Tending the Spark
Dear Member of The Waldorf School of Santa Barbara Community,
You likely have met Rima Villareal in our front office.
Ms. Rima’s kind, deliberate, intelligent way in the world is grounding for all of us.
To spotlight Ms. Rima in today’s newsletter we asked her these two questions. 1). "What lights you up about working at WSSB? 2). How is your art-making these days?
This was Ms. Rima’s response.
What Lights Ms. Rima Up
I am deeply grateful to be near three of my children every school day. I am lit up by daily observations and interactions with the beautiful children in our community. I love seeing what children and teachers emit and create and bring into being here. It is inspiring to witness the guidance, tending, and love provided to the children by diligent, conscious adults. At drop-off, pick-up, over the phone, and through other small exchanges, I see the harmonious attunement parents extend towards their children, and it all lends to a feeling of great hope.
The levels of effort, investment and reciprocity at our school are truly something special.
In working at the front desk, I see that every person working around me is devoted to the children and committed to what they do in their roles. I see that they integrate their unique gifts into their work. It is a blessing to work among them in a place where intentions and philosophies are alive and expressed through deeds.
I also love the intertwining of people and groups who love and give to our school—from current parents to our local Anthroposophical Society members to former Waldorf teachers to alumni. It is humbling to note what has gone into creating and shaping this special community.
Ms. Rima on Her Art
Amina with one of Mom’s felted dragons.
I have loved art since I was a little girl. My childhood drawings were full of princesses, castles, and dragons, and I adored stuffed animals. The Consulate of Mexico in Oxnard and the Oxnard Performing Arts Center exhibited several of my drawings last year. Last month the Consulate accepted one of my works for their permanent collection. The piece will be housed alongside the works of artists depicting Mexican and Mexican-American beauty, culture, traditions, and issues.
I learned needle-felting from a beloved former WSSB teacher, Kathy Neely, 13 years ago in a parent workshop. Needle-felting entails poking natural wool with a felting needle. The needle has a barb at the end that catches the wool and firms and sculpts the figure as desired. The repetition and creativity of the process facilitate development of the will and the imagination. Needle-felting is introduced to students in the upper grades.
I have been honored to create art for our classrooms, teachers, families, and celebrations over the years. I continue to draw and am working on needle-felted crowns, tapestries, upcycled clothing, and sculptures that honor the individual characteristics and essences of land and various animals. I try to represent childhood and purity in everything I make.
One aspect of art-making that I treasure is becoming familiar with the recipients of my art and meditating on them as I work. I am excited to continue to offer my pieces in our school store and am working with our school's amazing Fundraising Events Committee to thoughtfully expand our inventory.
One of Ms. Rima’s creations.
The Gifts of Woodworking:
a note from Mr. K
WSSB woodwork.
Working with wood is healthy in a world that grows increasingly digital and inhospitable to the senses.
Our Waldorf woodworking approach involves the simplest tools: the rasp, the chisel, the gouge. These tools become living extensions of the child's will and imagination requiring his/her complete presence.
The woodworking journey begins in 5th Grade when children have developed both the physical and emotional strength necessary for the work’s demands. The children start the journey crafting a simple darning egg. They finish by making a three-legged stool in 8th Grade.
At every stage of a project, it is the child's will that is challenged. Each project typically begins with a thoughtful sketch, progresses to shaping wood with simple tools, and concludes with the patient work of sanding. This final stage often is the toughest test of a student's will—a tedious task demanding concentration. It is through sanding that a good project becomes something great.
8th Grade Shaker shelf woodwork project.
Woodworking is more than using sharp, rudimentary hand-tools to shape wood into useful objects. The inherent resistance of wood—the hardness of it, the grain patterns, the particular qualities of the type of wood—offers something essential that our modern world lacks: natural boundaries that cannot be altered by mere wishing or clicking. Wood responds only to patient, focused effort and a slow, meaningful relationship. Working with wood helps children develop their attention, character, and resilience.
"Children who learn while they are young to make practical things by hand in an artistic way, and for the benefit of others as well as for themselves,” Rudolf Steiner observed, “will not be strangers to life or to other people when they are older."
The Princess Bride
We heartily congratulate the 8th Grade for an extraordinary rendition of “The Princess Bride.”
The play would not have been possible without Ms. Anderson who directed the play, edited the script, and did the lighting.
The twelve students shone in two long performances (the play had 32 scenes). The students painted backdrops, opened and closed curtains, and acted with discipline, subtlety, and ebullience. On Friday night the students performed to a full house. Benches had to be brought in from outside. Afterwards, adoring younger fans (students who had already seen the show once before) patiently lined up to meet the stars.
Ms. Hagen helped crucially with music. Mr. K helped crucially with the backdrop pieces. Story Dorie helped crucially with costumes.
It was a moving, funny, and transporting offering from our beautiful 8th Grade. What talent! Bravo!
Important Dates:
Monday-Friday, March 10-14: Parent-Teacher Conferences (early dismissal days: 12:45 p.m. Aftercare available.)
Wednesday, March 19th at 5:30 p.m.: Spring Performance (more information forthcoming).
Thursday, March 20th: Last Day of Winter Term
Friday, March 21st-Friday, March 28th: Spring Break
Monday, March 31st: First Day of Spring Term
With heart,
The Admin Team
PS The Thought of the Day is from Christopher Sblendorio (from Waldorf Education: A Family Guide):
“The hectic quality of our lives, the undertone of anxiety that permeates the day, our nighttime restlessness—are these symptoms of soul indigestion caused by too many movies, commercials, news reports, and texts? In addition, with entertainment constantly at our fingertips, we undermine the three essential activities of the soul: thinking, feeling, and willing. It threatens, in effect, the very basis of our humanity.”
PPS The Second Thought of the Day is from Katrina Kenison (from Waldorf Education: A Family Guide):
“Remember that children are spiritual beings, and as such they deserve our respect and reverence. Children who grow up in an atmosphere of thoughtfulness and courtesy become thoughtful and courteous…even if we are offering an after-school snack to a five-year-old, we can do so with love and attention. We can pour milk into a favorite glass, arrange a sliced apple on a plate, fold a napkin, sit down for a few minutes to share the experience, to shape the moment, to lend an ear.”