opening day

reverence and the rose

Davis Waldorf School celebrated its first day of school with the Rose Ceremony. It symbolizes the beliefs of the Waldorf way: honoring the beauty of the spiritual nature of the child. With reverence and grace, each grades teacher proudly expressed the voyage of their students through the curriculum and through the developmental stage of that particular grade.

As the sixth grade teacher for Davis Waldorf, I spoke of the new sense of reasoning awakening in the 12 year old child, which opens their hearts to the transformation of people and places in their curriculum. More importantly, the course of the year will see a transformation in the children themselves.

offering a hand-made gift for my colleague, Coleen Borrego

The opening day celebration centers around the Rose Ceremony. Ms. Ute Luebeck, our dear first grade teacher, shared heart-felt words with the parents. Truly, the first grade child will begin on a path of wonder and adventure, but they need not fear. With gentleness, our eighth grade children, young adults, offer the rose to the little ones as a token of friendship, peace, calm, and beauty. Then the parents had formed an arc of sunflowers that lead the way for Ms. Luebeck and the children to enter into the first grade classroom.

It is a magical way for the little ones to begin the school year.

my son Wilson gets a hug, a crown, a key, and an 8th grade buddy

Angela Kost, our strings teacher, provides music for the ceremony

a beautiful and welcoming display

a new gate for the lower grades garden

warm, calm, nurturing kindergarten spaces

It was also a magical way to begin my first year with the sixth grade! With consciousness of the incredible task about to unfold, I prepared as best as I could for this day, for my year. I moved my family to Davis over the summer, a huge task in itself. I spent 5 intense weeks at Steiner College. I wrote a variety of material to organize my thoughts and plans for the year, created a Google Group for my parents, cleaned and organized my classroom, planned our sixth grade Mount Lassen filed trip, gathered resources, painted and sanded my gift for the fifth grade teacher the night before opening day, and it continues.

This first day was key, it sets the tone for the year. Jennifer knitted me a tie to wear for Opening Day, which I was glad for. In so many ways, it was an important day. It was the first day of school for my three kids at Davis Waldorf, it was my first day to greet the community, it was my first day to be in the classroom with the sixth graders.

And as I write this blog at the end of this first week, I will say that I am truly grateful for them. They have shown me this week that they have the courage, honor, faith, and heart to take this journey with me. And as I reflect on the first day of school with the children, I feel that a connection was made, and the natural bond formed felt as if I had been standing in front of the classroom with them much longer.