December News (December 21st, 2023)

On behalf of the entire Waldorf School on the Roaring Fork community we wish to extend a BIG, end of 2023 thank you! The first half of the school year has been a tremendous success. Thank you to all of the WSRF teachers, staff and team members, without whom our community wouldn’t flourish. Thank you to all of the families who have chosen WSRF for you students and for your unwavering dedication to Waldorf Education in the Roaring Fork Valley! 

We wish all of our community members, alumni, teachers, students and parents a restful, joyful and reflective Winter Break. 

We look forward to welcoming everyone back on campus starting January 8th, 2024! 

All our students, in 1st to 8th grade now have a consistent, expanded Social Literacy program as a part of their regular curriculum. As a full-time staff member, Jennifer Paradis now works weekly and as needed with both individual students and entire classes across all our grades. The Social Literacy program focuses on building self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationships skills and responsible decision-making.  

Because of this expansion in our programs, 1st, 2nd, 4th and 5th Grade all have weekly Social Literacy Classes in their schedules that cover topics including but not limited to: identifying feelings, peaceful problem solving, choices & consequences, perseverance, self-talk, organization and executive functioning, goal setting & so, so much more! Curriculum builds over the years and is carefully aligned with child development. + Plus, Ms. Paradis works with all the other grades on a regular and as-needed basis. She has spent significant and regular time this year in the Middle School working on conflict resolution, restorative conversations, leadership and more. 

The expansion of the Social Literacy Program is truly a unique element of WSRF. It supports the social and emotional development of students, builds emotional intelligence and nurtures lifelong human capacities. Learn more about the full program here and thank you for helping make this expansion possible! 

Keep an eye out for more spotlights on the many other ways WSRF has grown and thrived because of the support of our entire community.

WSRF has over 300+ graduates spanning from 1997 to 2023. Where will you find them? Quite simply: Everywhere! Please enjoy a small window into what some of our many alumni are up to and you can always find more information on our alumni page here. 

I caught up with Zac Milby, class of 2003,  through Lorraine Curry, a longtime colleague and friend from WSRF who was a strings teacher at the Aspen Waldorf School in the 1990’s when I arrived.  She and Zac have stayed in touch through the years, and continue to play music together casually and professionally.   I taught Zac middle school blocks, mathematics, and more. One of my favorite memories of Zac was preparing advanced recorder music with him and a group of his classmates, all of whom were motivated and very musical.  When the Great Hall was built and then christened, this recorder ensemble played both the Entertainer by Scott Joplin and Pachelbel’s Canon in D in four parts.   I was so proud!

When I spoke to Zac in November, he was living in Los Angeles, CA, in his third year of  a five year PhD program in Planetary Science.  Zach loves astronomy, but it took him a while to get to this program.   After graduating from WSRF, he attended Bridges High School in Carbondale, CO.  Next he studied Economics at the University of Colorado Boulder where he earned an undergraduate degree in 2013.  Next he worked in politics, first the for the Colorado House of Representatives as a legislative aide and even managed a successful campaign for Millie Hamner of Colorado House District 61, but ultimately found the work of economics uninteresting. 

Zac remembers spending time one on one with his mom, observing the stars, building Solar System models, and going to the library and reading books on astronomy, so he returned to Boulder in 2015 to study Astrophysics and earned a degree in 2019.   (He is also a self-proclaimed Star “Trekkie,” by the way.)  He secured a position as a professional research assistant on MAVEN, a NASA mission to Mars for two more years.   He helped publish papers and found the work very interesting.  And now he continues his studies at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and plans on finishing after two more years of study. I said to Zac, “ Geez, Zac, I always knew you were smarter than me, “ to which he replied:  “No, Holly, you just have to be curious enough. I am just curious and I LOVE ASTRONOMY.” 

Zac said his appreciation for artistry and beauty are two things he takes from his time at WSRF.   Though he did not consider himself to be an excellent visual artist in his WSRF days, he developed a “keen artistic eye” that he uses everyday, both personally and professionally.   He cultivated one of his greatest joys, music, at WSRF and continues to enjoy music to this day. While at WSRF, he studied violin in addition to the mandatory singing and recorder.  As an adult he “just wants to play with people” so he taught himself the viola with Youtube.  As a violist, he has many more opportunities to play in ensembles since violinists are “a dime a dozen.”  He even brings his viola to the office so he and a coworker can play together. He described Lorraine Curry, one of his first music teachers, as one of his closest friends still to this day.

Zac admitted it was a bit of a stretch to remember many specifics from his time here so many years ago.  However, he remembers his class being a “cohesive family.”  The structure of moving with the same teacher and classmates for so many years helped develop close and loving relationships found in too few places.   He remembers the joy he felt attending WSRF and looking forward to going to school, even during middle school! 

My hope is to reconnect with Zac when he is back visiting family in the Roaring Fork Valley.  We plan to sip on gin and tonics while he plays viola and I accompany him on piano or accordion.  I look forward to that day.

Written by Holly Richardson for WSRF

Have an alumni update you’d like to share with us? We would love to hear from you!

As we reach the end of the 2023 calendar year, now is the time to make a donation to the WSRF Annual Fund and claim a 2023 tax-credit! We are still short of our goal for this year and we are calling on all community members, current families, alumni and friends of WSRF to help us reach our goal before the end of the year. 

Your gift impacts every element of our school from teacher salaries to supplies to programs and so, so much more. The Annual Fund is absolutely critical for WSRF to open our doors each year. Tuition only covers about 75% of operating expenses so we ask for you support: a donation of any size has tremendous impact. 

Please join 100% of Current WSRF Teachers, Staff and Board Members in giving to this year’s Annual Fund and help us reach out goal by the end of 2023! 

The second annual Bring a Parent to School Month at WSRF is coming up in January 2024! This is an incredible chance to step into your student’s classroom(s) and really put your feet in their shoes. Many different days are available between January 12th and Feb 1st, RSVP now to secure your day and time (RSVP Required & daily spots limited!) 

Join us in the Eurythmy Room on Jan 23rd 6-7:30pm for a special Parent Education event with WSRF alumni parent and early tech-pioneer, Mike Jones to talk about kids & tech! How do we support tech hygiene for kids? How do we even navigate Tik Tok, instagram and more with our kids? What questions do you have about kids & tech?

This parent conversation is not to be missed and is open to parents with children of all ages. No RSVP required. Do you have specific questions for Mike? Pre-submit questions now and Mike will address in his presentation!