Community. What is it?
Shared values. Kindred spirits. Complementary talents. We have that in abundance here at Alabama Waldorf School. If you need a load of firewood, call Dave Hall. If you need a car wash, call Mwenja. If you need a photographer, call Mike Mills or Chris Pritchard. If you need a chiropractor, call our Grow Together Partner Ellen Witt. The examples go on and on.

It's a community.

We share things. We help each other out. We get to know each other's strengths. And weaknesses.

Among our strengths is the vision to bring the fastest growing nonsectarian education to the Birmingham area, the unifying philosophy of Waldorf education, the common purpose of the faculty as they deliver the Waldorf curriculum, more than 100 collective years of Waldorf teaching experience, and our implementation of a tuition adjustment program that makes a private Waldorf education available to anyone who really wants it.

Our weaknesses include our small size, and the fact that the school is undercapitalized and operates with a limited marketing budget so our "branding" is weak in the broader community.

This translates to low enrollment which is the battle we are currently fighting. I said recently that 4 new Kindergartners and 4 new Grades students would erase our current budget deficit. We need the kindergartners to populate our 2010-11 First Grade. We need the Grades students to make each grade viable as a stand-alone class.

We have a great product, and so many people are grateful when they find us; Kylen Brown's parents, Kate Carlisle's parents,
Asata and Zion Jones-Rothblatt's parents have all stopped by recently to share their thankfulness. Max Wang's mom brought a friend on a tour last week and shared her own joy at how the school has met their family's needs. Sophie Cornelius's mom referred a friend who has a child who's unhappy at their current school.

Shared values. Common purpose. Helping each other out. Community.
Through this type of community spirit, we will survive and thrive.

So, call up a fellow AWS parent and have a cup of coffee together, or join me for a Friday morning after drop-off. Arrange a play date for your child with a fellow AWS student. Go to Triangle Park with some kindred spirits. You've built a community. Enjoy it!

A Different Kind of Fundraising--All Together

By Adrianne Morrison




This fall finds all of us at AWS welcoming change and preparing for an amazing year together. You’ll hear an echo of community in the voices of the Awareness contributors this month. You’ll see a community focus in Streamlined Giving and in our school store.
Our goal for Streamlined Giving is to make it easy for each and every family to contribute to some area of the school that is important to them in a way that feels organized and rewarding.
Streamlined Giving raises the funds to open events like Holiday Faire—without cost for admission. It provides many other savings incentives to preschool families and grades families alike. It is a reciprocal gesture of gratitude in both the giving and receiving, a real relationship made possible through thoughtful Development planning.


You are already enjoying the benefits of this relationship! Streamlined Giving funds free childcare for many events at the school; this month, it will provide free directories to the parents; it will provide free school t-shirts to each child. The reciprocal momentum has already begun.
The idea for Streamlined Giving stemmed from a recognition that fundraising can be burdensome in our busy lives. Streamlined Giving promises to limit fundraising at AWS drastically. Every school participates in fundraisers...this is our attempt to rethink that system. Through our school store, we will only sell parents things they are already using or buying: water bottles and lunchboxes, for example. We will work toward eliminating the need for parents to pay for field trips and snacks. We are trying to do away with the supply wish list so that extra classroom needs can be funded through Streamlined Giving. Join us in making a commitment to this new plan. Every gift counts. All families are needed. Send in your pledge card today or give online at www.alabamawaldorf.org.
*Don’t forget an added bonus—your Streamlined Giving is tax deductible!

What's in a Name?

Aaahh… Change is in the air! The muggy heat and rain of the past few weeks have faded, and now we have our first crisp taste of fall. I love this time of year because this hint of change is contagious. It offers us a fresh opportunity to look at ourselves and the space we occupy in the world – to step out of the ruts that we so often find ourselves in and to look around us clearly. The crisp air wakes us up from our dreamy summer slumber and brings with it a sense of opportunity and endless possibilities.

I experienced this very strongly today while sitting on the kindergarten playground with my class. We were attending the Michaelmas Ceremony in which The Redmont School officially became the Alabama Waldorf School. School founder, Sheila Rubin, described how the school has grown and changed over the years and related this to the change and transformation inherent in the celebration of Michaelmas. Lisa Grupe gave us a vision for the future, symbolized in the ragged, yet sturdy, little maple tree that we potted up today. There was beautiful singing and ceremonial watering of the tree, but uniting all of the ceremonial parts into something even greater was an overriding feeling of community and change. The weather played its part perfectly!

I hope that this feeling continues to permeate the school in the months to come. We have a sturdy little tree here at the Alabama Waldorf School, but we face challenges as well. Like the Michaelmas dragon that is transformed with love, so can we transform our challenges into opportunities. At the State of the School meeting next Thursday evening, you will hear about these challenges and what steps have already been taken to try to meet them. And there is possibility and opportunity here as well – what could we accomplish when working together to meet our goals? What creative solutions might come from a group of united individuals? How might we transform our financial challenges into an opportunity?

I firmly believe in the power of a group working together to achieve its goals. I have seen people in this community work so hard to support the school and accomplish so many wonderful things. Now, in this season of change, we have another opportunity to step back, look around us, and think creatively about how to best proceed from here.

Melissa Downs
Faculty Chair

Enrollment Updates

Updates in Enrollment

Please join me in welcoming Maleelah Acker and Zion Jones-Rothblatt, both new students in Miss Samantha’s and Miss Holly’s nursery class!

