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German Observations of the American Election
by Andreas Hochleitner, GBWHS Visiting Student - 10 Feb 2008

[Andreas Hochleitner is a student in tenth grade visiting from the Munich Waldorf School. We were interested in how our European friends view the upcoming election and Andreas offered the following observatons.)

The Germans are following the American election closely. Because of our political stance we stand, of course, on the side of the democrats.
Our newspapers report almost daily about the preliminaries. We also find a lot of information about the candidates on the Internet.

The best known of them is Hillary Clinton, who is famous because of her relationship with Bill Clinton, who we esteem very highly. We also feel it would be a sensation if the USA had, for the first time, a female president. We were very surprised that she was beaten in Iowa by Barack Obama. But the media mentioned that Iowa is a state, poor in population with only a few electoral male voices. Apparently, Bill Clinton lost in Iowa too. Many followers of Hilary Clinton might have thought that the campaign would run by itself. Iowa surprised them. They woke up and succeeded, as the Germans did not expect after the Iowa loss, in New Hampshire.

According to the German press, Hillary Clinton’s win in New Hampshire was due to the women’s vote. Why that didn’t happen in Iowa is not clear. Hillary Clinton is ambitious, has a lot of political experience, and is the only one of the candidates who has presented an urgently necessary draft for the reform of health care in the United States. She also has a great deal of political influence.
Barack Obama would be the first black president of the USA, but his election may depend on the black population votes.

He stands for reconciliation and a basic policy change. In addition, he was from the very beginning against the Iraq war.
The 72-year-old Republican John McCain might be too old to run for president. Furthermore, in Germany he is only known as a supporter of the Iraq war. We think he would strengthen Bush's policy of continuing the worldwide military actions. He does not seem to have learned anything from Vietnam. We do not think McCain is a realistic option.

However, Obama has a good chance of being voted in the north of the USA, where people still aspire towards an ideal integration of the black population. But many of the older generation in Munich hope that Hillary Clinton will win, as she is very well known and experienced.

At this point, most Germans think that both Clinton and Obama are possible candidates for becoming president. They also think that either of them will lead the United States into a better future.

Spaghetti Social
by Anna Sierau ’10 - 10 Feb 2008

On Saturday, February 9, from 6 to 8 p.m. in honor of our visiting students the Great Barrington Waldorf High School hosted another social evening of soup, salad, spaghetti with vegetarian sauce and meat balls on the side… plus scrumptious desserts..

Pottery Inferno
by Eliot Stier ’09 - 10 Feb 2008

One freezing cold Monday afternoon after school, the junior class went to help our pottery teacher, Dan Bellow, and his companions fire up their enormous kiln: six feet high, ten feet wide, and forty feet long.

We arrived right after school was out and stayed until after nine that night. After the kiln was ablaze, our job was to keep it as hot as hell.

All the pots the juniors had made so far this year were in that kiln. All the bowls, bottles, mugs, and plates we had created over these past months were pushed inside the blaze.

For six long hours we piled wood and shoveled mulch into the inferno, which was at that time about 1200 degrees celsius. We worked hard and fast to keep the temperature high, hardly resting for a minute at a time, piling on the fuel until our faces were black and our clothes were saturated in smoke and sweat.

We went back to the kiln again the next day, during our scheduled art class. This time our revered teacher gave us even more responsibility in firing up the kiln. We got to order around the sophomores and freshmen who showed up half way through the afternoon.
This entire pottery block was fun and interesting, as it always is. We love throwing those pots, creating bowls and bottles, glazing the coffee mugs and decorating the plates. Joining with the pros to assist with the firing was a perfect ending.

Timid Artists and Master Mathematicians
by KayLee Bellamy ’11 - 10 Feb 2008

Choosing a third of the human face to enlarge, the ninth and tenth graders enjoyed sculpting faces with Mr. Sagarin. First he gave us a hunk of clay and we were to round it into a ball.

Shaping the ball into a head, we marked out where the eyes, nose and mouth would be. Pinching the clay into the bridge of the nose, pressing holes in the clay for eyes, and molding the silent lips, we began to map out the important features of the face.

We discovered that when we exaggerated the forehead, an intellectual personality emerged. Enlarge the nose, and this same face became a creature of feeling and sensitivity. By promoting the chin, we found a person of will and determination.

All along, Dr. Sagarin gave us helpful tips on how to shape the clay, making our sculptures come to life, staring out from the smooth damp surface.

Welcome to our Visiting Students!
by Staff - 10 Feb 2008

Conor’s Last Letter from Columbia:

Greetings! Although I`m excited to see everybody, I`m also sad to leave. This was a wonderful experience. I love almost everything here: my friends, the climate, the food, the music, the dancing.

I`ve been blessed to have been given this opportunity, and anybody in the GBWHS who is willing to miss their friends and family for a while and take a chance, our exchange program couldn’t serve you better. I want to thank Señora Nuñez, the Orobios, my mom, and our little but strong community at the High School for making this trip possible.
Jose’s excited about coming to Massachusetts.

He’s a little nervous about how he`ll do with the cold and the language, but I`ve assured him that it will all be fine. We have jackets and boots for the cold, and as far as the language goes, being surrounded by people who never stop talking like a few of my friends (names omitted) will help him a lot. So we both send out regards and look forward to seeing everybody.

Andreas Bergner comments:
“I'm from the sister school in Munich. I will stay here for three months. I chose to come on this exchange because I want learn English, which you can do very well by taking part in a visit like this.

What I really like best is that this school is so small. In my class there are thirty-six students. I find that if, for example, you don't understand a math problem, you can ask for help much more easily here than in a class of thirty-six.

Also, in this high school all the students are very nice, which makes it a lot more fun to learn.”

11th grader Malin Frey comments:
My name is Malin Frey. I am 17 years old and I come from Germany. I live in Mainz and attend a Waldorf school in Wiesbaden, grade 11. I have wanted to make this exchange my whole life.
I found my host family through the Internet, in the “Waldorf-Network”. My family lives in Connecticut and helped me to find this school. I will stay here for three months, until the end of March.

I like this school very much and I still think it was a good idea to come here. I think I will miss a lot of things when I am back in Germany.

Donations Needed for Our Service Project in Peru
by Julia Nunez - 10 Feb 2008

The Spanish-speaking students at the Great Barrington Waldorf High School are going to work at the Q'ewar Project, high in the Peruvian Andes, this April. The project helps the indigenous women and children in the poverty-stricken community of Andahuaylillas to better their lives through the sale of products made in their weaving and knitting workshops and through the construction of adobe homes and indoor toilets. As well as working there, the students will bring donations of good quality used clothing, school supplies, garden hand tools, eye glasses, and toys.

Also: some of the students will need to borrow large hiking backpacks and other camping supplies for their hike-of-a-lifetime up legendary Machu Picchu. If you can help, please let Spanish teacher Julia Nunez know.
Bring donations to the lower school or call Julia Nunez at 528-4015 ext 161. Thank you for your support.

Book and Movie Review: The Golden Compass
by Sarita Orobio ’11 - 10 Feb 2008

The Golden Compass
Book written by Phillip Pullman
Movie directed by Chris Weitz
Reviewed by Sarita Orobio

The story rushing through my head, combining with my thoughts, and sending my imagination far away, made me hurry through my work so that I could sit down and read the next magical chapter.
Sitting with a cup of tea next to me, a blanket around my knees, and the key to the world of Lyra Belacqua, her daemon Pantalaimon, Lord Asriel, and the mysterious and alluring Mrs. Coulter clutched tightly in my hands, I would finally settle down to read. The musky, unique Bookloft scent tickling my nose, the soft rasp of the thin pages brushing against my fingers as I turned the page, and the sound of my breathing, were always present during that moment where I would lose myself in a good book. This time, I picked up my new, flawless, copy of Phillip Pullman's novel The Golden Compass.

These feelings and sounds always accompanied me like those familiar sounds that are always there, the jingle of car keys in a pocket, the sound of the change we never dig out from the bottom of our bags, the squeaks of the floorboards that we have learned to avoid, each sound and feeling, something we could hold on to, that always ties us together with a particular activity, the sounds I heard seemed like the only connection to my present life. It was hard to tear myself away from the story, and even at school we would discuss the story, defending it indignantly when anyone dared to criticize it.

Power, modern ideas in the ancient world, love, knowledge, greed, innocence, and a need to uncover the truth are what blend together to create this controversial fantasy. One of the things that I thought added to the success of the book was the way that without delving too deeply into graphic, unnecessary details, Pullman manages to touch on the inevitable subjects of death, war and cruelty, subjects that some authors omit to make their books more "kid friendly" and which in my opinion only enrich the tale.

The movie, on the other hand, was a great disappointment. Seeing the movie four years after reading the book, I realized how much of the story I still recalled in detail. As the last shot faded to black I sat in the red cushioned seat of the theater waiting for the movie to end. Nothing happened.

