Early Learning Bright Water Waldorf School Seattle By Don & Peggy Doman
I was blown away when I joined Bright Water Waldorg School for their annual dinner and auction. I've been to other private school fundraiser, but the enthusiasm at the Bright Water evening was amazing.
Our friends Theresa Pan-Hosley and husband Larry Hosley invited us as their guests to a fundraising gala for Bright Water Waldorf School on Capitol Hill in Seattle. A private school? Why would I help a private school? Well, our kids attended St. Patrick’s, our daughter Andrea went to Bellarmine Prep, a granddaughter attended Heritage Christian in University Place, and I helped Harrison Preparatory of Lakewood with their video production curriculum, so there is a history here. But why Seattle? Dr. Jayasri Ghosh is head of school. I’ve known Jayasri since she was a member of the Rotary Club of Tacoma #8 and headmaster of Annie Wright School in Tacoma. A couple of years ago Jayasri married our long time friend Dennis Flannigan ("former Washington state legislator and pioneering Tacoma community leader"). They both now live in Seattle.
Most fund-raising is done in banquet rooms. This was unusual to have a fund-raiser (sold out no less) in a restaurant as a private Party. Orfeo (2107 3rd Ave Seattle) did a wonderful job serving and the food was exceptional. For appetizers we had Prosciutto di Parma, hand made mozzarella bocconcini, and crispy polenta fritters. I could have popped the polenta fritters into my mouth all night long, but I held my resolve and only had two. Peg had the grilled wild king salmon for dinner. Orfeo didn’t skimp on the salmon, the seasonal fruit, nor the smoked almond brown butter.
I had the boneless braised beef short ribs, topped with spinach and onions, and sitting on a bed of perfectly prepared polenta. Orfeo is well known for their polenta. The beef simply fell apart with a touch of my fork. Each bite combined beef, polenta, and a drizzle of san marzano tomato sauce. A table mate sat between Peg and me, otherwise we would have been sharing and rolling our eyes.
We kept track of the bidding results and enjoyed and appreciated the innovations in auctioneering by professional Kevin Joyce, who always does a nice job. Student art sold well. I mean really well.
Individual pieces sold for hundreds of dollars and other pieces done by groups of students sold even better. We loved the story by Sam Blackman, amateur writer and storyteller describing one of his high school teachers and how he changed Sam’s life. Teachers that can change the life of students appear to be the norm at Bright Water.
Play is the heart of the Waldorf early childhood program. Through imagination children develop social skills and the capacity for creative thinking and problem solving. Balanced and structured activities such as watercolor painting, handwork, bread baking, and movement help shape and develop fine and gross motor skills. Click Here for a FREE copy of the Bright Water School Early Childood Handbook.
Grade school marks a thoroughfare between the early childhood experience of exploratory play and the more advanced academics and service of middle school years. Scholastic, social, and emotional learning breaks ground in these early grades. Artistic activities permeate every facet of their learning, feeding their imaginations as they experience the deep tapestries of history through stories and fables. Grade school students grapple with themes that are developmentally-appropriate, intellectually challenging, and creatively stimulating.
Middle school is a time to discover, learn, and grow. Bright Water School fosters adolescence by meeting the individual academically, socially, and artistically to build strong, well-rounded students. Each student is given the chance to nurture their curiosity and creativity through hands-on exploration. Sports and extracurricular activities offer additional opportunities for leadership development, group collaboration, and peer-to-peer friendship. Service learning projects make direct engagement possible with our surrounding urban community.
Through immersion in the arts, sciences, social justice, and complex, real-world content, our students leave BWS prepared to succeed in a world calling for deeply humane ingenuity.
At the end of the evening Peg and I had made a new friend, enjoyed our current friends, had a great meal and helped raise over $100,000 for a private school, which enhances the learning experience of its students.