the Simplicity Parenting material, discuss with peers how to practically apply these powerful tools, and build a community of support to help them stick. 

Contact Drew Sample with questions.

Register for Simplicity Parenting

The Waldorf Student - Under Construction

The Foundation, the Framing, and the Finish Work

A talk from Jack Petrash

Thursday, May 4 at 7pm

A Waldorf School is designed to educate healthy children even in uncertain times. It does this through a developmentally based education that meets the three distinct phases of childhood with insight, imagination, and heart. This talk will explore our comprehensive and balanced approach and how the teaching evolves to meet the changing needs of the growing child. 

Jack is a former WWS class teacher, and the long-time director of the Nova Institute, an organization that has worked with teachers and parents to provide a deeper understanding of children. He is the author of four books on Waldorf Education and parenting, including the recently published "Turning Lead into Gold."

As we continue to share behind-the-scenes stories of the Gym construction and the Room to Move campaign, we are honored to introduce our school’s architect, MJ Wojewodski, of Quinn Evans, who designed both the front entrance of our school (completed in 2017) and the new John and Mary Brauer Gym (to be complete by August 2023). 

MJ answers a few questions below.

Please share a short bio.

I was born and raised in Baltimore. After college, I spent some years in DC and Boston. My interest in art and design lead me to Architecture where I can think creatively about form, texture, and assemblage. I spent time studying abroad and learned from great architects. We moved back to Baltimore when the third child was on the way to be closer to family. I like the diversity of culture and geography in the mid-Atlantic and have spent most of my career in the region. We live in a little historic house along the Patapsco River with lots of music and too many animals. I am an accredited professional with the International Living Future Institute whose goal is to pursue regenerative structures for a healthy world.

What are your favorite parts of the Gym design?

I’m very excited we were able to use prefabricated structure to create a distinct organic form for the school. Prefabricated structures are typically used for static box-like buildings. This was an opportunity to push the possibilities of what sorts of forms can be made with the economical kit of parts. The dynamic profile expresses the active purpose of the space and provides great opportunities for solar panels and a variety of acoustic experiences.

What has been the biggest challenge of the Gym construction so far? Schedule. Prefabricated structures are designed to be very efficient, using no more material than necessary to do the job. While this is a sustainable and economical approach, it requires a specialized structural design that must be done by the manufacturer. So the construction schedule had to accommodate an upfront phase for this structural analysis. On top of that, because of ongoing supply chain issues there was the constant question of what materials would be available. To deal with this we worked with Whiting Turner to line up multiple options in advance. For instance, we didn’t know if the specified insulation would be available when it came time to install it so we had to consider what alternative types of insulation would perform equal to the product intended in the original design.

This is part 1 of 2. In a future Bulletin, we’ll share more about MJ’s design work specifically for WWS, and what inspired her designs! 

Please take a minute to nominate WWS for a Montgomery Magazine Readers Choice Award!

Nominate WWS today!

Thanks to the Vakkur/Kirby family for sharing these great photos of Charlotte Vakkur Kirby ('21) playing in a recent rugby tournament for Kenyon College.

Have an alum update to share or new contact information? We'd love to hear from you. Please send us your news of awards or honors, new family members, scholarships, travels and adventures, jobs or milestones.

The following camps are available this summer with our very own Woodworking Teacher, Ram Mosher!

Cars! 6/26 - 6/30

Want to build a car? How will we make it go? Electric motor, wind, gravity, mousetrap? In this camp we will design and build model cars that can really move – intro to analog electronics included.

Simple Machines 7/10 - 7/14

There are six of them. What do they do and how do we use them? How can we combine them to make complex machines? In this camp we will explore these questions and more as we design and fabricate each one individually and then combine them to make Rube Goldberg machines.

Toys & Games 7/17 - 7/21

Ever wanted to play ping pong by yourself, fly a miniature hang glider or build an electric paper airplane launcher? You can do all of this and more at Toys and Games camp. In this camp we will combine design, fabrication, analog electronics, and woodworking with a ton of fun.

Learn More & Register

• BigSis Portal - keep your contact information up to date!
• Current Health Policy - updated Aug 29, 2022.
• Lunch program info for current families in ParentSquare.
• Map of the pickup and drop-off flow.
• Magnus Portal for student forms.
• Bulletin newsletters.

If you cannot find the information you are looking for on ParentSquare, please email your department coordinator/administrator:

• Children's Garden - Cecilia Berg-Benson
• Lower School - Christen Leonard 
• High School - Bonnie McClelland

Building Bridges is an effort to make Waldorf teacher training more accessible in our area. There are three upcoming information sessions:

• April 30 - Info session at Baltimore Waldorf School from 2-3:30pm  With Torin Finser and David Barham 
• April 30 - Info session at Acorn Hill, 7pm. With Torin and David.
• May 1 - Info session at WWS from 3:30-5:00. With Torin and Debbie Spitulnik.

This is the course for you if you have completed Explorations (or an equivalent training). If you have not completed Explorations, it is not too late to join the Spring session.