We waited in total darkness, then people began to stretch and get up. Only when the ending credits started to roll across the screen did I realize that it was over. I sat for a minute and replayed the whole thing in my head. I could hear people discussing the film, the most common comment being, "what happened to the end?" To me it felt like director Chris Weitz had never finished reading the book. By using the cliffhanger effect, the director is sure to have an audience for the sequel.

I found that most people who liked the film had never read the book. The movie also had its good parts; the soundtrack, for example was composed of strong, sweeping melodies, well fitted to the movie, and unlike many movies it did not over power the rest of the action.
The cast was led by Nicole Kidman's performance. She was able to achieve the cold, cruel characteristics of the cunning woman she plays, but I felt that the descriptions in the book are there for a reason. Mrs. Coulter is described as having “shining black hair that grazed her chin,” not Kidman's platinum blond hair. Most of the characters’ “daemons” or souls were very well done, the human voices not interfering with the animal. Still, the parts that I disliked overpowered the good parts and I was not able to appreciate them. The battle at the end was tedious, unnecessarily loud, and unclear, so that all that could be seen were faces and lights flashing across the screen. Lyra, one of the main characters was played by Dakota Blue Richards. She seemed almost stranded on the screen, as if she had no idea of how she got there, sometimes managing to have the perfect timing, other times jumping from one emotion to the other so quickly that she left everyone behind. The special effects were so many that the technicality took the magic away and what was left were things that could obviously only be done by a computer.

Despite being severely disappointed, I do not completely regret seeing the movie. It was interesting to see (however strangely) how the director interpreted the movie. I came to the conclusion that a movie has to be exceptionally well made to be as good or better than the book. I still feel that the book should always be read first. That way, we each create our own personal ideas and images of the book, which remain with us long after we’ve seen the film.

Feeling the Beat
by Sarita Orobio ’11 - 10 Feb 2008

In a normal dance class, the teacher has everything planned out, the music is chosen beforehand, and every step previously choreographed. You sign up for a specific dance class and only the advertised dance style is explored, taught, discussed, enjoyed, and performed.

Not here. Instead, we are encouraged to suggest what we want to learn, the different styles we want to look at, and the way that all of our totally different ways of moving can be combined to create something filled with harmony, spirit, joy, and inspiration.

As part of our movement and fitness curriculum we were offered the choice of spending our Thursday afternoons sweating and pushing ourselves past our limits, at BizFit, or taking a fusion dance class with Renni Greenberg Gallagher at Berkshire Pulse. Every Thursday the five of us who chose the dance class piled into Ms. Gallagher’s car and drove to Housatonic. In spite of the cold, after a short while, we would heat the space with our exuberant movements. We often began with some yoga relaxation exercises that helped to center and warm us up. After hearing that first note, we could never contain ourselves and were soon leaping around the kindly-lit room, following steps that fit together into a combination.

I had the opportunity to photograph the class. Watching my classmates open up and let the music move them and motivate them was an additional benefit.

Each week we looked forward to the class. We formed a combination of jazz, modern, and even some hip-hop. For the last class of the course, we worked in pairs and taught each other a new step. We put all these together and letting the music guide us, we poured onto the floor from four corners and created a combination that was partly a solitary dance, and, at the same time, we subconsciously molded the steps to each other’s rhythms.

This class was a great opportunity to learn more about composition and we all left inspired.

Bookbinding Class
by Staff - 10 Feb 2008

Bookbinding teacher Mrs. Palmer demonstrates the precision and accuracy needed to create heirloom quality books to Ari Meyerowitz ’09.

Here are some examples of the high-quality, beautifully hand-crafted products by the high school students.

The Skin of our Teeth
by Evan Crispell ’10 - 10 Feb 2008

Last year it was a ghost and fortunetellers in drag but this year the high school takes a sober step forward, away from ectoplasm manifestations, into a far more subdued world. It is a world of philosophers and inventors, of dinosaurs and mammoths and, of course, of chaos and apocalypse.
Yes, this year the high school will not digress into a fury of senseless comedy but progress in its theatrical career with Thornton Wilder’s “The Skin of our Teeth.” We follow the Antrobus family through time, from the ice age and the flood to, well, whatever it is that is coming next.

Come and watch us hilariously explore the endurance of the human race and all its stumbles and scrapes through this play by the skin of our teeth.

Basketball Season Has Only Just Begun
by Cailin Nash ’10 - 10 Feb 2008

This year the high school basketball team will start practicing toward the end of January. Our team was so small, we decided to wait until Conor Gallagher returned from Colombia with our new visiting student, Jose Manuel Rojas Rosero.

The high school would like to thank Simon’s Rock College of Bard for allowing us to use their gym, as well as their chemistry lab! We are tremendously fortunate to be able to share their fabulous facilities.

Concerning Goodness
by Stephen Sagarin, High School Chair - 10 Feb 2008

In the absence of knowledge or data, we tend to rank others as less honest than they actually are, as a well-known study of taxpayers by Michael Wenzel demonstrates. People behave better than we acknowledge, however, and evidence can change our perceptions. In a recent radio essay, Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist.com, addressed what he has learned from his cooperative website:

“Years of customer service have changed the way I think about people … now I believe that people are overwhelmingly trustworthy and deeply OK. I don’t want to sound sanctimonious or syrupy, but for the past seven years, I’ve been doing full-time customer service for Craigslist, interacting with thousands of people. I see that most people share a similar moral compass; They play fair, they give each other a break, and they generally get along. I see that pretty much everyone operates by that Golden-Rule thing.”

We are all pretty good, then, and we live in a world concerned with goodness. Goodness, in its modern form, however, is sometimes taken to be simply the absence of rascally behavior – if you refuse to play fair, to give others a break, to get along, or to follow the Golden Rule, then you’re not good, in this view. Is this sufficient for a consideration of morality and moral education?

In a recent doctoral dissertation on moral reasoning in high school students, Christine Hether found that Waldorf high school seniors outscored seniors from other schools, to a significant degree, on a standard test of moral reasoning. Her research led her to conclude that Waldorf education nourishes and enhances moral development by continually reminding students of what it is to be a whole human being.
Rudolf Steiner, among others, establishes a connection between moral reasoning and moral action. For Steiner, for Hether, it is taking action that counts. (A dictator may score highly in moral reasoning without herself being a moral person.)

If there is one agent that binds conceptions of developing goodness in our students, it is wholeness. Reduce or fragment childhood or education, and the possibilities for moral development leak out or evaporate. Strive for understandings and approaches that increasingly honor and comprehend the whole--physical, emotional, spiritual--and moral education and moral development become realities.

The Next Open House Is For Everyone!
by Julian Stanton ’11 - 10 Feb 2008

Did you come to the most recent Open House at the Great Barrington Waldorf High School? The parking lot was full of cars and the school building was overflowing with people. The teachers spoke about the curriculum, and some of the students spoke about their experiences at the school. The visiting German students spoke about why they wanted to come here and their stay here so far. As usual the refreshments were delicious. There was so much excitement it felt like a party.

“The best way to get to know the school is to talk with teachers, students, and parents,” says Ms. Gallagher, the enrollment coordinator.

We invite you all to our next Open House at the Great Barrington Waldorf High School on Tuesday, March 11, 2008, at 7:30 p.m. In addition to the students visiting from Germany, you will hear from José Manuel Rojas Rosero who is visiting from Colombia, and Conor Gallagher who has just returned from there.The current high school students and their parents are at these gatherings as well, and they always become fun, social occasions for us all.

December Calendar
by Staff - 15 Jan 2008

Tuesday, December 4 to December 9
Happy Hannukah.

Friday, December 21
Last day of school.

Tuesday, December 25
Merry Christmas.

Thursday, December 26 to January 1
Happy Kwanzaa.

Tuesday, January 1
Happy New Year!

High School Open House
Thursday, January 24 at 7:30 p.m.
Tuesday, March 11 at 7:30 p.m.
Please come to find out more about our school. Bring your friends. Everyone welcome. Refreshments provided.

