Blog

At Rudolf Steiner School of Ann Arbor, our teachers spend their summers recharging and renewing their skills with support from our Annual Fund and grants.

After a full school year of teaching, many of our faculty join groups of Waldorf teachers across North America in professional development around the subjects they will cover in the next grade level. The class that teacher Anna Kamitses has been with since Grade 1 will begin Grade 5 this fall.  She has found the professional development in Waldorf education indispensable. Every summer, with support from our Annual Fund, she attends Waldorf teacher training where she learns lessons and techniques from veteran Waldorf teachers and a cohort of twenty other teachers in her grade level. She brings that experience and richness to the classroom every day.

Through a designated gift, several of our teachers participate in year-long professional development through the Southeast Michigan Stewardship Coalition (SEMIS) that approaches curriculum through place-based education - an immersive approach to learning that empowers students to act as environmental stewards, caring for themselves, their peers, and the land and community where they live. Calisa Tucker, whose has taken two classes from Grade 1 through Grade 8 and whose current students will be third-graders, has led this approach for many years and brought the school garden and composting back to life this year. High school teacher, Ms. Amrine, implemented place-based education as she created the Grade 9 American History block that explored our Pontiac Trail neighborhood through the Native American tribes that lived here, the Underground Railroad houses in our neighborhood, and the famous poets from our region.

A grant from the Mahle Foundation in Germany has covered the costs of six part-time employees to attend an introductory series to Waldorf high school teaching along with supporting new foreign language teachers, and high school math and physics. Nathan Corliss, who is a high school administrative assistant and has taught high school drama and math, said after participating in the first sessions, “Coming from a public school background, I have felt more at home teaching at the Rudolf Steiner School of Ann Arbor than anywhere else. As I learn more about Waldorf education, the reasons for that initial feeling of belonging are becoming more tangible. This course has introduced new ways of teaching and new ways of thinking that I am excited to pursue for years to come.”

Summer courses and professional development in innovative curriculum and approaches are ways our Annual Fund drive and grants make a lasting impact in our school.  This summer renewal is also at the heart of the experiences our students have in the classroom as our teachers share inspiration and guidance from a freshly updated perspective, making sure our curriculum is relevant and alive through each year of a student's time with us.