Late Autumn 2014

Autumn Harvest A time for ‘in-breath’, gathering our resources

As we move into the quieting embrace of Autumn, we can feel the Earth breathing in, and in tandem with her the in-breath of all life and creation. The leaves fall from the trees, gently called to come closer to Gaia’s body, to be embraced and transformed into the richness that will support the sleep of Winter and eventually, feed the new life of Spring.

Everyday in our Village, the children are naturally welcomed to experience an intimate connection with the shift of the seasons. They are immersed in a sensorial ‘bath’ of change- the smokey smell of warm fires, ripe apples and persimmons; the sight of vibrant red, orange and yellow adorning the trees; the sound of crows calling and leaves crunching under foot, the exhilarating feeling of crisp air and cozy warmth of the wood stove; and the invisible-but-tangible

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WELCOME NEW FAMILIES

The Starseeds welcome Leon and parents Adam and Adriana, Thomas

and mama Hannah Kohlsaat

Ms Joy’s circle welcomes Kalin and mama Vie Davis, Aiden and parents

Trish and Sean Engle

Mr Coffey’s circle welcomes Kohl and mama Hannah Kohlsaat

Ms Laura’s circle welcomes Lauren and mama Ann Prescott, Noah, and mama

Angela Trail

SEASONS OF LEARNING

NEWS FROM CIRCLE OF SEASONS AND STARSEED FOREST KINDERGARTEN

THANK YOU To Jesse Kitt, for taking our class photos. Jesse is a talented and

creative photographer, and generously donated her time and skills to produce beautiful class photos for each of our children

To Ann Prescott, for organization and contribution of resources for our

holiday craft fundraiser

To Sabrina & Gary Lutes, for opening their home to our new Starseed

teacher, Amare Salidis

To Ms Jenny, for her patience, extra effort and support during the Starseed teacher transition

To Eden & Randy, for building fires each morning that welcome our

young learners into warmth

To John Shackelton, for nourishing the soul of our parent body and

faculty

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inner knowing that they and all the life around them are moving into a different, quieter, inward energy.

Your children bring the soul-essence of these precious gifts home with them each and every day, and might happily share the ‘harvest’ with you when welcomed to! Our own mindful, soulful participation in this rhythm supports the harmony and vitality of our own lives, and the lives of those around us. When your child brings home his or her story-of-the-day, stop and listen with reverence; for in that moment, you may receive the blessing of communion with the Sacred Cycle of life on our Earth.

May we all take time to reap the blessings of this inevitable, cyclical coming of the harvest, to gather our resources, to ‘breath in’ the fruits of Summer’s expressive ‘out-breath’ and vibrancy, and move gracefully into the quiet of Winter.

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AMARE SALIDIS, Starseed Co-teacher

Ms Amare comes to us from Charlottesville, VA, where she has worked

as a Waldorf games and movement teacher, lead and assistant Kindergarten teacher, K-1st grade classroom assistant, nanny, and doula. Amare holds a Master’s Degree in Early Childhood Education from

Sunbridge, a BA in Psychology from Shippensburg University, and also

completed Spacial Dynamics training, as well as pre and peri-natal doula training.

Amare brings a love of the outdoors, Waldorf education, and a heart and soul devoted to sacred work with our children. Ms. Amare will be co-teaching with our

beloved Ms Jenny, and plans to be with us for many years to come!

STEPHANIE NIXON, administrative & teacher support

Ms Stephanie will be assisting Septimbor and our teachers with daily tasks and

classroom support, as needed. She will also be serving as a driver, and acting as a

liaison between our parent body, faculty and administration. Stephanie is mama to

Calliope (Mr Coffey’s class). Siri and Raquell ‘harvesting Starseeds’ from the Autumn wind

WELCOME NEW TEACHERS AND STAFF

Late Autumn 2014

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Moments from our

Michaelmas Festival

From left to right, descending-

Ms Laura & her corn dolly/ Mr. (St. Michael) Coffey/ Ms Joy and her trusty ‘Sword of Mirth’/ Ms Sara and Aidan Cannon ‘muscling’ the cider press/ Ms Lena and the 10-12 circle performing an East Indian Folk Dance/ the DRAGON animated by our 12-14 circle/ Chloe Travis & her corn dolly/ Kristen Taylor & her corn dolly/ a request to St Michael.

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Student and Faculty Artwork and Crafts

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Forest and Field Fridays with Ms Lena

For our Forest and Field program this month, Ms Lena led the children through

a fire-side traditional harvest, picking Autumn fruits, processing, and

preserving/canning. The children gathered persimmons and apples from our beautiful orchards, processed the

pulp using an old-fashioned sieve and pestle food mill, cooked the apple-persimmon pulp, then canned the

delicious product ~ apple persimmon butter~ all over a friction fire that was

made using no matches!

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Voice of the Village by Ms Laura’s Learning Circle

About 2 weeks ago, the tallest apple tree on Sacred Mountain unexpectedly fell down. After about 2 days, Miah, Kaya and Sophie went to the fallen apple tree for apples and then decided to build a fort inside the branches. After a few days, Ms. Laura’s whole class had joined in building the fort. Inside of the fort, there is a large clear area where we have a bench, and an old grill frame hanging from the branches above for storage. Past the main clearing, down the stairs, is the ‘hang out area, which is now under construction with a wall-that is often mistaken for an entrance!

We plan to make wooden furniture for this room once all the rotten apples are out of it and the wall is done. There is a big barricade of branches and leaves blocking the entrance to our work room, which we are going to clear. It is pretty crowded right now, but we have plans to do our Voice of the Village newspaper work in that room.

Eva, Aiden, Kaya, Lauren, Gavin & Noah in the fort

Do you have any pets? 2 golden doodles named Rosie and Tebo

What’s your full name? Jasmine Carol Coleman Parente

How old are you? 10

What’s your favorite food? Fried Tofu

What’s your favorite color? purple

What’s your favorite animal? koala bears, chinchillas

Favorite activity outside? jump rope, tree climbing

Favorite part of school? EVERYTHING!

Favorite thing about your teacher? he’s happy and TALL

Describe your personality: happy, joyful, opinionated, loves sparkles and bling

Where have you travelled? Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Canada

The Apple Tree Fort By Eva Lim

Interview with Jasmine Parente Village Joke Corner

What does the pencil do when it gets mad? It draws the line!

Why did the cookie go to the doctor? Because he was feeling crumby

Why is this frog so happy? Because he eats whatever bugs him!

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Voice of the Village by Ms Laura’s Learning Circle

Fall Festival Field Trip by Lauren Cooper

On October 15th, all Circle of Seasons classes took a field trip to a fall festival hosted at Arthur Morgan School in Celo, North Carolina. Featured activities included: taking a tractor tour, pressing apples, tasting home-made biscuits, making leaf imprint cards and visiting the animal homestead. Students had a great time and it was a wonderful experience to visit another similar school.

After the festival, the students went for a short hike to a beautiful waterfall. It was extra powerful because of a large rainstorm the previous day. The students wanted to wade in the water so we found a calmer place in the river to play in the icy mountain water.

During the last week of October, 2014, an army of small insects began to invade our yomes.  First, they hid in the top of our ceiling.  Then, slowly they began to climb down the walls and fly everywhere.  Some dropped like bug bombs onto our desks and heads!  They bit our shoulders and peed on our papers! !We could hardly walk through the doors without being attacked.  They love warm, sunny places - such as our yome.  Luckily, the cold weather cleared them out.  Some people think ladybugs are cute, dressed in red and black.  But we are not fond of them when they invade our classroom.

Insect Invasion Report by Kaya Lemire

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