Marvin Bradford
by Elizabeth Orenstein ’10 - 15 Jan 2008

Marvin Bradford got off the bus at exactly 8:13 every morning. He walked the 217 steps to his favorite coffee shop and bought an iced double-shot latte. From there he meandered to his office which he didn't like, so he took his time. There were precisely 38 steps to the elevator that took him 151 feet up to his floor. His office was 104 paces to the right, and then he would shuffle in his bag for his key, unlock the fuchsia door, and enter the fuchsia office. Marvin hated fuchsia. Yet it seemed to dog him wherever he went.
At 8:13 on this particular morning Marvin pulled the cord at just the right moment and stood up. The bus lurched forward then came to a stop. He made his way down the aisle, which always took a while because he had to memorize everyone's outfits: the ridiculous straw-brimmed hat a lady wore. The brown tweed of a man’s shabby jacket. The bus driver was slumped in his seat. He saw the black grooved flooring of the bus and the shiny white walls. He noticed the gum on the handrail so he didn't use it.
He had to remember everything he saw because one day he would go blind. That’s when he would need something to see. He knew he was going blind because every man in his family went blind somewhere around his 36th birthday.
As he carefully climbed down the stairs to the gray sidewalk he noticed the fuchsia shoes of a woman waiting to get on. But it wasn't her shoes that made him trip, it was the shoes the woman behind her wore. They were sparkling gold stilettos. Just then the sun struck them and reflected in his eyes, and he tripped.
He fell off the last step of the Number 5 bus and landed flat on his face. Stunned, he lay on the asphalt for a second or two. Then he found his feet, groped around for his briefcase, and carefully stood up.
The woman with the fuchsia shoes was still there. She was smiling at him. As he walked away he kept seeing her smile. He knew that he would always be able to see her smiling, in an understanding way.
Perhaps he wouldn’t remember everyone’s outfits. Perhaps he wouldn’t remember the color of the pavement or the gum on the handrail. But he would always remember the woman’s smile.
And that, thought Marvin Bradford, was something to go blind for.

[This was an English class assignment, an exercise in taking a seemingly everyday event, like tripping while getting off a bus, and turning it into a brief story.]

Kwanzaa: A Celebration of Family, and Culture
by Sarita Orobio ’11 - 15 Jan 2008

Not all the ways of celebrating this special time of year are religious. In certain parts of the world, the blessings of family, community, and culture are the main purpose of the season’s celebration.
On occasion I take care of GBRSS parent Judith Blak’s two children, Clint and Thor. This family celebrates Kwanzaa in December. Kwanzaa is a non-religious, African American and Pan-American holiday observed from December 26 through January 1. It comes from the first harvest celebrations in Africa from which it takes its name: a phrase in Swahili, meaning "first fruits." This first-fruits celebration originated in Ancient Egypt, and is still celebrated in classical African civilizations. The five principles of Kwanzaa are ingathering; reverence; commemoration; commitment; and celebration.
Kwanzaa has seven principles that are accompanied by special symbols. Each of the seven days during which Kwanzaa is celebrated is dedicated to one of the principles.

NGUZO SABA (Seven Principles)
Umoja (Unity): To strive for and maintain unity in family, community, nation, and race.
Kujichagulia (Self Determination): To define ourselves, name ourselves, create for ourselves, and speak for ourselves.
Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility): To build and maintain our community together and make our brother's and sister's problems our problems and solve them together.
Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics): To build and maintain our own stores, shops, and other businesses and to profit from them together.
Nia (Purpose): To make our collective vocation the building and developing of our community in order to restore our people to their traditional greatness.
Kuumba (Creativity): To do always as much as we can, in the way we can, in order to leave our community more beautiful and beneficial than we inherited it.
Imani (Faith): To believe with all our heart in our people, our parents, our teachers, and our leaders.
The symbols represent :
The Crops: rewards of reproductive and collective labor.
The Mat: the foundation on which our history and traditions are built.
The Candle Holder: Symbolic of our children and our future which they embody.
The Seven Candles: Symbolic of the seven principles, the matrix and minimum set of values which African people are urged to live by in order to rescue and reconstruct their lives in their own image and according to their needs.
The Unity Cup: Symbolic of the foundational principle and practice of unity which makes all else possible.
Gifts, Decorations and Colors: The gifts are given to the children by the parents to symbolize the labor and love of parents and the commitments made and kept by the children. The gifts must always include a book to help them value the traditions and a heritage symbol to reinforce their commitment to tradition and history. The colors that are used to decorate are black, red, and green. The center of the Kwanzaa table is decorated with beautiful and prized African objects.
Dr. Maulana Karenga created Kwanzaa in 1966 in the midst of the Black Freedom Movement. Its existence and the length of the celebration have to do with what it represents and where the first-fruits celebration first originated. It is meant to reinforce the meaning of community and to remind people that to accomplish anything one must work together.
The Kinara is the Kwanzaa menorah. It has seven candles, a black one in the center, three green and three red candles on either side.
Kwanzaa is a beautiful celebration to thank, honor, and gather together, to bond, and in this way, help create a better community for all the generations to come. As we all know, no matter how you celebrate during this time of the year, it is always a time for helping and gratitude.

Sueños
by Anna Sierau ’10 - 15 Jan 2008

Sueños de pececitos en el
océano, sueños de tí.
Sueños de quetzales en la
selva, sueños de tí.
Sueños flores en el vera
no, sueños de tí.
Sueños del sol y la luna,
sueños de tí.
Sueños de caminar en la
playa, sueños de tí.
Sueños de merengue y
tango, sueños de tí.
Sueños grandes, sueñitos,
todos de tí.

BizFit
by Staff - 15 Jan 2008

Once a week students from the Great Barrington Waldorf High School walk over to Bizfit Personal Training in downtown Great Barrington and work out. Owned and operated by Mike Bissaillon, Bizfit opened its doors in September of 2006. Mike has been a personal trainer for sixteen years. His love of sports and exercise make him an ideal trainer for teenagers who want to learn more about fitness.

Mike’s style of training focuses on the movement of the entire body. “Training all of the body's systems at once rather than isolating individual muscles is designed to work for the elite athlete as well as for the retired businessman or busy teenager,” according to Mike. “Training the body in the way it was designed to move helps to increase strength, flexibility, joint mobility, balance, and coordination. It also promotes fat loss, develops lean muscle, and contributes to an overall feeling of well being.”
“It’s a highlight of our week,” says Eliot Stier ’09. “Thanks, Mike.”

The Fox and the Grapes
by Eliot Stier ’09 - 15 Jan 2008

Fiction
The Fox and the Grapes
By Eliot Stier ’09

I opened my eyes until I noticed how bright it was. I tried to turn away from the light but instead rolled right off my park bench. I had slept until around midday again and the sun had already reached its peak in the cloudless sky. It was another sweltering midsummer day that turned the whole city into a giant kiln. I pushed the newspapers off me and put on my sunglasses. After finishing the whiskey I had left over from the night before, I stood up and started pushing my Sears shopping cart through the park, looking for a park bench with more shade. After a while I noticed some movement in the tall reeds to my left. Maybe it’s Frank, I thought. He’s probably trying to avoid me since I lent him money last month. I pulled back the reeds.
“Hey Frank, I want it by the end of the week.”
I noticed halfway through my sentence that Frank wasn’t there at all. The cause of the rustling reeds was an incredibly large fox, now scampering away with such little ease that for a moment I entertained the possibility that it was a man in a fox costume. But then I couldn’t find a motive for a man wearing a fox costume, much less one who would arbitrarily shake reeds when people walk by, and, when they come to investigate, scamper off with the agility of a drunk hippopotamus.
This fox had piqued my curiosity so I followed it to see what it was up to. Keeping a safe distance between us, for I didn’t want to frighten him, I ducked behind shrubs and trees, making sure he wouldn’t see me. Suddenly the Goliath of foxes stopped and stared straight up at a cluster of grapes hanging from a tree. Do foxes eat grapes? I thought to myself. And aren’t they nocturnal? I guess I don’t really know about foxes. Maybe it had rabies or something of the sort.
The fox stared up at these grapes for about twenty minutes, before looking around to make sure he was safe. Unfortunately I had gotten bored with watching him, so by now I was in plain view, trying to light the rest of a cigarette I had found by striking two rocks together. For a moment our eyes met. Then he made the strangest sound I’ve ever heard. It was like a dog trying to quack like a duck. Then the fox showed me his teeth and sneezed. I think he was somewhat ashamed of his attempt at intimidation, because then he turned around and looked back up at the grapes.
The fox jumped up at the grapes and swung his paw at them. But the grapes were still about four feet out of his reach even when he jumped. He tried again, and again, and again to get those grapes, but he just couldn’t reach. In a fit of fury, he stamped his paws on the ground, and started shuffling off. As he left I heard him mumble, “Stupid grapes, they probably taste like the outside of a walnut any ways.”
And from that day forward I haven’t drunk a drop of alcohol.

[This is an English class assignment in which students were asked to re-write a familiar fable in their own words for contemporary readers.]

Winternacht
by Darius Graeff ’10 - 15 Jan 2008

Verschneit liegt rings die ganze Welt,
ich hab’ nichts, was mich freuet,
verlassen steht der Baum im Feld,
hat langst sein Laub verstreuet.

Der Wind nur geht bei stiller Nacht
Und ruttelt an dem Baume,
da ruhrt er seinen Wipfel sacht
undredet wie im Traume.

Er traumt von kunft’ger Fruhlingszeit,
von Grun and Quellenrauschen,
wo er im neuen Blutenkleid
zu Gottes Lob wird rauschen.

