The Bridge: Diversity and Inclusivity
Up Next on The Bridge: Diversity and Inclusivity
This week on The Bridge, Waldorf educators Magally Luna and Vernon Dewey are joined by racial justice activist Mahdyeh Nowkhandan to discuss the work of diversity and inclusivity in the classroom and in the community at large.
Topic:Diversity and Inclusivity — Fostering a Community for All
Date: December 2, 2020
Time: 7pm MST
Location: Online via Zoom
We will follow the presentation with a live Q&A. Please register to reserve a seat.
What You’ll Learn
The founding principles of Waldorf education are to help the child develop a strong sense of self along with a sense for the community. The DWS Diversity and Inclusivity Committee works to help fulfill this mission in light of our various identities: racial, ethnic, religious, gender, sexual orientation, ability, and more.
During this webinar, the panel will also cover:
- How and why we developed a Diversity and Inclusivity Committee
- Past and current efforts
- How you can become involved
About the Panel
About Vernon Dewey
Vernon has been working at The Denver Waldorf School since 2008, assisting in the 1st and 2nd Grades before taking on the 1st Grade as class teacher in 2010. He attended Evergreen State College and graduated with a Master’s in Education and a Waldorf Teaching Certificate from Antioch University of New England in 2010. In addition to teaching at The Denver Waldorf School, currently as 8th Grade Teacher, Vernon also serves as a founding member and co-chair of the school’s Diversity Committee.
About Magally Luna
Nearly 20 years, Magally joined the DWS community to teach Spanish. Today, she serves in the elementary school as our 4th grade teacher. “I bring a diverse curriculum to my class of cuties,” she says. She has been on the school’s D&I Committee since its inception, starting with conversations with Laurie Clark in the Morning Glory classroom. She is the founder and co-chair of AWSNA’S BIPOC affinity group, — supporting Waldorf teachers of color throughout the nation — and she has taught BIPOC stories, songs, and movement from the Americas at several national conferences.
About Mahdyeh Nowkhandan
Mahdyeh Nowkhandan is a new DWS parent and member of the D&I Committee, and has recently become one of the leads on the new Denver Waldorf Racial Justice Parent Group. She has a background in advocacy work and racial justice, as well as elementary education — including social-emotional and special education. She is a recipient of the Martin Luther King Jr. Peace Award, and still she views herself as a life-long learner, non-expert, and an always growing member of the BIPOC community.
About The Bridge
The Bridge is a bimonthly webinar series hosted by The Denver Waldorf School on the benefits of Waldorf education. By connecting one another, we aim to join in the worldwide effort to educate for humanity.
About The Denver Waldorf School
The Denver Waldorf School is an urban pre-K through 12 independent school in Colorado. Founded in 1974 on Rudolf Steiner’s humanitarian curriculum, DWS believes education should foster what it is to be human, cultivate lifelong curiosity, and inspire a love for the world. We are currently enrolling for in-person learning:
Want to learn more about us? Schedule an in-person tour of our Denver campus or join us online during our virtual events.
The Denver Waldorf School Happenings
November 2020
The Denver Waldorf School is a k-12 independent school in Denver, Colorado
Shining Our Light - Martinmas & The Lantern Walk
As the leaves change and fall from the trees and as the chill returns to the air, we become aware of the changing light. The harvest season has come to an end, and we celebrate the opportunity to take the light given to us in the summer months and share it with the outside world. We celebrate Martinmas.
Martinmas occurs each year on November 11th. We celebrate by honoring St. Martin and the gentle warmth and love he brought to the world. Legend tells us that St. Martin was a gentle and unassuming man who upon discovering a poor beggar, took his own coat, tore it in half, and covered the shivering beggar from the cold. Martinmas calls us to shine our inner light to others as the darkness of the season grows stronger.
Celebrating Martinmas at The Denver Waldorf School
The younger grades and the kindergartens (and recently our high school students too!) celebrate this light within us during their class Lantern Walks. Leading up to the Lantern Walk, they each work to create a handmade lantern, which will symbolically protect their light within and fill the dark night with the soft glow of illumination.
The Lantern Walk is a community event during which we are reminded of our shared humanity and our need for each other to keep our light glowing and to count on each other to light our way. It is a reverent time to walk slowly, deliberately, quietly, carefully keeping light and song alive through the dark night for each other. The group of lanterns is beautiful to behold in the dark and we remember that we are not alone. May we move forward in the season ahead, spreading our gifts, our light, our community – and illuminating the beauty of our shared goodness.
Celebrating Martinmas at Home
For those partaking of Martinmas in your own neighborhood, here are some of the traditional Lantern Walk songs, so that you can fill the night with music and light. Shine bright!
I Go Outside With My Lantern
I go outside with my lantern, my lantern goes with me
Above me shine the stars so bright, down here on Earth shine we.
