THE GLOBEIssue 1 Autumn 2012 Volume 10

Small School, Big WorldThe Newsletter of the Great Barrington Waldorf High School

We arrived at Hermit Island on Maine’s rocky coast late in the after-noon. For the seventh year, the GB-WHS seniors joined the senior classes of eight other Waldorf schools, total-ing more than 100 students, for the annual zoology seminar. We set up our tents as soon as we arrived and rushed off to explore and meet new friends. That evening, we all partic-ipated in a sing-along around a bon-fire, taking time to observe Rosh Ha-shanah.

Each morning we awoke before the sun and headed off to the tide pools. As Mr. Sagarin said, “Low tide waits for no one.” In addition to our zoolo-gy seminar, we attended workshops such as microscope lab, watercolor

painting, poetry, and beach & dune ecology. We were graced with clear skies until a powerful storm struck on Wednesday, when heavy rain and winds that reached 50 miles per hour swept through our campground. Tents were blown away and another school was forced to seek shelter in the beach kelp shed.

The next day, instead of going to the tide pools, we duct-taped our shoes safely to our feet and headed across a salt marsh to a wide mud flat, seeking clams and worms in the thick, muddy ground. The mud was like quicksand, and several students lost a shoe (or two) in the expedition. Robin Graney got stuck in the ooze and had to be rescued. After our mission was ac-complished, we headed to the beach, ripped off our shoes, and rushed into the ocean, amidst relieved cries of “To

the sea!”Our evenings were great fun too.

We enjoyed intense discussions, solo and group performances, a rousing contra dance. On one evening two lo-cal authors, Ellen Cooney, a fine novel-ist, and Wayne Beach, a spine-tingling screenwriter, came to share their writ-ing experiences with us.

Altogether, a great adventure!

By Samuel O’BrientClass of 2013

Low Tide Waits for No One

Seniors make the annual pilgrimage to Hermit Island

Top Left: GBWHS Seniors on Hermit Island. Top Right: Senior Samuel O’Brient inspecting a starfish. Bottom Left: Starfish.Photos by Mr. Sagarin.

Autumn 2012

The morning air was crisp and yel-low leaves fluttered in the warm Sep-tember breeze. There was not a hint of any disaster in the serene blue sky. We ventured out of our cabins, trekked blithely up the rocky path to the dining hall at Camp Hi-Rock, grate-fully sniffing the hearty fragrance of potatoes, eggs, and “cheese.”

After breakfast, we began our final foray to the high ropes course. Once there, we “listened attentively” to the mandatory safety instructions before we harnessed ourselves and began the perilous ascent to the wires thir-

ty feet above. The rousing strains of British Invasion rock music cheered us on. One student at a time, we hauled ourselves up the shaking apparatus, urged on by shouts of encouragement from the others.

Almost all the students had gone through the high ropes course, most without falling, when Mr. Sagarin confidently began clambering up the daunting apparatus. The hefty wood-en rungs groaned with each step he took.

The creaking grew more intense. Everyone began to look worried. Then a sharp crack rang through the campsite and we all gasped in dismay. The over-stressed wood of one of the

rungs from the ladder splintered in two, leaving Mr. Sagarin clinging for dear life to the rung above him.

After a moment of helplessly swing-ing in the air, he heroically pulled him-self up past the gap to the next stage, with difficulty but surprising graceful-ness, and then continued his climb.

He made it all the way to the top platform, from where he launched into his classic superman pose and soared down the zip line.

By Robin GraneyClass of 2013

An Infamous ShowdownMr. Sagarin vs. the Camp Hi-Rock Ropes Course

Top Left: Mr. Sagarin dangles dangerous-ly from the ropes course as a faulty wooden rung falls to the ground. Top Right: Fresh-man Evan Seitz. Bottom Right: Sophomore Raphaela Seward-Mayer. Photos by Mr. Sagarin and Robin Graney.

Autumn 2012

Fresh Faces

Beyond being a gym coach, Jill Flem-ing is a circus arts master. She runs a summer circus camp where students are given the opportunity to explore the exciting world of circus arts. Here, under her encouraging advice, the students build new skills, and accom-plish feats they never believed they were capable of. Ms. Fleming teaches students how to land from flips, walk a tightrope; she has been known to conduct soccer games on stilts. When I was younger, she coached me from riding a unicycle, to cycling while jug-gling scarfs, so that by the time we actually performed I was an accom-plished young acrobat.

