Waldorf News

Creativity finds a way

Undaunted by the pandemic, students of Ashwood Waldorf School’s oldest class take on their independent projects.

ROCKPORT — Raising and butchering pigs, pinhole photography, primitive skills, building a wooden chess set — these are just a few of the independent student projects completed by Ashwood Waldorf School’s graduating class this spring. While the global pandemic forced a cancellation of the school’s annual project presentation night, students have compiled a project “look book” that highlights key aspects of each of the yearlong independent projects, including lessons learned, gratitude to mentors, quotes that inspired, and photographs of the students’ learning process and final products.

Each year the students of Ashwood’s oldest class take on independent projects as the culmination of their educational experience. It is an opportunity for the students to have a truly self-determined learning experience based on their individual interests and aspirations. Students combine the academic, artistic, and intellectual capacities fostered by their Waldorf education to research, develop, and present a project of their choosing. The maturity and self-motivation required to accomplish such a project is a prerequisite for moving on to secondary school.

The project requires the students to find a mentor, research their topic, complete the work, and share this experience with an audience. They spend many hours, above and beyond their regular academic school work, developing their independent projects. This year for the first time, students were asked to design, create and execute a project without the use of digital technology (with the exception of final photos or video).

Learning the Art and Business of Candle-making, by Aidan Wyman.

Learning about ASL and Interpreting a Spoken Poem, by Anna Hildreth.

Raising and Butchering Two Pigs, by Eli Pluecker.

Darkroom Photography, by Lily Mott.

Baking and Decorating Cakes, by Sanbate Doshi

Building a Chess Set, by Harrison Garcia.

Forming Glass with Heat, by Roza Chandler.

Making My Own Skis, by Jonny Troutman.

Learning Primitive Skills, by Scarlet Labbe-Watson.

Darkroom Photography, by Sadie Luehman

Learning to Cook, by George Bickham.

Building a Rube Goldberg contraption, by Ina Wolovitz.

Designing and Building an Electric Violin, by Sofia Howell.

Creating a Graphic Novel, by Gabe Wheeler.

Making a Pinhole Camera and Creating Pinhole Photographs, by Zola Roberts.

Learn more about the Ashwood Waldorf School here.

From the Village Soup