Joseph von Eichendorf

Ich liebe dieses Gedicht. Der Author hat ein lebendiges Bild geschaffen . Als ich dieses Gedicht zum ersten mal gelesen habe, hatte ich sofort ein Bild in meinem Kopf von einer Winterlandschaft, einem grossen Baum der träumt, von vielen bunten Blüten und rauschenden Quellen. Ich mag die Idee von träumenden Bäumen die nicht einsam sein wollen. Ich kann mir das genau vorstellen, wenn ich dieses Gedicht lese.

Recipe: A Tropical Christmas
by Sarita Orobio ’10 - 15 Jan 2008

Close your eyes, take a deep breath, and bite into a warm, crunchy hojaldra. Let each bite transport you closer to the warm, sultry country of Colombia. Feel the spirit of a tropical Christmas course through you, and let your heart be warmed by the traditions of the land.
The word " hojaldra" comes from the word "hoja" meaning "leaf" in Spanish. Before cooking, the dough is rolled out till it is as thin and smooth as a leaf. This simple dish is a Christmas delicacy, easy to make, and even easier to enjoy. The bread-like squares of fried dough are neither sweet nor salty. They can be eaten with many fillings, like jelly, sour cream, fresh mozzarella or feta cheese, cream cheese, maple syrup, honey, butter and even peanut butter. Delicious!
Ingredients:
1 lb. white flour
2 eggs
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. brown sugar
2 tablespoons butter
fresh water (about 1 cup)
cooking oil (for frying)
To begin, set fill a frying pan with oil and heat. While it heats, mix all the ingredients, except the water, in a medium bowl. Slowly add the water until the dough is homogenized and soft. If the dough becomes too wet, add more flour. Keep tasting and adjusting to make sure it’s just salty enough.
Cover a flat, smooth surface with cooking oil, and knead the dough until it resembles the consistency of a pie crust. Pinch the dough between two fingers. If it slowly falls back into its original form, it is ready.
Smooth more oil over a rolling pin, and stretch out the dough till it is like a thin sheet, no more than 2 mm thick. Cut the dough into even squares (or similar shape), making sure not to cut them too small (because they will burn) or too big (because they absorb all the oil, creating a greasy mush).
Now, go back to the heating oil and turn it up a few degrees. To check if it is hot enough, cut a small corner off the dough and drop it in the oil. It should sink to the bottom of the pan. If it rises back up after 10 seconds, the oil is ready. Drop the squares into the oil until the whole surface is covered. Once they come up and turn brownish, scoop them out, draining as much of the oil as possible. Set them on a plate covered with paper towels. Repeat until all the dough has been fried. Make sure that the oil is not too hot because the hojaldrs will burn.
Some of the hojaldras will puff up, creating a space to be filled with whatever variety of filling you choose. If you like, you can purchase a caramel-like spread at the Latin Market in town, called "arequipe.”
Maybe this Colombian dish will become a tradition, not only during the Christmas season, but on any day that you feel like cooking up a special dish that has the power of feeding your imagination and transport across the equator to a different world.

Happy Holiday
by Cailyn Nash ’10 - 15 Jan 2008

Snow falls
landing soundlessly
on the hard ground.
The sun reflects in your eyes,
Icicles drip down
The air chills, winter is outside.
People on ladders dress their homes
The fragrance of pine fills the cold air
The tree is decorated
Why are all the girls and boys behaving better
than they have all year?
Christmas day will soon be here
Bringing happiness and cheer
In homes throughout the world.

Rockets and Sleds
by Michael Graeff ’09 - 15 Jan 2008

As we juniors entered our Physics block, we were given long, strenuous math problems. This was supposed to help us to figure out even more complicated equations and prepare us for problems that lay ahead. For a while we saw no progress, felt no smarter. The questions became harder, the answers confusing. But eventually we pulled through and by now we’re finally beginning to see light.
Now for the fun part: I have here a physics problem for you. Let’s see if there is a Steiner student out there who can figure this one out:

A rocket-sled has a mass of 4,440 kg and is propelled by a solid-propellent rocket motor of 890,000-N thrust which burns for 3.9 sec.

What is the sled’s average acceleration and maximum speed?

This sled has a maximum acceleration of 30 g. How can that be, considering the data given?

If the sled travels a distance of 1,530 m while attaining a top speed of 860 m/sec, what is its average acceleration?

How did it attain that high a speed?

Diary Clip
by Michael Graeff ’09 - 15 Jan 2008

The night sky crawled into our vision. Its puffs of cotton clouds covered the moon and stars. Snow gently fell from the heavens, coating the hard earth with a thin layer of white. The wind howled through the large, dead pine trees like a lone wolf. Small tornadoes picked up dead leaves, and swirled them high into the sky. The bitter cold made my cheeks numb. My nose looked like a small cherry behind the steel helmet I wore. The Night of Mourning was finally here. The Night the Scourge would attack our small outpost in Northrend.
A thick green haze drifted in from the West. The smell of decaying flesh made our nostrils flare. As they came closer, the winds blew harder. The fires went out with a swift popping noise. The crackling of the pine smoldered in its little pile. We could hear the snapping and cracking of bones as the Scourge drew near. Sweat dripped from my forehead, freezing only seconds later. My heart started to race, pounding in my chest, with a familiar yearning to be freed. My hands grew hot under the mail.
I looked towards my group of soldiers. They stirred, their weapons at hand. Their bright green eyes melted into the haze. Their long hair whipped about in the cold winter wind. The archers, their short hair glued to their skulls, flexed their strong cheery bows as they drew back the long strings.
The screams of large beasts and the groans of the undead shook our resolve, weakening us. We had been stationed here to protect an ancient magic. Our task was to keep the mighty Frostmourne from reaching the tip of the world. We had to prevent Arthas the Death Knight from reaching the Lich king. But first we had to test our metal against the undead. Tonight, we were required to fight.
We raised our swords, maces, daggers, and shields. We strung our bows, we loaded our guns. Donned our silver mail, and marched to the front line. Our numbers were smaller than their army by a good two thousand men. But Arthas, their general, was not on the battle field, so we had a slim chance to hold their advancing army. Shouting our fierce battle cry, we clashed our weapons against our dented shields. We yelled into the wind, and prayed to the gods.
The Scourge lifted their broken, rusted swords, and gnashed their broken jaws. They slapped their rugged, black, moldy armor, and chanted to the heavens. The skeletons, with the milky white bones, stood in the front. They were followed by the ravaging ghouls, with their sharp teeth, long nails, and rotting breath. The bright red eyes of the undead shimmered like rubies across the frozen waste. Their cackles carried with the wind, and kissed our long ears. We shivered, but stood tall. Gritting our teeth, we started to charge.
Our yells drifted across the land, kicking up behind us in large clouds of white. Sweat flew from our brows as we ran at the enemy. The Scourge screamed as they charged us, their arms flailing, their weapons slashing.
Our archers let loose a barrage of arrows, which whistled by our heads, and covered the dusty sky as they rained down at the enemy. Their casters hurled large bolts of ice, sparks of fire, and twisting balls of shadow. We joined the fray. With a clash of steel on steel, we heard the blood curdling scream of soldiers as they flew across the field, the smash of bone against flesh.
The battle had begun.

[Who says computer games aren’t inspiring? Michael Graeff wrote the opening of his novel based on a popular computer game called World of Warcraft .]

Handmade Beeswax Candles for Sale
by Office - 15 Jan 2008

Please consider purchasing handmade beeswax candles to support our school:

Pinecones small $3 / large $5
Christmas trees $6
Christmas ornaments From $2 - $6
Corn cobs $10
Tapers $20

We also have beautiful Notecards of wood block prints made by the high school students: ten for $10.

Please all the high school at 413 528-8833 for more information or to purchase.

The Metaphor Game
by Ninth Graders - 15 Jan 2008

Someone thinks of a specific person and the rest have to guess who the person is. The way they figure this out is by asking, “If this person was a tree (or animal or flower or car or anything!) which tree would he or she be?”
This game will get you thinking about people in a whole new way. One of the best things about the Metaphor Game is that it can be played with as many people you want. You do not need a pen, or paper, or any cards.
If you play this game in the car be careful that the driver does not play, because accidents can occur when you’re having so much fun.

The Movie Game
by Alex Kushi ’10 - 15 Jan 2008

The idea of this game is to choose a movie, reverse the title, and then have some one else guess the name of the movie. For instance, if you say, "Drive Safely,” I would quickly guess the movie "Crash."
Another example would be if I chose the movie "Star Wars." I would reverse the literal meaning and say "Earth Peace." It is then your turn to guess what movie "Earth Peace" translates into.
This is a fun game to play with friends and, like the Metaphor Game, it can be played anywhere and you don’t need dice, cards, pens, or computers.