By Victor FeldmanClass of 2016

Throughout his artistic career, Guy Nordoff has practiced many forms and styles art. He has been trained by exceptional teachers, in countries from Switzerland to South Africa. He has studied art forms from therapeu-tic painting to advanced sculpture. He received his degree and teaching cer-tification from the Goetheanum Free Academy for the Arts in Switzerland. His conviction in the intrinsic value of learning art is the driving force behind his teaching. In his own words, art “will broaden one’s horizons toward what is possible, even for the teacher who witnesses it.”

Kathleen Sagarin, the youngest teacher at the Great Barrington Wal-dorf High School, began working af-ter graduating from McGill University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Science. For her last two years in college she worked at a laboratory on what is known as the “chickensaurus project.” This is a project that seeks to unlock the secrets of dinosaur genetics in a chicken and Ms. Sagarin’s focus was on mapping the development of a di-nosaur’s limbs. She gathered baseline data and continued to work there un-til her graduation. Ms. Sagarin’s bright new take on science and mathematics brings a lively spark to her classes.

The High School Welcomes Three New Teachers

By Victor FeldmanClass of 2016

By Evan SeitzClass of 2016

Guy Nordoff Sculpture

Jill FlemingPhysical Education

Kathleen Sagarin Math and Science

Autumn 2012

We had a winning season: 7 wins – 2 ties – 3 losses!

Halfway through the season, our team was doing well, under the skillful guidance of new coach Bart Elsbach, and our team got better with each game.

Senior Samuel O’Brient agreed to join the team upon the urging of sev-eral teammates. His joining inspired freshman Sean Thrasher to jump on board, and after him came junior Mac Litishin and sophomore Raphaela Seward - Mayer. The team also fea-tured homeschooled brothers Jordan and Jake Neves, and thanks to them, our squad acquired Casey Angelo, a varsity soccer star from Taconic Hills Regional High School.

For our first game we drove to Wil-liamstown, MA, to play Buxton School. Although we lost 5 goals to 2, it was a well-played opening game. Both our goals were scored by sophomore Kosta Koufis. Our second game was at home against White Oak School. We dominated from the start, scoring sev-eral goals in the first half.

Next we traveled across the border to New York to take on the Kildonan School. Kildonan was our most chal-lenging opponent to date and al-though we lost the game 5 goals to 3, our team fought with everything it had. The following week, we faced off at home against the Woodhall School, dominating 6 goals to none. We also played at home against the Pioneer Valley Performing Arts Acade-my. Throughout the season we played well, giving the games everything we had.

Orange Socks

Top: Our win-ning co-ed soccer team. Above: Sophomore Wil-liam Churchill throws the ball. Left: Sophomore Kosta Koufis keeps his eye on the ball.Photos by Ramo-na Bellamy.

Soccer Team Enjoys a Record Breaking SeasonBy Samuel O’Brient

Class of 2013

Autumn 2012

Talons of rock scratch at the sky, drawing blood as the sun sets. The tortured screams of the wind tear through the twilight. In the east, flash-es of lighting illuminate threatening storm clouds. The few twisted trees still clinging to this desolate peak writhe before the force of the gale. Shards of rock as sharp as scalpels cover the ground. Up ahead a block of stone rears from the land like an ancient altar dedicated to a cruel god.

The stench of burnt ozone and sulfur fills the air.

Dismayed, I survey the peak. With night falling and the storm not far off, I have no choice but to make camp here. Hours of walking on this rocky trail have blistered my feet and worn me out. My head throbs with pain, and I feel a feverish.

I should have been off this moun-tain an hour ago. I gaze around, look-ing for a sheltered place to pitch my tent. Camping on a mountain peak in a storm is dangerous, but more than that, this landscape seems to ema-

nate malice and evil.As the sun sinks beneath the hori-

zon, I scramble to set up camp. The wind tears at my tent, snapping the guylines. I snatch it back, but the poles are splintered and the rocks have torn the fabric. What can I do now?

Between one of the tallest spires and the altar stone, I find a cleft just large enough to hold me. I wrap my-self in my wool blanket and the rain fly from my tent. My sore muscles groan as I settle into my makeshift sleeping place.

Ghost Story Contest

Finish Evan’s story, including a thrill-ing title, and you could win a $25 gift certificate at the delightful Williams & Sons Country Store in Stockbridge.

Here’s how it works: Complete the story in 1,000 words or less. Everyone

is invited to enter. All entries must be received by January 7, 2013. The win-ner’s entry will be published in the Globe. Please include contact infor-mation with your submissions.

GOOD LUCK!

The only thing that is on my mind these days is world religions. From Hinduism to Christianity to Islam, from inner peace to outer salvation, I now feel as though I have a full spectrum of religion under my belt. I also have mixed emotions about the truth. I am stirred up inside, hearing about the apparent “reality” in different faiths.