A big thank you to Cynthia Mwenja and Magic City Ballet for sharing their booth with us at the Whistlestop Festival in Irondale last weekend. Despite the soggy weather, Susan Mwenja and Jennifer Cripps were a big hit, with Susan greeting festival participants from way up high on her stilts!

Please join us on Sunday, October 11th for the annual Break ‘n Bread event at Pepper Place. Ms. Spencer, Ms. Carole and I will be there to talk to prospective parents and/or potential sponsors of AWS, and to share in the celebration of local food and community. To purchase tickets to this popular event that features food from over 30 area restaurants, as well live performances, and beer and wine tastings, visit www.birminghamoriginals.org.

Coming up on Saturday, October 31st, AWS will be sponsoring a booth at Art in Avondale Park, so please come by and see us! Volunteers to help represent the school at the booth would be greatly appreciated! Stop by the office if you are interested in donating even an hour of your time on that day.

The weekend of November 7th, Ms. Grupe and Mr. Huck will be staffing a table at Birmingham Parent Magazine’s annual Education Expo. Held at the Brookwood Mall, we will be among over 100 private schools promoting their programs. In addition, the AWS Middle Schoolers will be showcasing their talents, with a special performance by Ms. Gurganus’ Chorus! Our performance will begin at 11:30am, and will be staged near the food court in the mall. Invite your friends and family to visit us at our booth, and to enjoy the student performances.

On the other side of town, we will be leading children in a nature craft at the annual Moss Rock festival, Saturday and Sunday, November 7th and 8th. Stop by and see Ms. Powell and myself, along with Ms. Cripps (who I’m sure won’t be able to resist bringing a couple of fun circus props to share with festival-goers!) as we represent Alabama Waldorf School at the festival that features eco-inspired art, food and activities for the whole family. Visit mossrockfestival.com for more details.

Family Associaton News

As members of the Family Association, it is nice to come together once a month and catch up. For meetings to be lively and productive we need more of you to be there! In order for the FA to make decisions and move forward with FA business, we must have a “quarum,” defined in the bylaws as consisting of parent representatives from each class. To make sure we have a quarum, we need classreps to attend each meeting. See your roomparent if you wish to volunteer as a room rep. Of course, everyone is welcome to attend any and all FA meetings!
Thank you to Amy Thurston and Luke Lucas for not giving up on a very rainy WorkPlay Day!

Mark Your Calendars!
3rd Grade hosts WorkPlay Day on October 17th.
Trunk or Treat will be held in the school parking lot on October 29. Watch for more boo-tails in the Friday Flyer!

Puffins!

Does your breakfast of champions include Puffins cereal?? If so, the third grade would like your help! We are collecting the UPC barcodes from the bottom of Puffins cereal boxes (any flavor!). If we collect 250 of them, we can adopt a Puffin through Audubon’s Adopt-A-Puffin project and, in the process, support conservation of Puffin habitats. Barcodes can reach the 3rd grade by being placed in the basket outside room 3 south. Thank you for supporting this student-initiated project!

The Lantern: A Look Inside the Classroom

by Sra. Mixon

¡Hola!
I am very happy to be contributing an article to the Awareness newsletter because it gives me the opportunity to tell you about all the wonderful things I am planning for this school year’s Spanish classes. This year we will be learning songs, poems, games and arts and crafts from different Spanish-speaking countries, mostly Mexico and Spain. In October we will focus on Mexico as we prepare to celebrate El Dia de Los Muertos or Day of the Dead. This is one of the most important holidays of the year in Mexico. The children will be learning about the rich cultural traditions associated with this holiday and each grade will be celebrating in different ways. Ask you child to tell you all about it- they are already very excited!
Although we’ve only been in school for over a month, the children have been very busy! In first grade we have been learning how to greet our teachers and each other (yes, it’s different depending on who you are speaking to!) We have also been learning our colors and how to count to 10. We will soon be learning about the seasons
and the names of our different body parts. The second graders have learned two new poems- one about a spider and another about autumn. We have also been reviewing all the things we learned in first grade- colors, counting to 50, body parts, shapes and animals. In third grade we started the year by reviewing as well and now we are learning how to tell time in Spanish. We are also going to begin learning a few Bible verses in Spanish and the Spanish alphabet. The fourth graders have been reviewing the alphabet they learned last year and I have been pleasantly surprised at how much they remember! We are now writing the story about the house that Jack built that we memorized last year. In fact, the children are each making their own books with their own illustrations. The fifth graders were so excited about using their new Spanish dictionaries and they have learned how to use them. Any time there is a word to look up, they are all so eager to do so! We have learned how to write the date in Spanish and we’ve reviewed the seasons, months, and days of the week. We’ve also reviewed the alphabet and played spelling games. Currently we are learning about sentence structure. The sixth and seventh graders have been learning about verbs and the different verb conjugations. This is not the easiest work and it involves a good bit of memorization but they are working hard and completing their homework! We will then move to writing descriptions about self and others. Lastly, the eighth graders have just finished learning all about a sacred pilgrimage route that runs from France through Spain called the “Camino a Santiago de Compostela”. Pilgrims have been traveling this very same route since the 14th Century! We have looked at route maps and pictures taken by modern-day pilgrims who set out to retrace this ancient route. We also took a field trip to the UAB Visual Arts Gallery to see some paintings and photographs of the “Camino”. The students have written about their impressions in Spanish and done their own artistic reproductions. These are currently on display in the grades hallway on the bulletin board - please take a moment to stop by and admire their beautiful work.
Gracias, Señora Mixon