Holiday Greetings From Cali
by Conor Gallagher ’09 - 15 Jan 2008

Holiday Greetings from Colombia!
While you may have snow and frost and Christmas trees, I´m still here in Colombia, where Christmas has a different feeling. Sure, we have a fake evergreen, we buy each other presents and sing songs, but I must say, it is quite different without the cold. Anywho, I´m traveling with Jose to Bogota for two weeks of our vacations to visit his family and spend Christmas there. I´ll be back in Cali for New Year’s, then three short weeks of school before Jose and I board our plane headed for JFK. Last week a group of students and I wrote a play and performed it for the entire school. I was nervous speaking Spanish in front of everybody, but I think I pulled it off without too many mistakes. I believe my Spanish is improving, and I´ll have a lot to tell about when I return.
Happy holidays, and I´ll see you all in 2008.
Best, Conor

In Defense of Unwholesome, Disaffected Risk-Takers
by Stephen Sagarin, Faculty Chair - 15 Jan 2008

Granville Stanley Hall, turn-of-the-century psychologist and founder and first president of the American Psychological Association, helped to establish the contemporary view of adolescents as unwholesome, disaffected risk-takers. Since then, piles of research and popular opinion have helped to create the underclass of teens that annoy, scare and puzzle us grownups. We too often say good-bye to our children as they enter, say, seventh grade, hoping to see them again as human beings when they reach their late teens or early twenties.
No doubt teens are an enigma in our adolescent age—advertisers wish to sexualize and accelerate the development of children to that point in adolescence in which they realize their desires, can argue for them, but haven’t developed the forebrain skill of judgment necessary for the beginnings of wisdom. Advertisers then wish to keep all of us in this adolescent state until we die, consuming without thinking. You could say we are a culture obsessed with adolescence because we understand it so little, and that we understand it so little because we have created a culture that keeps us too close to it.
Because of their developmental stage, teens will usually act as we expect they will. Treat them with fear, and they’ll repay your trust; treat them with respect, and you’ll discover that they are more respectable than many of the adults you know. (These statements hold true for adults, too, but adults have enough self-control occasionally to ignore your trust—or your censure—if they choose.)
Teens, on the threshold of adulthood, defend themselves as they enter this new territory. Risk-taking is a mirror of idealism; what task or quest is worth putting myself on the line for? Disaffection is a mirror of feeling—life means so much; I can’t let it show. If we can see through the fronts that teens present, we discover intelligent, sensitive, thoughtful young men and women. I’ve taught four-year olds to swim and fifty-year olds social science research methods, but I enjoy and am privileged to teach open-minded, energetic, idealistic, humorous teenagers. Thanks, kids.

From Greasy Machines to Seductive Nymphs
by Eliot Stier ’09 - 28 Nov 2007

As the year swims along, seminars keep rolling our way. We meet each one with fresh interest and treat each new block like a new adventure.

In the first seminar offered to the juniors, we delved deep into the realm of short stories, through which Beth Robbins guided us.

Have you ever really read what seems at first just like a simple story? Do you see it the same way each time you read it?

In our Short Stories block, we read stories for homework and in class we analyzed and discussed them.We examined the works of some of the greatest writers who ever wielded a pen (or typewriter): Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Edgar Allen Poe, Eudora Welty, and others.

As we uncovered layers of hidden meanings and disturbing depths, we learned perhaps the most important lesson of all: not everything in life is as it first appears.

Dr. Stephen Sagarin taught History through Art with passion and expertise. All the new students to the school joined the freshmen for this renowned class, where we traveled back in time and journeyed on a course of history through art, from Paleolithic cave-drawings to Giotto and the Renaissance.

Mr. Sagarin also taught Late Medieval and Early Modern History to the junior class. We learned about Europe from one thousand years ago through the Age of Discovery. We had some fascinating discussions, and read letters written by Hernan Cortez, articles by Galileo, books by Machiavelli, Martin Luther’s Ninety-five Theses, and more.

While the juniors continued their study of history, the freshmen and sophomores conducted exciting experiments with Dr. Robert Oelhaf in Physics. Heavier objects do not fall faster than lighter ones, for example. Galileo set out to prove this, and so did we.

We also traveled to the Bellamy abode and the Sills’ farm to examine old tractor engines. We returned from the Sills’ farm, wiping our dirty hands on our pants, trying to remember which part of the greasy engine went on top.

And now as the whole school plunges into reading The Odyssey, the timeless story of seductive nymphs and man-eating Cyclops, we can say that it is definitely shaping up to be a good year.

Vikki True: Our Singing Muse
by Sarita Orobio ’11 - 28 Nov 2007

Closing her eyes, she sways back and forth, humming along with the piano, and tapping her feet in time with the music. She raises her hand, counts out loud and launches into the song again, this time gesturing for us to sing along with her. Her beautiful, rich voice fills the room, making it seem more alive than ever.

Vikki True comes to our school every Wednesday to teach our chorus class. We are lucky to be taught by such a gifted woman. She tells us about the new exciting pieces we will work on and asks for our opinion. She wants to know what we think of the pieces, or if there is anything that we would really like to sing, and she takes all our suggestions seriously, forming a mélange of songs that we all like.

On a sunny Wednesday after school, Vikki and I sit down on a warm sunlit rock while I asked her about her work and her life.

***

SO: When did you first begin singing and performing?

VT: I started singing when I was eighteen months old. My first dance performance was when I was three, and I had my first solo when I was six. I have always loved the arts.

SO: When did you first get serious about music?

VT: I became seriously involved with music when my father died. I did not know how to express my grief and singing was my only outlet. I began singing in coffee houses when I was fourteen, and got my first paying job at fifteen. I started school when I was four and graduated from high school in Louisville, Kentucky.

SO: I have heard that you have sung or performed with some really interesting people and groups.Could you name a few of them?

VT: I was the soloist for the Albany Symphony and just last May I was the guest soloist for a 180-person choir that performed at the Colonial Theater. I have also sung with Taj Mahal, Pete Seeger, and Ani di Franco. I toured France singing jazz, and I have participated in many jazz and folk festivals. I have also made six or seven CDs.
I have sung backup, arranged, and written music since the 70`s. I toured the south with a rock and roll band. In Minnesota I worked five hours a day, six days a week, fifty weeks a year with a show band. I did that for about three years. We also rehearsed three or four times a week.
I did not finish my degree when I was young but I returned to Mount Holyoke College, where I received a Bachelor’s of Arts Degree in music and theatre. I graduated Magna Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa. I now belong to the National Association of Teachers of Music and the International Association of Jazz Instructors.

SO: Why did you decide to work at a Waldorf school and when was your first association with this Waldorf School?

VT: My first association with the school was in 1988 because my stepchildren attended the school. I have also done benefit concerts for the school. Working with children that went to a Waldorf school excited me. I found that Steiner kids have a deeper sense of themselves, and I like working in a partnership. I find that I get good and honest feedback that I can use. It is really a joy for me.

SO: Is there anything else that you would like to say? Do you have any last thoughts that you want to include?

VT: Yes, there is a line from one of my songs that has become like a little mantra that I go by:
"Whatever song you sing,
Whatever song you sing,
Sing with all your heart
And dance right out your shoes.”

***

Ms. True tells us over and over how fortunate she is to be able to teach us, but I think we are the fortunate ones. The woman who started out as a young dancer and singer from Kentucky has forged a path for herself in the performing arts world that has led her straight to us. Yes, we definitely are fortunate to have such an amazing woman as our teacher, and we all appreciate the effort she makes for our small school.

Scoring Some Fun
by KayLee Bellamy ’11 - 28 Nov 2007

Climbing out of our warm sweatpants, our small soccer team huddles together, trying to forget that Simon’s Rock has a much bigger and stronger team than ours. Our brave coach, Michael Graeff, leans into our tight circle and gives us some last pointers. Cate Crowley, the assistant coach, runs up to us and reminds us to stay together, and tells us to win this game.

Conor, Darius, Anna, Sarita, KayLee, Michael, and five Hawthorne Valley students, Derek, Paul, Jordan, Lucas and Ben, troop onto the field. Each of us is trying to keep warm, bouncing on our toes, ready to play.

Winning games is not the sole expectation in sports. Of course you long to win, but in the end it all comes down to working as a team. Michael Graeff, Darius’s and Michael’s father, and Cate Crowley, a former student from the lower school, have been fabulous coaches in this regard.

Our first game was against Harstbrook. We did a good job in the first half, which ended tied 2 to 2, but Hartsbrook scored again in the second half, making the final score 3 to 2.

For our next game we drove all the way up to New Hampshire to play the High Mowing School. During the game it was pouring rain, so by the end we were shivering and soaked.

Our last game of the season was against Simon’s Rock, which we lost 4 to 0.

Although we didn’t win a game we had fun, and got to meet different people in the process.

