the FEATHER

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FEATHER
BRINGING NEWS TO THE MARIN WALDORF SCHOOL COMMUNITY
September 25, 2013
Volume 4: 2013-2014
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Michaelmas Assembly is this Friday ~ Please see
page 2 for an article about Michaelmas and details
about our upcoming assembly.
Children’s Faire News! Raffle tickets & Puppet
Show tickets will be available for purchase next
week at drop off and pick up. The Early Childhood
Faculty will present "Stone Soup" at 10:45 am,
11:30 am, 2 pm & 2:45 pm. $5.00 per person.
Dorit Winter’s Parent Conversation Group starts
on Oct. 15th: We are fortunate to have this internationally recognized expert on Waldorf education
teaching a class for our parents. Please sign up
soon in the Front Office to guarantee your space in
the class.
Eurythmy: There will be two more 'drop-in' Eurythmy Classes Tuesday mornings from 8:309:30. Future classes will be formed according to
those interested in continuing on a regular basis. Our Tuesday time will be suspended for three
weeks due to previously arranged events in the
Eurythmy room.
Anyone interested in knowing more about Eurythmy is welcome to speak with me. You may notice
that Eurythmy will be offered in an experiential
way in one of your parent evenings. I look forward
to meeting you and furthering our understanding
of Eurythmy in the grades, as well as what Eurythmy has to offer everyone in our modern
time. Come for a practical application of this new
social art!
Save the Date: Grandparents’ & Special Friends’
Day is November 22 this year...please help spread
the word. Invitations will go out in the coming
weeks.
Calendar
Wednesday, September 25
 Soccer, 3:30 pm
Thursday, September 26
 Parent Singing, 8:25 am
 Swimming, 2 pm
 Board Meeting, 6:30 pm
Friday, September 27
 Michaelmas Assembly, 1 pm
Saturday, September 28
 8th Grade Rummage Sale #2 at
Marinwood Market, 9 am—2 pm
Monday, September 30
Parent Handwork Circle, 8:15 am
 Soccer, 3:30 pm
Tuesday, October 1
 Adult Eurythmy Class, 8:30 am
Wednesday, October 2
 3rd Grade Trip to Pt. Reyes, 8:30 am
 Soccer, 3:30 pm
Thursday, October 3
 Last Fall Swimming, 2 pm

**FYI, School Portraits are
coming up in a few weeks:
October 16 & 17
Michaelmas
Written by, Ms. Weber Second Grade Teacher
At the end of September, Waldorf Schools
throughout the world celebrate the festival of
Michaelmas. Michaelmas is an autumnal festival
when the forces of nature are receding and the
inner life of the human soul is
awakening. This festival is
named after the Archangel Michael, conqueror of the powers
of darkness. Michael is mentioned in many faiths, including
Christian, Islamic and Hebrew.
The Michaelmas legend is traditionally portrayed in the story
of Saint George, the brave Red
Knight who conquers his fear
and risks his life to battle the
dragon. In slaying the dragon,
Saint George brings humankind
out of darkness.
At the Marin Waldorf School,
we celebrate Michaelmas with
a pageant. Stories of courage
are shared throughout all the
classes. Grades 2-8 and the
faculty reenact the pageant every year. The second graders are the brave knights who defeat the
dragon. At home, each second grader takes up
the challenge of accomplishing his or her acts of
bravery and kindness. A “knightly” deed might
take the form of carrying out the garbage in the
dark, practicing greater kindness towards one’s
sibling or speaking up for him or herself. Saint
George called upon Michael to give him strength.
At this time of year, we too call upon Michaelic
courage to battle our own inner dragons and to give us
strength. When the days are
getting shorter and the light is
dimming, it is a time to look
inward toward strengthening
our own inner reserves and
courage.
Please join the school community for the Michaelmas Pageant this Friday, September
27th at 1:00p.m. After the pageant, the students participate
in a rousing and imaginative
group game. There will also be
a biodynamic stir, to nourish
our school garden. All parents
are invited to come see the
pageant and game. Parents
and many of the grades classes
are invited to help with the biodynamic stir. You
are welcome to bring a bucket if you wish to take
some of the “stir” home to nourish your own garden. Our first Michaelmas project began with a
work project, carried out by the students during
school hours, to care for our ancient oaks.
Biodynamic all school stir and spread ~ Written by, Betsyann Gallagher
Gardening Teacher
On Friday, during the Michaelmas game, we will be stirring a Biodynamic preparation called Barrel
Compost (BC). This is a 20 minute stir, where we integrate the water and the preparation together
(using a vortex, order, and then breaking it into chaos, over and over). After the prep is stirred we will
take buckets and branches and spread it around our school. Since our campus is large, we will need
help with this wonderful Michaelmas endeavour. Many Waldorf schools are spreading the preps over
their land this week in celebration of Michaelmas. If you bring your own bucket, we might have extra
prep that you can take home and spread on your property. See you Friday!
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