03.2018

Lifeis Rich

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IT IS A TRADITION IN CAMPHILL THAT ON FEBRUARY 2ND (GROUNDHOG DAY) A HOLE IS DUG IN THE EARTH, hot wax is poured in, a wick is set in the wax and an earth candle is lit. When we turn to the earth each year on Candlemas Day, we acknowledge all the activity that is going on beneath our feet as the trees, bulbs, plants and

seeds stir ( just like the groundhog) and begin to wake up from their long winter’s sleep. This year, as well as everything being busy under the earth, there have been a lot of people at Camphill Special School, who have been incredibly busy on (and above) the earth making February a very rich, cultural experience for us all. On February 13th (Fasching/Mardi Gras), everyone gathered in the Blue Room, which was festooned with balloons and streamers. Each house community came wearing exotic costumes and bringing with them music, songs and dances from around the world. A highlight for many was Ntsikelelo Saul leading the Garden House community in an African dance.

The very next day, on February 14th, the Blue Room had been turned into an Apothecary and amidst the bottles, jars and pots of potions and herbs, 10th Grade teacher, Andreas Schuschke, dressed as Saint Valentine, healed volunteers from the audience and helped us all get over our winter ailments (the flu has been bad this year!) When Andreas asked the audience what Valentine’s Day was about, 9th Grader Jaime Sioblom had the right answer: he put up his hand and said: “Love.”

That afternoon we were invited to Rainbow Hall and the Third-Year Academy students shared with us their silk marionette puppet show of Briar Rose (also a story of love). All the puppets (including dogs, horses and pigeons), and the scenery had been handmade by the students with our creative and masterful Handwork teacher and puppeteer, Tina Bruckner.

Then, as if we hadn’t had enough richness bestowed upon us, on February 21st and 22nd, the Second-Year Academy students invited us to Rainbow Hall once more and this time we were taken to Narnia and invited to go with Lucy, Edmund, Susan and Peter, through the wardrobe to meet a lion, a witch, a fawn, a unicorn, a silver wolf and some lovely Beaver Run beavers. The children (and the students from Beaver Farm) were full of joy as they watched their co-workers (and Bernie and Rudiger) bringing C S Lewis’ story to life. Bharat Armuddan, was magnificent as the sullen, Turkish-delight-loving Edmund and Thais Silva do Amaral, was an absolutely sweet and delightful Lucy.

Ginny Thimme, Editor

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THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE BY Shirley watt

The idea of doing 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe' came from the second-year academy students’ wish to do something for the children and something with human and animal roles. There was also the academy requirement to do a play with a moral center, so that the characters would be developed enough for the actors and the audience to go through a process. The themes behind this story certainly include morality, and the morality is expressed in an imaginative and wonderful way. I enjoyed C.S. Lewis’ story from when I was very young. This seven-book series was my great love before it was replaced by another seven-book series based on the adventures of a boy wizard. When my High School did an adaptation of the book it was a dream come true for me to play my favorite character, Edmund. Now many years later, it's a dream come true to, not only bring this iconic story to life in a new way, but also to have such a willing, faithful and hardworking group. I searched for the right script for this group but nothing really captured the story the way I had come to love and appreciate it. Once I had an idea of who was playing each part, I began to create my own script envisioning the characters from my childhood when I had read the book, what I had felt and thought when

I acted in the play and, growing up in a large family with many siblings - who did not always get on. At last the play was created. Of course, as we went along it needed to be altered, condensed and simplified. This can be very upsetting for a writer as they do become so attached to their words. The truth was I had given this play to the group by creating it for them. Then it was necessary for them to take hold of it and bring it to the next steps – the play after all is a living thing. What was truly inspiring was that they captured the wonder, the magic and the innocence. This is what I feel really appealed to the audiences – especially the students. From my early experience of writing I was always told that whatever you create does not need to be realistic but it does need to be believable. For a play, the actors need to believe and then, so will the audience. This group certainly believed. Working with the second-year academy students was a thoroughly enjoyable and gratifying experience. Not only was it a chance for me to write, it was also a chance for me to learn and grow as a writer and director. I was very fortunate to have a very supportive and patient group as we learned together. The proof of their hard work and commitment was evident in the spectacular performances.

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From Japan to Israel, from Germany to South Africa, from the US to Brazil and back to the US, we celebrated Fasching. The Blue Room was colored with flags, the houses came in great spirits showing off their costumes and dance moves. It was a great celebration of diversity and togetherness. We celebrated the uniqueness that unifies.

AROUND THE WORLD IN 11 DANCES BY Gleice da silva

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LITTLE BRIAR-ROSE BY anne babick

The third-year academy students presented the story of “Little Briar-Rose” as a puppet show on Valentine’s Day. In the story the King and Queen hold a great feast for the birth of their long-wished-for daughter, called Briar-Rose. They can only invite twelve of the thirteen wise women of their country and all of them give wonderful gifts to the baby. But the thirteenth wise woman revenges herself for not being invited and curses the child to prick her finger on a spindle and die. The spell, however is softened and the princess doesn’t die. Instead, on her 15th Birthday, Briar-Rose and the whole castle fall into a deep sleep for 100 years. A King’s son comes after all those years to wake her up and marry her. The show was held in Rainbow Hall and accompanied by music. The third-year academy students worked on the puppets, the music, staging and setup together with Tina Bruckner.

Please can you let everyone know that our new baby girl was born

on February 28th, 2018, at around 9:30, her name is Isabella Eloise

Harris, she weighed 7 pounds and 10 ounces, mother and baby are

both doing great.