People say playing sports is not about winning. Rather, that’s what those who lose say. But for our team, who fought against all odds and still lost, playing soccer this season really was all about working together as a team, and being out on the soccer field with our friends, doing our best.

Letter From Cali
by Conor Gallagher’ 09 - 28 Nov 2007

Dear Globe Readers, Writers, Editors,
Greetings from Colombia!

I’m living in Cali (look it up on a map) with Jose Manuel Rojas Rosero, his mother, Fabiola, and his father, Joachin. I go to Colegio Luis Oracio Gomez, Monday through Friday, and on the weekends I can travel to Jose’s finca (country house), or stay in the city and go to clubs to dance, go places to eat, or play sports and relax.

There are not four seasons here like in the Unites States, only a dry season and a rainy season. It’s rainy season right now, but that just means that it is about 80 or 90 degrees every day and it rains occasionally. Cali is in the Cauca Valley between two beautiful mountain ranges just a few miles from the city. I came here to learn Spanish, and so far I think it’s going well. Mi Espanol esta mejorando.

Classes begin at 7 a.m. and go until 3 p.m., but we have plenty of breaks during the day to buy a snack at the cafeteria or kick a soccer ball around.
Although I’m having a great time here, I’m looking forward to coming home with Jose Manuel. Until next time,

Hello From Munich
by Selina Potzl - 28 Nov 2007

One day I heard a boy from my class talking about his plan to make a New Zealand exchange.

Immediately, I thought: why shouldn’t I make one too? But there were a few problems: I didn't know where to go or where to stay and it couldn't be too expensive. It seemed impossible to find something. My teacher, Mrs. Hochleitner, found out that I was looking for an exchange program. She said she possibly had something for me.

But the months passed, and all my hopes were gone, and I didn't think about the exchange any longer. Then I was sitting on our couch when the phone rang. It was Mrs Hochleitner, who told me that everything was set and I should book a flight to the United States as soon as possible. I was shocked and amazed.

I quickly booked a flight and suddenly I was on the other side of the world. Even the homesickness and getting used to everything as I settled in wasn’t too hard, because everybody I met was just so nice and welcoming.

The next day we went to school. It was so tiny, I was really surprised. Everybody knows everybody. In Munich, in a school with 400 students and maybe 25 teachers, that is not possible. Also, playing
tennis in the sport lessons is different in Germany. I was astonished about the relaxed style at school, but I liked it very much. I was able to find out so many new things. I was very glad to meet so many nice, friendly and helpful people.

They made the start in Great Barrington easy for me. I was happy to be here for three months!
The classrooms were in a church and sometimes the ninth and tenth grades had lessons together. It didn't really feel like school as much as a big family where everybody knows everybody.

After a time I got used to the differences, and it was like a totally different life for me. The time passed by much too quickly. I had a lot of fun. I loved going on various trips with different peoples to Martha’s Vineyard and Vermont and the Pittsfield Mall. The last day I spent in New York City also was great.

Then suddenly my visit was over. When I went back home, I felt sad because I missed everything so much.

I highly recommend that everyone makes an exchange. It was a big adventure and at the same time the nicest and best experience I could ever have.

Now I want to thank all the people who made it possible for me to come: Frau Hochleitner and Frau Wirth, Dr. Sagarin and all the teachers at the Great Barrington Waldorf High School, and the Stiers, my host family. I hope I will see you all again! Please come and visit me here in Munich.
Have a great time and a hopefully great new school year.

Food Travel
by Michael Graeff ’09 - 28 Nov 2007

For those of you who aren’t lucky enough to attend the Great Barrington Waldorf High School and travel with us to Germany or Peru or go on other exciting travel adventures, we’re offering the opportunity to at least enjoy some delicious recipes from far off places. Tasting foreign foods is a good way to get a sense of other cultures and places, and they can give your taste buds an exciting surprise.

Here’s a healthy recipe from a foreign land, Germany, that will send your taste buds rolling to a distant culture of flavors, smells, and tastes. I got this idea from Eliot when he screamed out in class “Knockwurst!” After researching several cookbooks and Internet websites, I went to Foodnetwork.com: a wonderful place for wonderful recipes. I tried out one of the recipes for Bratwurst. It was tasty, but I knew I could improve it. I added a little bit of spices, and a little bit of kraut, and called it my own. Being fall, this little recipe will warm your hearts and your spirits.

Beer Braised Bratwurst with Onions

1/4 pound (1 stick) butter, sliced into pats
1 large white onion, thinly sliced
8 bratwursts (any flavor)
2 (12-ounce) cans of beer, any kind is fine
8 hoagie buns
A pinch of salt and pepper
A combo of your favorite spices

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Preheat grill to high heat.

Place pats of butter in the bottom of a large, deep, glass oven-safe dish. Lay onions on top of butter. Place bratwurst on top of onions. Add the spices and salt and pour beer over all ingredients. Cook in oven for 20 minutes.

When finished cooking in oven, place bratwurst on a hot grill for five minutes. Remember to turn the wurst to prevent burning. Remove the onions from the beer and discard beer mixture. Place each bratwurst in a bun and top with the onions. Serve and enjoy with your favorite sauce, or eat it plain with onions. The combinations are endless.

This is one of Germany’s famous meals and I hope your taste buds are thrilled when you bite into it. Travel with us across the globe, discovering new and exciting cultures through exotic recipes. From the delicious bratwurst, we will next land on the sandy beaches of Columbia, to travel with a roasted plaintain in hand, or perhaps to Peru, where exquisite spices will warm your heart.

The Perfect Popcorn
by Evan Crispell ’10 - 28 Nov 2007

Salty, buttery, freshly-made popcorn sizzled and popped at the annual Holiday Handcraft Fair at the lower school.

Many thanks to Chris Bellamy (parent of KayLee Bellamy ’11) for helping set up the charming old-fashioned popcorn maker that greeted fair-goers at the entrance of the school.

This year the Waldorf high school students helped dozens of younger children decorate 100% organic cotton Patagonia shirts generously donated by Melissa Kushi (parent of Alex Kushi ’10). They also had the option of decorating their own lunch boxes. Thanks to High School Art Teacher Elizabeth Lombardi for helping to coordinate this wonderful place for children to relax and create something lasting and beautiful for themselves.

As the scent of pine and freshly dipped beeswax candles swept through the crowded halls, did you find your way to the room that exhibited students’ work from first through twelfth grades?

If you missed the display of our high school work or have more questions about the Great Barrington Waldorf High School, come to one of our Open Houses or call 413 528-8833.

Thanksgiving - A Time for Peace
by Cailin Nash ’10 - 28 Nov 2007

The smell of roasting turkey, mashed potatoes, green beans, cooked carrots, and other delicious foods has my mouth watering in anticipation for weeks before Thanksgiving.

This Thanksgiving my older brother Soren and his wife Izzy, who live in New Jersey, will visit us and we will all go to our neighbor’s house. This has become our tradition. Thanksgiving to me is a time to hang out with relatives whom you do not see often, to catch up on news, to play with other kids. It’s one of my favorite holidays.
One of the reasons is that, unlike Christmas, Thanksgiving is all about family and friends, not about presents. For those who have relatives who live far away, Thanksgiving is great day for a reunion. Maybe not always, but hopefully usually, everyone works together to make an effort not to quarrel.

During the first Thanksgiving, the colonists could not decide how to worship together since they came from a variety of religious sects. After listening to their arguing for two days, John Winthrop, the leader of the fledgling colony, ordered everyone to go home and worship privately, in any way they chose. Only afterwards did they all join together to feast and celebrate and enjoy each other’s company.

Thanksgiving is about tolerance.

As the last plate is set on the table, we all hold our breath while the enormous juicy or vegetarian lentil loaf turkey is brought in.

inally the turkey is carved and even relatives who have not talked to each other in years or who are always arguing, stop glaring and instead dig into the heaping plates in front of them. Now is the time to talk about all of the new things that have occurred in your life. Now is the time to put your differences aside and simply enjoy being all together.

It’s a time to carry on the old traditions, year after year, never letting them die out.

Waldorf High School Graduates: Who Are They, Where Are They Going?
by Winslow Eliot, Globe Advisor - 28 Nov 2007

For the past few years researchers at the Research Institute for Waldorf Education (RIWE) have formulated, conducted, and evaluated a survey of North American Waldorf high school graduates, starting with the first Waldorf school senior class in 1943 and culminating with the class of 2005.

Based on a sample of approximately 550 participants spanning some sixty years, the survey finds that a majority of Waldorf school graduates share many characteristics, of which three predominate:

1. Waldorf school graduates value the opportunity to think for themselves and to translate their new ideas into practice. They both value and practice life-long learning and have a highly developed sense for aesthetics.
2. Waldorf school graduates value lasting human relationships—and they seek out opportunities to be of help to other people.
3. Waldorf school graduates sense they are guided by an inner moral compass that helps them navigate the trials of professional and private life. They carry high ethical principles into their chosen professions.

