For today’s high school student, preparing for the next step after graduation looks far different than it did 15 years ago, 5 years ago, even just 2 years ago. Standardized testing looks different (literally, as it's now digital, and even optional in some cases), the college admissions process looks at students more holistically, and even the financial aid landscape has new hills and valleys to navigate. On this week's episode, we sat down with DWS Next Steps coach Laura Shope to clear the air about the college application process and debunk many of the common myths. 

On this week's episode, we are joined by our middle school and high school math teachers- Iliana Flefel, Sarah Meyer, and Adam Newman. They share more about our multifaceted approach to engaging our students in developing their mathematical thinking and capacities. 

On this episode, we have the honor of chatting with Ginny Yurich, founder of the 1000 Hours Outside global movement. Her mission is to inspire families to simply spend more time in the great outdoors - soaking in the many benefits that nature provides for social, emotional, physical, and academic development. As a Waldorf school, a connection to nature is foundational to our learning as we cultivate a love for the world around us. Take a listen to hear more about why we believe that play and time outside are moments well spent.

Do you remember how old you were when your parents sat you down to have “the talk”? You know, the one about where babies come from? Or maybe the talk came from one of your teachers, or an older sibling, or from one of your peers. What we know now, as adults, and especially as parents, is that “the talk” is really more like a conversation that grows with time. Just like our children.

On this episode, we are lucky to be joined by parenting expert, human sexuality educator and author Deborah Roffman. Deborah has been named one of Time Magazine’s “Top Sixteen Parenting Experts for the 21st Century,” and her three previously published books for parents and teachers are considered classics in the field. She will be with us again on a webinar on January 19th, so this podcast is a bit of a teaser for that presentation. All are invited to join us virtually on the 19th. The event will not be recorded, so please register online here and plan to pull up a chair from 6-8pm mountain time. 

December is a time of year when many of us are feeling more generous than usual - and with all the extra (and extra fun) activities at the end of the year, it can be challenging to make decisions on where to channel this motivation, how to give, and why. Have you found yourself wondering how you can impact the organizations you care about most? Or how you can benefit from a charitable gift? On this week's podcast episode, DWS Development Officer Hannah Ronan-Daniell shares a conversation with three members of our community to discuss how you can be an informed contributor to any nonprofit or charity (including The Denver Waldorf School). The conversation will cover several ways you can benefit from donating to the nonprofit of your choice before the end of the year, and beyond. 

This is a time of year when, for many of us, the world feels like it’s moving really fast. Whether we are trying to keep up with work, family, perhaps preparing to visit or be visited by extended family once the semester comes to a close. The pressure to keep up is palpable. So what is it that keeps us centered?

Today, I’m sitting down with Education Director Vernon Dewey to discuss how schools also experience this pressure. Especially now. He’ll cover what keeps the feet of a Waldorf school firmly on the ground, holding true to a curriculum that’s more than a century old and the creativity and forward thinking it takes to truly educate today’s students. 

With Thanksgiving under our (maybe slightly tighter) belts, we turn our gaze toward winter festivities. But during this time, in the natural world, of increasing darkness and shorter days, it’s also a time when we are called to take our gaze inward as we search for and stoke our individual, inner light to carry us through the season.

This week marks the beginning of our school’s Festival of Light Emerging, a universal take on the Festival of Advent, that runs four weeks as we journey into the darkest days of the calendar year. Today, to discuss this festival, we are joined by Waldorf educator and spatial dynamics expert Charlie Orphanides who will break down each of the four weeks which goes from the mineral realm in Week 1 (the week of the stones), to the plant realm, the animal realm, and finally the human realm in Week 4. 

In 2019, Waldorf education marked its 100th anniversary. But you might be wondering for any teaching philosophy, not just Waldorf, that has deeper roots, how do we educate today’s student? Well, much of what a Waldorf school teaches is how to learn. How to be in the world, even. How to “see” one another.

This includes teaching students how to resolve conflict.

In the classroom, Waldorf teachers are already teaching students how everything we do affects one another. We also have the luxury of pulling from more than 100 years worth of insights into child development in refining a conflict resolution system that continuously meets the students where they are.

On this podcast episode, you will hear from our school counselor, Jenny Thompson, along with our Restorative Practices Committee to talk more on the model we use, which also has roots in ancient and indigenous restorative practices. 

Daylight savings time ends this weekend. As we look forward to the extra hour of sleep we might get, we have an extra special treat this week on our podcast. This week, Dr. Adam Blanning joins us to talk about sleep - specifically, how we can build good sleep rhythms for ourselves and our families, as well as how to avoid confusing our nervous system when it's time to turn in for the night. Dr. Adam Blanning is a DWS parent as well as a DWS graduate. He practices integrative and anthroposophic family medicine, and lectures and teaches nationally and internationally on topics  relating to holistic medicine and the dynamics of human development, with a special interest in supporting children.

How does a Waldorf school prepare today’s students for college? Of course, 100% of Denver Waldorf students are accepted into college, the vast majority finishing in 4 years. And our graduating classes, although intentionally small, average more than $4 million in scholarships per year. The investment feels worth it. But what are the experiences of our recent alumni once they go beyond our doors? Today, we sit down with two recent graduates, Ellery Lewark and Vander Georgeff, and they candidly reflect and share about their experience.