Which one should I believe?During Ms. Eliot’s World Religions

class, I examined the list of ideas that were offered for our independent re-

search projects, and considered the wise philosophies of Buddhism, Con-fucianism, and even Jainism, which I did not know much about. After much thinking, I volunteered to do my inde-pendent project on secular human-ism. This belief denies the existence of the supernatural. The reason I was intrigued by humanism was that the Humanists explore what it means to be a human being, rather than looking to the spiritual for salvation.

Humanists believe that the human being is capable of creating a code of ethics and of developing a sense of meaning through cause and effect.

They believe in the discoveries of sci-ence, yet they value the arts no less. Humanists appreciate other religions and diversity. Humanism is concerned with the betterment of our species, and our planet that we need to care for and protect for future generations to come.

For part of my project, I interviewed a Humanist and old friend of the fam-ily in front of the class. I asked him personal questions which he related to politics and the individual. His re-sponses were fascinating, and I think everyone in the class felt enlightened, not just me.

By Takoda NordoffClass of 2015

What Do You Believe?Tenth Grade Students Learn About Belief Systems in World Religions Class

By Evan SeitzClass of 2016

The Challenge Submit your entries by mail to:ATT: The Globe Fiction Writing ContestPO Box 905Great Barrington, MA 01230By e-mail to:winslow@winsloweliot.com Or hand it to any high school student for safe delivery to the Globe advisory board.Decision of the judges is final.

Autumn 2012

If you’re ten years old, ten years probably feels very old—a whole life-time. The older you get, the smaller a part of your life ten years becomes. It’s easy for me to remember the tumultuous summer of the birth of the Great Barrington Waldorf High School, then simply the 9th grade year of the Great Barrington Rudolf Steiner School.

We had a new carpet, cabinets, and a blackboard in the Music Room, and we sealed a pledge to our school be-hind the blackboard with a 2002 pen-ny. The pledge reads, “We dedicate the Great Barrington Rudolf Steiner School’s Ninth Grade to imagina-tion, to truth, and to responsibility, in learning and in teaching. May our

efforts today flower tomorrow as our paths have now joined in the growth of our beloved school. September 4, 2002.” It was signed by our first 13 9th graders and a few teachers.

Ten years later, we marked Septem-ber 4, 2012 with a faculty meeting just before the opening of our 11th year. We are now the Great Barrington Wal-dorf High School, incorporated sepa-rately from GBRSS in 2004, and in our own building—rented from the First Church of Christ, Scientist—on Main Street since then.

We have graduated 35 students. Most are still in college, but a few are in or have even completed graduate school in aeronautics, nutrition sci-ence, history, acupuncture, and med-icine.

Nearly all of our students have trav-eled to Germany or to South America, and many have returned for semes-ter-long exchanges. We travel regular-ly to New York, Boston, and Montreal, turning our small school out into the big world. We use the chemistry lab and athletic center at Simon’s Rock College of Bard; the auditorium of Berkshire South Regional Community

Center; and the studios of local artists like potter Dan Bellow and blacksmith John Graney. Our rented building is our “home base,” and our school is in-tegrated into our community.

Our school was founded to prepare students for the best colleges and to assist adolescents in finding meaning and purpose in life, ideals intact as they step into adulthood. We believe the principles of Waldorf education support great education in academ-ics, the arts, and service to the world. To these ends, our school commu-nity has articulated these five “core values:” seeking truth, developing imagination, fostering responsibility, nurturing freedom, and supporting growth.

At a 10th anniversary Alumni Dinner last spring, one of our graduates, now in medical school, said, “Everything I do comes back to my Waldorf educa-tion… My college teachers asked me how I learned to write so well, and I told them about my high school teach-ers… As important, I learned to follow my passion. I am thrilled to have been part of this great school.”

The Great Barrington Waldorf High School pro-vides an education for adolescents that seeks truth, develops imagination, nurtures growth, fosters responsibility, and honors inner freedom in an atmosphere of academic excellence, artistic fulfillment, openness, and mutual respectThis work stems from the pedagogical philosophy of Rudolf Steiner and seeks to meet the educa-tional, artistic, and social needs of students, that they may engage in life with intelligence, wisdom and moral commitment.

Editor: Evan SeitzEditorial Board:Victor FeldmanRobin Graney

Takoda NordoffSamuel O’Brient

Adviser: Ms. Eliot

Layout & Design:Emma Franco-Toner

By Steve SagarinFaculty Chair

Ten Years of Waldorf Education in the Berkshires

“To imagination, to truth, and to responsibility...”

Globe Staff