This survey is the first of its kind on this continent, and the findings parallel similar surveys conducted recently of Waldorf school graduates in Germany and Sweden. With more than 250 Waldorf schools in North America, and more than one thousand internationally, Waldorf education is one of the strongest independent school movements in the world.
The survey shows that a typical Waldorf high school graduate:

-Highly values interpersonal relationships (96%)
-Attends college (94%)
-Is self-reliant and highly values self-confidence (94%)
-Highly values verbal expression (93%) and critical thinking (92%)
-Practices and values life-long learning (91%)
-Highly values tolerance of other viewpoints (90%)
-Is highly satisfied in choice of occupation (89%)
-Graduates (or is about to graduate) from college (88%)
-At work cares most about ethical principles (82%) and values helping others (82%)
-Majors in arts/humanities (47%) or sciences/math (42%) as an undergraduate
-Expresses a high level of consciousness in making relationships work—both at home and on the job.

The survey is comprised of twelve major sections and a statistical analysis performed on the findings of several sections, including comparisons of Waldorf school graduates and the general U.S. population, as well as contrasts of recent and older graduates.

Additional chief findings of the survey show that Waldorf school graduates:
-are committed to self-assessment and working through life’s difficulties;
-are creative problem solvers, able to “think outside the box;”
-exercise environmental stewardship;
-demonstrate high levels of both “social” and “emotional” intelligence.

Employers of Waldorf graduates as well as college and university professors who had Waldorf high school graduates in their classes were asked to rate Waldorf students with whom they had contact. On the whole, their comments support the statistics.

Both professors and employers rate Waldorf alums even more highly in terms of moral and life skills than graduates rate themselves.
In response to questions about their greatest gifts and joys, students overwhelmingly single out their personal relationships, especially those involving family and close friends.

But they also point to their love of practicing art and being active in nature, as well as their desire to help others. Regarding their greatest challenges, their most common responses involve self-questioning, achieving a balanced life, and deciding which of their many interests to follow and deepen.

The survey is published by the Research Institute for Waldorf Education. Research and analysis is by Douglas Gerwin, PhD, and David Mitchell, with statistical analysis by Ida Oberman, PhD, and Yasuyo Abe, PhD.

It is printed with support from the Waldorf Educational Foundation. An article summarizing the survey and the complete report can be read at http://awsna.org/pubsofinterest.htm.

Life Support: Recent High School Forum Speakers
by Stephen Sagarin, High School Chair - 29 Nov 2007

We didn’t set out to create a theme in our weekly Forum discussions at the High School, but the work of three of our recent speakers dovetails neatly to present a clear view of a sustainable, healthy future for our students and the world.

Earlier in the fall, American Indian filmmaker, activist and healer Fidel Moreno spoke to us about the International Day of Peace and about work he has done in independent films and for National Geographic to show the history of American Indians and how human beings and nature are inextricably linked.

A few weeks ago, Art Ames, Manager of the Co-Op in Great Barrington, presented his work and the work of co-ops in general, demonstrating democratic, egalitarian, and human principles that balance the simple drive to accumulate more money.

“The Berkshire Cooperative Association exists to cultivate a sustainable local economy and build community with a member-owned natural foods store as its primary vehicle,” he says.

It aims “to be a transformative force in the community; to serve as a model of a sustainable business alternative; and to nurture social and economic well-being in an environmentally sensitive manner.”

And two weeks ago, Laird Townsend, former editor at Orion Nature Quarterly and now working for Project Word, presented his recent travels to live with an indigenous tribe in Peru. According to Townsend, “Project Word places special emphasis on working with writers, artists, and indigenous leaders who can not only convey overlooked stories, injustices, and sensibilities, but also provide insight into cultural changes needed for coming generations to thrive.”

In different ways all three of these Berkshire County residents are imagining and working toward a future for all of us that will heal and better the world. We are grateful for their work and for the time they gave our students.

Editorial: Our Town
by Elizabeth Orenstein ’10 - 28 Nov 2007

Golden leaves skid down the aging sidewalk to the tune of rumbling cars and skipping children. Walk through Great Barrington, pause to take a deep breath, look around, and observe: instead of hordes of people, brown and red leaves flutter past, taking with them the last remnants of summer and bringing a foreshadowing of the long, cold months ahead.

Weekends are still crowded, but less so as the weeks pass. Awnings are retracted, summer homes closed up for the winter, and our parents bring out the long underwear, much to our chagrin. People seem more patient as they wait in line at grocery store check-outs. Shopkeepers lose the harried look of summer. We high schoolers notice these changes during our lunch break, and as we roam through town with friends, or work hard at our respective jobs up and down Railroad Street and Main Street.

Just the other day our eloquent eleventh grader, Eliot Stier, remarked, “Yeah, dude, now we can finally work in peace.”
It's not unusual to come across some hopelessly lost soul from some obscure mid-western town and have them ask you where “Mai-hah-wee” is.

We indulge them, we smile and offer to teach them the correct pronunciation, and give them the desired directions, but it’s always with a small pang. It's a pang of sadness at what is fading. The fun of summer is over, and now the leaves have peaked, winter is really about to set in.

We indulge in a moment of nostalgia for the over-crowded lake beaches, the full, noisy restaurants, and the lack of parking spaces… for the summer heat, the humidity, and the cool energy of early fall.

But as the tourists start to head back to the big cities, a peacefulness sets in. Some visitors stick around for the carnival of leaves in mid-October, but then they too depart. With the last of the leaf-peepers a collective sigh of relief goes through town.

That's the time, when the nights are quiet again and the crickets are retiring for the winter, that's the time when we get our town back.

IMAGINE. . .
by Sarita Orobio ’11 - 06 Nov 2007

Imagine what it would be like to walk along the ancient Inca ruins in Cusco, Peru, or to hike the Inca trail on Machu Pichu, places which are still alive with the spirits of the people who inhabited them thousands of years ago.

Or imagine visiting the bustling city of Munich, Germany, then flying to Berlin and standing in front of the Brandenburg gate, the symbol of Berlin!

Thanks to our wonderful exchange program, we get to visit one of these wonderful places.

Right now, we are studying as hard as we can and preparing for the trips. We have many fundraisers, including a bake sale in front of Matrushka in Great Barrington on the first Saturday of every month.

Because of the small language groups we are able to learn much more and the teachers can work one-on-one with each individual student.

During every German class we discuss the places that we are going to visit, and create projects based on what we have learned.

The Spanish students will visit Peru. They will take donations that they have been collecting, and do volunteer work with the Proyecto Qewar, which helps a community of people in Cusco.

This helps our students get a sense of the traditional culture of the Quechua-speaking people of the Andes, and to see firsthand the living and working conditions of indigenous people today.

They will have the extraordinary privilege of visiting Inca ruins in Cusco, such as Sacsahuayman.

They will visit the city of Cusco and the Sacred Valley of the Urubamba river.

The trip will present a great physical challenge, but it's worth it to experience the grandeur of the Andes.

They'll also attend classes at Colegio Waldorf De Lima, where they'll stay with school families and visit the historical city of Lima.

They'll even get to see the actual factory where eurythmy shoes used in the lower school are made.

Senora Nunez is in conversation with the Lima school regarding the possibility of some of their students working with them at the Project and joining them on the hike.

"In preparing for the trip, students are already beginning to think of buying waterproof jackets, pants, and hiking boots, " according to Senora Nunez. "In class they are learning about the geography of Peru, the Incan civilization. Most importantly, they are learning more and more Spanish."

Every morning the German students are greeted by Frau Wirth`s cheery "Guten morgen." We begin class by reciting a poem that each of us says in turn.

Frau Wirth tells us about Germany and every day we grow more and more excited. We read out loud from The Little Prince, which allows us to perfect our pronunciation.

Because of our small class size, we have the great luck of going to Frau Wirth's house, eating waffles all together, and watching movies in German.

While we're in Munich we will attend classes at the Waldorf school there and stay with the families of students. We will experience what life is like in a large European city, we'll try great new food, see people whom we met when they stayed with us, and learn more about the history and culture of the country.

We are very lucky to have these extraordinary opportunities, and also to have language teachers who are as dedicated as Frau Wirth and Senora Nunez. We are all anxiously counting down the time till our trips in April.

Zips and Ladders
by Cailin Nash ’10 - 06 Nov 2007

Sweat dripped from my brow and my whole body shook as I began my ascent up the swinging ladder.

On our first day of school, after the assembly was over, all the high school students boarded the bus and headed to Hi-Rock.

Every year students at the Great Barrington Waldorf High School take this three-day trip.

Hi-Rock is a great way to start the year. Since the entire high school takes part, including all the teachers, it's a great way for all of us to get to see old friends and meet new ones.

This year we started the trip with hiking. It was not a long, strenuous hike, but it was not all flat either.