"

- by Joe Harris

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THOUGHTS FROM OUR MUSIC TEACHER, MELANIE EBERHARD

IN THE PAST YEAR AND A HALF, SINCE JOINING THIS COMMUNITY AS A MUSIC TEACHER, I HAVE EXPERIENCED SOME OF MY MOST SATISFYING

MUSICAL MOMENTS. Each child is a delightful riddle, and I enjoy the challenge of finding songs, instruments, and approaches, which will enable, encourage and validate musical expression. It is especially gratifying when a child finds something they can sing or play independently. Elsbeth Sunstein* freely gave of her time and energy in providing guidance at the start. She reminded me often that JOY should be the main ingredient in everything I do. Fellow teachers and staff have provided encouragement, advice and insight to help me grow into this role. In the first year, I found myself puzzling about individual children while drifting off to sleep. Getting to know the whole child is an on-going process. How children respond to music has often been surprising. For some children, I hear a change in vocal patterns, attempting to imitate a song, or even a vocal scale or arpeggio as a coda to the current song we are singing, or clapping and tapping that match rhythmic figures in a song we just sang. I might choose to imitate a vocalization, and very often a child’s eyes and continued responses say, “Thank you for hearing my song!” Here at Camphill Special School, the music sometimes takes a while to work its way in. A few times I have moved on from a song, thinking it hadn’t made much of an impression. A couple months later, a child will spontaneously sing that very selection. We spiral back around with enthusiasm, and find an entire class

excited to pick up and do more with a song. With the older grades, the class ensembles have included creative instrumental improvisations. This has often been an expressive portal for students who find singing or exact musical structure to be too much.I am still learning so much and feel even more gratitude for the collaborative spirit of this community.

Editor’s note: Elsbeth Sunstein was the music teacher at Camphill Special School for many years.

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IMPRESSIONS

Garden House building a snowman

Anna and Eva

Haley and the giraffe

Brian exercising at the YMCA

Kai and his birthday cake

Gabe and Dusan doing some Landwork

Sasha in the snow

Leon and the igloo

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A GREAT HELP IN THE STORE BY NOA GOREN

Lily Ingham Weld is one of the hardest workers in the store. She stacks the shelves, weighs the grains, delivers the bread, sorts the fruit and vegetables and helps to get the groceries from Kimberton. When she enters the store her big smile gives light to all of us and helps us to start the crew each after-noon with laughter and joy. We are very grateful to you, Lily, for being part of the store crew and for working hard so that we all get what we need!

MR. WAFFLES BY EMMA BRUNNER

4th grade has expanded over the past 4 weeks with the addition of Amanda and Sara plus Mr. Waffles!Mr. Waffles was living at Last Chance Ranch when my family and I found him. He was a show rabbit that was no longer wanted. He was so loving and friendly that we decided he would be a great addition to my class and could help the children build skills in caring, compassion and responsibility. He has turned out to be a great addition and the children love him! He loves to roam around the class and get treats, often following and playing along with the children. If anyone would like to stop by and say “hi”, you’re more than welcome.

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The 9th grade is currently learning about Joan of Arc. Joan was born in 1412, into a poor farmer’s family, in the middle of the Hundred Years’ War between England and France. One might think that she has no importance anymore in today’s world, however, with her deep conviction, confidence and strong faith in what she believed to be right, she is still inspiring people today. She was led by her faith and by the age of only 18, she led the French army to victory over the English at Orleans. At the end of her life, when she was about to be burned at the stake, she decided to die and stay true to herself. She became a national heroine in France and still inspires masses of people today. Learning about her, inspires the students to become more confident, make themselves heard and believe in what they think is right.

JOAN OF ARC BY stephan hohlbaum

THE SILK ROAD BY ginny thimme

The students in the 7th Grade class have been trading silks, spices, precious stones, millet, tea, tortoise shells, copper, silver and gold; making maps; painting camels; eating peaches, pears and dates; drinking jasmine and chrysanthemum tea and traveling in a caravan along the Silk Road from Rome in Italy to Xian in China, through sandstorms and across deserts.

We have been celebrating our March birthdays (Alex, Eva and Antonio). Here is the class at Antonio's house celebrating his 14th. Thank you Maria, Vince and Nancy (Antonio's grandmother) for a wonderful party.

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1784 Fairview RoadGlenmoore, PA 19343

610.469.9236camphillspecialschool.org

Our mission is to create wholeness forchildren and youth with developmental

disabilities through education, extended family living, and therapy so that they may be better understood, they may more fully unfold their potential, and they

may meaningfully participate in life.

“Receive the children with reverence, educate them with love, send them forth in freedom”

- Rudolf Steiner -

Items for the next issue of Radius must be submitted by the 20th of the month.Materials should be submitted to radius@beaverrun.org

All material submitted is subject to editing and is included on a space available basis.

SEND STUFF!!!

The pottery crew at Beaver Farm has been experimenting with several new ventures this year. Firstly, the introduction of the ETSY store has allowed for a platform to showcase artisan crafts produced at Beaver Farm. With that, we wanted a way to further personalize our work by capturing student drawings in ink and ceramic. From there, it was decided that the best way to do that would be through silk screen printing. Using the same process we use to create our T-shirts each

NEWS FROM BEAVER FARM BY LAUREN GEIGER-MARTIN

year using light sensitive emulsion; we are able to capture student drawings on a fine mesh screen which makes it possible to pass fine pigments through the screen onto the clay; thus transferring the desired image. Some of drawings we use are crafted using tracing techniques, some a prints from books, others are 100% original. We look forward to expanding on this technique and continuing to showcase the talents of our student artists in this unexpected medium!

Please visit our etsy store at: https://www.etsy.com/shop/BeaverFarmCrafts

Or Instragram: https://www.instagram.com/lifeatbeaverfarm