So shine your light in the still dark night, la bimmel, la bammel, la boom, boom boom.
‘Neath heaven’s dome till we go home, la bimmel, la bammel, la boom, boom boom.
My Lantern
So my lantern can really shine bright!
Glimmer Lantern, Glimmer
Glimmer lantern glimmer, little stars a-shimmer.
Over meadow, moor and dale flitter flutter elfin veil.
Pee-wit pee-wit, tick-a-tack-a-tick, coo-coo-roo-coo.
Glimmer lantern glimmer, little stars a-shimmer.
Over rock and stock and stone wander tripping little gnome.
Pee-wit, pee-wit, tick-a-tack-a-tick, coo-coo-roo-coo.
High School Happenings at The Denver Waldorf School
Denver Waldorf Middle School Panel: December
Is The Denver Waldorf School the right choice for middle school? Sit down with us during an online Q&A to learn about Waldorf education, our curriculum, and more!
Date: December 1, 2020
Time: 9-9:45am
Location: Online via Zoom
Please scroll down to register using the form on this page, and we will send you login details.
What you’ll learn
Led by DWS 8th Grade Teacher Vernon Dewey and High School Director Brie Kaiser, our faculty will answer common questions such as:
- What is Waldorf education and what classes does DWS offer?
- How does the curriculum meet the preadolescent
- How does DWS bridge middle school & high school academically and socially
- What scholarships are available?
About The Denver Waldorf Middle School
Founded in 1974, The Denver Waldorf Middle School serves 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students.
Through science, math, language arts, visual and sculptural arts, gym, Spanish, and more, the students begin to build the bridge between childhood and adulthood, preparing them for high school and beyond. The content and quantity of subjects expand significantly to meet the needs of the preadolescent. Subjects are introduced with the goal of helping the student maintain a healthy interest in the world. The curriculum encourages preadolescents to direct their gaze enthusiastically and sympathetically out into the world and thereby come to a deeper understanding of self.
At this time, we are offering in-person tours and virtual shadow days. To learn more about either our middle school or the admissions process please reach out to Admissions Manager Brooke Camfield at [email protected].
Register to reserve your spot!
Denver Waldorf Middle School Panel: December
Is The Denver Waldorf School the right choice for middle school? Sit down with us during an online Q&A to learn about Waldorf education, our curriculum, and more!
Date: December 1, 2020
Time: 9-9:45am
Location: Online via Zoom
Please scroll down to register using the form on this page, and we will send you login details.
What you’ll learn
Led by DWS 8th Grade Teacher Vernon Dewey and High School Director Brie Kaiser, our faculty will answer common questions such as:
- What is Waldorf education and what classes does DWS offer?
- How does the curriculum meet the preadolescent
- How does DWS bridge middle school & high school academically and socially
- What scholarships are available?
About The Denver Waldorf Middle School
Founded in 1974, The Denver Waldorf Middle School serves 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students.
Through science, math, language arts, visual and sculptural arts, gym, Spanish, and more, the students begin to build the bridge between childhood and adulthood, preparing them for high school and beyond. The content and quantity of subjects expand significantly to meet the needs of the preadolescent. Subjects are introduced with the goal of helping the student maintain a healthy interest in the world. The curriculum encourages preadolescents to direct their gaze enthusiastically and sympathetically out into the world and thereby come to a deeper understanding of self.
At this time, we are offering in-person tours and virtual shadow days. To learn more about either our middle school or the admissions process please reach out to Admissions Manager Brooke Camfield at [email protected].
Register to reserve your spot!
The Bridge: Social Wellness with Nancy Blanning
Up Next on The Bridge: Social Wellness
Growing a healthy community that embodies compassion, tolerance, and generosity starts with growing healthy children. This week on The Bridge, Waldorf educator Nancy Blanning discusses just this during her presentation on social wellness.
Date: November 18, 2020
Time: 10am MST
Location: Online via Zoom
We will follow the presentation with a live Q&A. Please register to reserve a seat.
What You’ll Learn
Nancy will cover how one area of the multifolded Waldorf curriculum focuses on affirming the individual so that the individual has well being. It is only from this place of individual wellbeing that we can extend generosity to the community.
About Waldorf Educator Nancy Blanning
Nancy Blanning is an early childhood educator with a special interest in movement and has been working with young children in Waldorf settings for nearly 40 years. She has served as Denver Waldorf School faculty since 1987 as both lead kindergarten teacher and educational support staff. Nancy is a keynote speaker and workshop presenter at national and international Waldorf early childhood conferences. She is co-director of Waldorf Early Childhood Teacher Training at Sunbridge Institute in Spring Valley, NY, and is guest faculty at other teacher training programs. Nancy has also traveled widely as mentor and consultant to Waldorf schools in the US and Canada. She is editor of the Waldorf Early Childhood Association journal, Gateways, has edited several books, and is author of Walking with Our Children: The Parent as Companion and Guide. DWS colleague, Laurie Clark, and Nancy have written and published movement imaginations for Waldorf early childhood teachers, Movement Journeys and Circle Adventures, Vol. 1 and 2.