Our destination was to Sage's Ravine, a charming, relaxing place to rest and catch our breath.

When we got back we had free time before dinner. Some of our activities are planned in a way that we can work together and support each other, or we can hang out and just get to know each other better.

Every morning we got up at 7:45 a.m. and ate breakfast, and then we had some time to ourselves.

On the second day we did an activity that required patience and teamwork.

Six cups full of water were placed on a board. We had to move the board back up the beach without spilling any water.

Every time water spilled our counselors would take points off.

Although it may sound easy now, don't be fooled.

In order to move the board there had to be at least six people touching the board with only one finger and one hand.

There also had to be four people holding the board. The four people holding the board could not move their feet, so they had to alternate with the people who could use only one finger.

The most challenging part was for people to listen to everyone's ideas. This was harder than it sounds!

After we finally accomplished this, we had the option of going to the waterfront. There we could canoe, swim, or play volleyball.

After it was dark we went on a night hike and then we had a campfire and roasted marshmallows.

The final day was the most challenging: climbing rope ladders and balancing forty feet in the air.

Last year when I did the high ropes course I was terrified. I thought that this year it might be easier because I had already done it, but I was wrong.

Just the thought of going so high up into the air made my knees weak and my hands tremble.

But then I felt something happen inside me. I knew that I had to do it. I realized that you only have one life to live, and if you live your life afraid to try new things, then you won't have advice to offer or exciting stories to tell when you're older.

And it's not all about proving a point; it is also about the sense of accomplishing something that you originally thought was impossible.

Overall, I believe that climbing the high ropes course will always be the highlight of our trips to Hi-Rock.

We were given the chance to challenge ourselves, and to find out something about ourselves that we never knew before.

A Man Called Dr. Oelhaf
by Eliot Stier ’09 - 06 Nov 2007

This year we have a new teacher at our school: Dr. Robert Oelhaf.

He teaches the math skills classes to the junior class, and geometry and physics to the freshmen and sophomores.

He has been living in Germany, and a long time ago he was a co-founder of the high school Hawthorne Valley School.

He also has a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Maryland.

Why did you decide to work at our school?

"I wanted to find a place where I could contribute to the wonderful World of Waldorf."

Now that you've been working here for several weeks what can you say about our school?

"I like it. It has a very congenial, nice atmosphere. Everyone gets along, teachers and students alike."

I know you were a co-founder of Hawthorne Valley High School. Do you think this school will someday end up as large as Hawthorne Valley?

"Well, for the moment it looks as though it will stay pretty small, but you never know, Hawthorne Valley was just as small when it started."

We're all very glad Dr. Oelhaf is one of our teachers.

Out to Lunch
by Darius Graeff ’10 - 06 Nov 2007

Which other schools offer a privilege as cool as going into town and buying your own lunch?

Here at the Great Barrington Waldorf High school, every day at noon, students leave the school grounds to buy and eat lunch together in town.

There are many terrific eateries in Great Barrington. This wide variety includes Subway, Alex Café, Azteca, The Co-op Manhattan Pizza, Dunkin Donuts, and even the coffee shop.

I think this privilege is a great way to help students increase their sense of responsibility and to teach them about socialization. It gives them a taste of how life will be after they graduate.

What could possibly be better than going out to lunch and having a great time with your friends!?

Freedom and Responsibility
by Sandra Hernandez ’09 - 06 Nov 2007

After going to many different schools, I have come to realize that, at the Great Barrington Waldorf High School, the students' privileges are very different from the ones at all the other schools I have attended.

At the GBWHS, we are treated like adults. We are trusted to make the right choice, and to act in a proper way.

For example, we are given the privilege of going into Great Barrington for lunch, when no other schools in the area allow their students to do this.

We also have student-led forums, in which we are able to discuss any issues that might arise, as well as to talk about positive things about the school, and even the direction in which we want the school to head.

We are given time during school, without teachers, to discuss this. Not many schools trust their students enough to let them meet independently.

The reason we have these privileges is that we all take the responsibility that goes along with them seriously.

Since we have a small school, we also take a lot more trips to places we might not normally visit. We get to take classes we might not normally be able to take, such as calligraphy, zoology, blacksmithing, fencing, bookbinding, and horseback riding.

At other schools there may be more classes to choose from, but the classes one takes are optional, not required, and so one xs interests become narrow.

At GBWHS we are better prepared for life because we are all required to take four years of English, math, science, and social studies as well as all the "extras," which in our school are not "extra," but part of the curriculum.

We all do everything, and we are very focused on our school work. At other schools there may be more people to interact with, but we create stronger bonds with our fellow students because there aren xt many of us.

“Hot Fuzz” Enforces Laughs
by Evan Crispell ’10 - 06 Nov 2007

Nicolas Angel (Simon Pegg), London's most serious and efficient cop, is so good he is making everyone else look bad.

He is promoted to sergeant but transferred to Sanford, a charming country town where the worst crimes are the trimming of a neighbor's hedges and an annoying human statue. Or at least that's what appears to be the case.

As Angel and his chubby partner Danny Butterman (Nick Frost) investigate a series of strange deaths it becomes evident there is more to the town than meets the eye.

"Hot Fuzz," the newest film from Edgar Wright, who gave zombies life with "Shaun of the Dead," pokes fun at the buddy cop movie and to a lesser extent murder mysteries.

With a cast that includes Jim Broadbent, Billie Whitlaw, Edward Woodward, Paul Freeman, and Anne Reid (Peter Jackson and Cate Blanchet are even hidden in it), the movie is filled with brilliant and hilarious characters, such as the creepy supermarket owner, played by an exceptional Timothy Dalton.

The movie is made, however, by the straight-faced humor of the central pair Angel and Butterman. The spoofs seem perfectly real, unlike many other spoof movies, and they fit snugly in with the plot.

Although the film was not as perfectly crafted as "Shaun of the Dead," the movie did an impressive job of parodying the clichªs of action movies.

The lines taken from movies like "Bad Boys 2" and "Point Break" are placed to make a clever satire of the genre. "Hot Fuzz" is a movie that makes you laugh at the characters even as you fall in love with them.

Thank You To All Our Volunteers
by Anna Sierau ’10 - 06 Nov 2007

I walked into school, the smell of fresh paint itching my nose.

The smell was coming from the seminar room, so I went to see what had been painted.

At first I didn't notice anything different, then I looked at the walls to see if maybe someone had repainted them.

The walls themselves had not been repainted, but there were bulletin boards hanging, and they were painted a fresh white, matching the walls.

Chris Bellamy (parent of KayLee, class of 2011) had come in the previous afternoon and put them up. We now have many students' artwork pinned up, which adds charm and life to our seminar room.

Thank you, Mr. Bellamy!

In addition to being skilled in charcoal and calligraphy, our students also practice culinary arts.

Our monthly Saturday bake sales are not only successful in raising money for our language trips, but also are a way to let people know about our school.

Many thanks to those parents and students who bake such irrestible goodies every month, and also to those who stop by to support our school.

Thanks to Ramona Bellamy (KayLee's mom) we no longer have to borrow the lower school's soccer uniforms. We now have our very own uniforms, in our school colors, blue and orange.

Come and watch us win in them! On Friday, October 19, we were treated to a Spaghetti Social, arranged graciously and hosted deliciously by Anna Stanton (Julian Stanton's mother, class of 2011) and Christine Sierau (Anna Sierau's mother, class of 2010).

Many people helped make the mouth-watering homemade sauce and yummy apple crisp.

It was a wonderful opportunity to see old friends and meet many new ones, as well as raise much-needed funds for GBWHS.

Our school would not be the wonderful place it is without the diligence and energy contributed by our many volunteers.

Thank you all so very much.

Middle Age Roots
by Stephen Sagarin, Faculty Chair - 06 Nov 2007

Why do we go to school?

Why does international banking exist?

Our modern world has myriad roots in the Middle Ages, and these are just two questions that can be answered, in part, through a study of medieval history, a study that the 11th grade just concluded.

Charlemagne, or Charles the Great, six-foot-four in an age when the average man was five-foot-five, learned to read and write as an adult.

He developed such love and respect for literacy and the liberal arts that, when he wasn't converting pagans to Christianity at sword-point, he sponsored the founding of what became the first cathedral schools and universities in Europe.

These existed for the very few adults who could afford the leisure to pursue their studies, but gradually spread out and trickled down to the point at which children all over the world are now expected to learn to read and write.

During the Crusades, European nobles needed a safe way to fund their travels; carrying gold was difficult and dangerous.

The Knights Templar, militant monks who held vast property and wealth in common, provided a way for nobles to deposit money in, say, France, and withdraw it in, say, Jerusalem.

This process, profoundly more difficult to imagine then, in a time when many people lived their lives within a radius of ten miles of the home in which they were born, laid the foundation for banking as we know it today.

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