Class News - Spring 2010
Seventh/Eighth Grade
When I look around my classroom, I see a room full of
bright, articulate, interested and interesting “young
adults”, as they like to be called. As this class of twelve
young teenagers enters their last three months together
at Wellspring, a big question for them and their parents
is: am I prepared for what comes next? The answer is an
unequivocal yes.
When they graduate, they will have had a complete
range of academic subjects traditionally taught through
the eighth grade. In addition, they will have received a
panorama of less traditional subjects (the visual,
performing and practical arts) which they have studied
for years. They will have also had the experience of a
tight-knit community: together they have grown up, at
times struggled to get along, and learned, if not to love,
at least to accept and respect each other.
Perhaps, ironically it is the latter two – the nontraditional
subjects and the tight-knit community – that I
think prepares these children the most for what lies
ahead, although they may have much less of both where
they are going. In their more advanced studies, I think
they will find they have openness to learning, an ability
to think outside the box, an appreciation of the whole,
consideration of others, and an eye for the beautiful that
they just may attribute someday, at least in part, to their
Waldorf education.
It has been a wonderful journey that I have been on with
this class for the last eight years. I can easily imagine
each one of them striving and thriving in the years to
come.
Kate Winslow
Seventh/Eighth Grade Class Teacher |
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