Dear Seaside Families,

I would like to express my sincere appreciation for the opportunity to attend the Public Waldorf
Conference at the Rudolf Steiner College in California. Again, this was a valuable experience,
which has deepened my knowledge regarding public Waldorf education.
I was thrilled to meet last years keynote speaker, Bente Goldstein again at the pre-conference
workshop. This year Bente emphasized on how educators could encourage children to find
meaning and purpose in life through will activity. She also stated that childrens capacities
develop through active deeds. It is essential for educators and parents to carefully determine
what capacities are missing from todays children and provide developmentally appropriate,
meaningful work in order for them to discover who they are and purpose in life. This years
inspiring Bente quote was, Hard work makes humble, graceful, peaceful people.
What a privilege to meet the author of Understanding Waldorf Education: Teaching from the
Inside Out and this years conference keynote speaker, Jack Petrash. His lectures were so
inspiring and entertaining. I also enjoyed his great sense of humor! He stated, What we do at
childs presence is important, in which I could not agree more. In Waldorf education learning
environments, what children learn through imitating adults is one of the most valuable and
natural means of learning. This made me realize again that I have to be more conscious and
become an apposite model in order to educate and create respectful human beings.
I was fortunate to attend Alice Stamms Eurythmy/Movement Workshop again. She provided
movement activities, which can be integrated into any subject areas for each grade. She clearly
explained why there were certain moves that needed to be and/or should not be included in
movement activities depending on childrens physical and emotional developmental stages. As
for the breakout session, I was again fortunate to attend one of my summer training instructors
session, Combining Waldorf Curriculum with Common Core Requirements led by Janie Marks,
who has extensive teaching experience at public Waldorf-inspired schools. Sharing thoughts,
exchanging ideas, and asking/answering questions with other attendees was not only helpful
but also gave me an insight, in which I had a group of colleagues across the country, whom I
can get support from.
During the conference welcome remarks, the attendees were introduced by their schools. SCCS
was the farthest school to travel to attend the conference. Other attendees were surprised to
see 13 of us all the way from Florida. When SCCS was announced and we stood to be
recognized, I experienced an overwhelming feeling that words cannot describe. SCCS sent the
most conference attendees of all schools across the country. How remarkable! I am so thankful
to work with an amazing group of dedicated educators. Furthermore, I am so grateful to have
supportive and understanding students and family members who trust us to educate the
children and made this trip possible. Thank you so much!
Warmly,
Mayumi Pierce