Learn More About the Building Bridges Program

A North American Festival Celebrating the Performing Arts of Eurythmy, Speech, and Music

August 1-6 in Spring Valley, NY

“I Hear America Singing” will be held in Spring Valley, NY this summer by the Eurythmy Association of North America and the Threefold Educational Foundation.

This summer celebration will offer a unique opportunity to experience eurythmy as a performing art. The week-long program will include performances, demonstrations, workshops, and master classes for every level of interest and experience. Participants will be immersed in a rejuvenating atmosphere of eurythmic creativity!

Learn More

Maryland Premiere of Screenagers Under The Influence: Addressing Vaping, Drugs, and Alcohol in the Digital Age

from Sarah Vakkur (WWS Family/Alum Family)

Thursday, May 4th from 7-9pm

Hosted by Girls on the Run of Montgomery County, MD

‍Screenagers Under The Influence: Addressing Vaping, Drugs, and Alcohol in the Digital Age delves into how the tech revolution has reshaped adolescence and its effects on substance use. The film debunks myths and depicts strategies parents and schools can use to encourage healthy decision-making, support teen mental health, set limits, and create healthy home environments. The film also includes many ways young people are using their wisdom and strength to help each other and themselves through this complicated terrain around substance use.

Doors open at 6:30 PM and the screening will begin at 7 PM followed by a Q&A with the filmmakers and experts in the field of addiction. The evening will conclude at 9 PM. 

Learn more and buy tickets.

Sounder Sleep System®: A course to transform your sleep (online)

from Alison Babil (WWS Alum Family)

Seven Wednesdays, via Zoom, April 26th - June 7th, 6:30 - 8:00 pm EST

Classes are recorded. 

The Sounder Sleep System® uses simple, gentle movements to calm your nervous system and bring you from an alert state to a state of deep calm. Sounder Sleep draws upon the Feldenkrais® method and ancient Chinese medicine. 

What people are saying: "I am having AMAZING results from the Sounder Sleep System course!! I am falling asleep without sleep aids, and it is deep sleep. I feel great!" -- Joni B., Sounder Sleep System® class participant.

For more information and to RSVP: Email Alison 



Cost: $195 *A limited number of discounted slots available for those who truly need it. Email Alison to inquire. Please note the refund policy: No refunds after April 26th.

Feldenkrais® Awareness Through Movement® Classes: A mini-series to reduce tension & improve movement (Online)

From Alison Babil (WWS Alum Family)

Four Mondays, via Zoom, May 1 - 22, 6:30 - 7:45pm 

Classes are recorded.

Feldenkrais® classes use gentle movement and mindful awareness to change habitual movement patterns that cause pain and tension. Each class takes the student through a sophisticated, gentle movement sequence. The aim is improved function and greater freedom in one's body and life. People often find it useful for back pain, neck pain, posture improvement, and more.

What people are saying:  "I've gotten so much out of Alison's Feldenkrais classes!  I have discovered how to work with my body in ways that generate a lightness of movement that is a sheer delight!" -- Jennifer. M., Feldenkrais class participant

For more information and to RSVP: Email Alison 

Cost: $70 (Discounted rate of $60 for students in Alison's spring Sounder Sleep System® course.) Please note the refund policy: No refunds. 

Alison Babil, GCFP, LMT, is the owner of True North Healing. She is a Guild Certified Feldenkrais Practitioner®, a certified Sounder Sleep System® instructor, certified in Soul Lightening Acupressure, and has been a licensed massage therapist for nearly 20 years. She works with clients in person and via Zoom, focusing on movement education, pain, and sleep. For more information Email Alison

Volunteer for Planet Bethesda June 4th--Earn community service hours and/or just for fun!

From Sunny Kaplan (WWS Alum Family)

The 2nd annual Planet Bethesda plant-based food, music & fun festival will take place June 4th in Elm Street Park in Bethesda and we're looking for volunteers! It's a great opportunity for students to earn community service hours (if needed), plus a chance to be a part of an exciting event that engages the community & educates people about plant-based eating. Volunteers will receive coupons to cash in for food and beverages, a free Planet Bethesda t-shirt, and a tote bag filled w/goodies! 

Ready to sign up? Just fill out the brief volunteer questionnaire. There will be two shifts: 8 am–2 pm and 1:30–8 pm, but if you can only work a shorter shift note that on the form.

Questions? Email Sunny Kaplan at planetbethesda@gmail.com.

Doctors on Wireless and Environmental Heath 

From Theodora Scarato (WWS Family)

Dr. Hugh Taylor MD, Chair of Obstetrics at Yale School of Medicine and president of American Society of Reproductive Medicine, Dr. Baldwin, and WWS parent Theodora Scarato presented the latest research on wireless as published in the journal Current Problems in Pediatric and Adolescent Health Care. Video presentations are now online.

Learn more at: HealthyTech at Home. 

Contact theodora.scarato@ehtrust.org for more. 

Published by the Washington Waldorf School

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