About The Bridge
The Bridge is a bimonthly webinar series hosted by The Denver Waldorf School on the benefits of Waldorf education. By connecting one another, we aim to join in the worldwide effort to educate for humanity.
About The Denver Waldorf School
The Denver Waldorf School is an urban pre-K through 12 independent school in Colorado. Founded in 1974 on Rudolf Steiner’s humanitarian curriculum, DWS believes education should foster what it is to be human, cultivate lifelong curiosity, and inspire a love for the world. We are currently enrolling for in-person learning:
Want to learn more about us? Schedule an in-person tour of our Denver campus or join us online during our virtual events.
The Bridge: Social Wellness with Nancy Blanning
Up Next on The Bridge: Social Wellness
Growing a healthy community that embodies compassion, tolerance, and generosity starts with growing healthy children. This week on The Bridge, Waldorf educator Nancy Blanning discusses just this during her presentation on social wellness.
Date: November 18, 2020
Time: 10am MST
Location: Online via Zoom
We will follow the presentation with a live Q&A. Please register to reserve a seat.
What You’ll Learn
Nancy will cover how one area of the multifolded Waldorf curriculum focuses on affirming the individual so that the individual has well being. It is only from this place of individual wellbeing that we can extend generosity to the community.
About Waldorf Educator Nancy Blanning
Nancy Blanning is an early childhood educator with a special interest in movement and has been working with young children in Waldorf settings for nearly 40 years. She has served as Denver Waldorf School faculty since 1987 as both lead kindergarten teacher and educational support staff. Nancy is a keynote speaker and workshop presenter at national and international Waldorf early childhood conferences. She is co-director of Waldorf Early Childhood Teacher Training at Sunbridge Institute in Spring Valley, NY, and is guest faculty at other teacher training programs. Nancy has also traveled widely as mentor and consultant to Waldorf schools in the US and Canada. She is editor of the Waldorf Early Childhood Association journal, Gateways, has edited several books, and is author of Walking with Our Children: The Parent as Companion and Guide. DWS colleague, Laurie Clark, and Nancy have written and published movement imaginations for Waldorf early childhood teachers, Movement Journeys and Circle Adventures, Vol. 1 and 2.
About The Bridge
The Bridge is a bimonthly webinar series hosted by The Denver Waldorf School on the benefits of Waldorf education. By connecting one another, we aim to join in the worldwide effort to educate for humanity.
About The Denver Waldorf School
The Denver Waldorf School is an urban pre-K through 12 independent school in Colorado. Founded in 1974 on Rudolf Steiner’s humanitarian curriculum, DWS believes education should foster what it is to be human, cultivate lifelong curiosity, and inspire a love for the world. We are currently enrolling for in-person learning:
Want to learn more about us? Schedule an in-person tour of our Denver campus or join us online during our virtual events.
Martinmas Lantern Walk
Virtual Lantern Walks
As we bundle more tightly and bedtime comes sooner, we look forward to our annual Martinmas Lantern Walk. The students have been crafting their lanterns in preparation as they plan to each shine their individual light.
Although we hoped to gather in person, we are shifting to virtual lantern walks. Stay tuned for details!
Wait to Hear from Teachers
We encourage all families to continue the tradition of this reverent, meditative event at home. Please wait to hear form your class teachers on the plan going forward.
The following times were part of the original plan to gather. Teachers will be in touch if they plan to maintain those same times for our virtual walk.
- 1st Grade: November 12 at 5:15pm
- 2nd Grade: November 13 at 6pm
- 3rd Grade: November 11 at 6pm
- High School: November 12 at 6:30pm
Martinmas Lantern Walk
Virtual Lantern Walks
As we bundle more tightly and bedtime comes sooner, we look forward to our annual Martinmas Lantern Walk. The students have been crafting their lanterns in preparation as they plan to each shine their individual light.
Although we hoped to gather in person, we are shifting to virtual lantern walks. Stay tuned for details!
Wait to Hear from Teachers
We encourage all families to continue the tradition of this reverent, meditative event at home. Please wait to hear form your class teachers on the plan going forward.
The following times were part of the original plan to gather. Teachers will be in touch if they plan to maintain those same times for our virtual walk.
- 1st Grade: November 12 at 5:15pm
- 2nd Grade: November 13 at 6pm
- 3rd Grade: November 11 at 6pm
- High School: November 12 at 6:30pm