Message from the Director
Warm greetings to all of you!
At the close of our Fall 2011 term, we are pleased to send you news of the Waldorf Institute. The past year has been exciting, intense and joyful. On this Thanksgiving eve, we are grateful for the entire WISM community: students, alums, faculty, colleagues, trustees, friends, schools and early childhood programs.
The days when Waldorf schools were relatively unknown in the United States are over! Just one example of the increased interest in Waldorf education was the front page article in the October 22nd New York Times, “A Silicon Valley School That Doesn’t Compute.” I hope all of you saw it! The demand for Waldorf teachers continues to grow, and the work of the teacher training programs becomes ever more important. At the Waldorf Institute, our stellar faculty is committed to making all courses spiritually enriching, intellectually stimulating, practical and future-oriented. The Institute’s master teachers are also mentoring 11 currently practicing teachers to ensure that their first years in the profession are successful.
We are proud of our 2011 graduates (one of whom was offered four class teacher positions!), and we look forward to a larger graduating class in 2012. Inquiry calls and e-mails are streaming into the office. If you know of someone who has the makings of a fine Waldorf teacher, please tell them about us!
July and August were busy months. Teachers from Michigan, Ohio and Ontario attended the six “grade-level intensives” the Institute presented. “Bringing the Light Inside,” a conference on kindergarten festivals with Waldorf master teacher Anna Rainville, drew 28 participants.
Villas, temples and museums of Rome and Florence became WISM classrooms for 19 students in October 2010 and 2011. During seven happily busy days, class teachers filled notebooks with ideas about bringing the sixth and seventh grade history and geography blocks to their students in fresh, vibrant ways.
Next Spring (April 20-21), we are delighted to present a public conference on literacy, made possible by the gift of a generous donor. Entitled “Opening the Book: Chapter One – Rhythm and Rhyme,” this is the first of a three-part series. The 2012 conference will focus on phonemic awareness as a necessary foundation for reading.
We are thrilled to announce our three presenters: WISM alumna Lorrie Heagy, Alaska Teacher of the Year for 2011, will speak about how public school violin lessons using the El-Sistema Method raise literacy rates in Juneau schools; Anna Rainville will lecture on the importance of singing and movement in developing the young child’s phonemic awareness; and Linda Williams, Associate Professor of Education at Eastern Michigan University, former Director of WISM and former class teacher at the Detroit Waldorf School, will share her perspectives on “rhyming, rapping, recitation, and reading.” We anticipate an exceptionally thought-provoking conference.
WISM finished last year in a position of strength and financial stability, but there is so much more we could do with a higher level of funding. As we look to the future, we see opportunities and challenges. We need to fund a robust outreach program to identify more potential Waldorf teachers. Many of the most talented prospective teachers carry significant debt from their university education, so we need to establish a scholarship fund to help them obtain Waldorf certification. WISM faculty salaries have not been raised in a decade. WISM’s mission is growing; short, intensive workshops for Waldorf parents and grandparents are another area into which we really should be expanding. A global studies course for middle school teachers could be offered at one of the world’s historic and future crossroads – Istanbul – if there were donors with a heart for this important multicultural initiative. New intensive workshops on science and the “extra lesson” require seed money.
In 2012, we will celebrate our 21st birthday. We hope you will join us in celebrating this important milestone, including a celebration event we plan on holding in September. Our success over the years would not have been possible without all of your many contributions. In the mean time, would you consider sending us some multiple of $21 as a special donation? Please help if you can: any gift will be well used and deeply appreciated! Checks made out to “WISM” can be sent in to the office or you can donate online.
Despite the challenging economic climate, WISM continues to offer a much-needed service, and to maintain the highest professional standards.
Wishing you the very best for your own work, and with heartfelt thanks for your support,
Margot Amrine,
