community

Reconsider Before You Litter

/ michel anderson / 1 Comment

Summer is practically here! Be sure to check in within the next couple of weeks, we’ll be highlighting some of our sustainability initiatives and you can find out how you can help out in the school garden this summer (and get free produce!).
For now . . . .  The 6th grade finished working on one of the storm drains today. Check it out!
WrapUp (1 of 16)

WrapUp (15 of 16)Note: We didn’t get photos of the entire process, but in various small groups the 6th grade students came out and worked on the project. During the next school year, we will be moving down the Tamarind Road hill (towards Cold Spring Lane) and working on more educational murals on the storm drains.

We’d like to thank Blue Water Baltimore and the Cold Spring Community Association for their continued support!

Volunteer Work Days!

/ michel anderson / Leave a comment

gloves-clippersHello and welcome back! This week WSB will be hosting 3 volunteer work days: Wednesday (3/25) through Friday (3/27) from 3:30pm to 5:30pm. If it is raining, or has rained heavily during the day, the volunteer work day will be postponed. This week, we will focus on clearing our forest of rubbish and English Ivy. Please brings gloves and garden sheers if you have them. We will meet in the school garden at 3:30pm each day for further instruction. Happy Spring!

Introducing “Fort”

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This week a group of WSB’s younger students created a piece of abstract art that would have made Wassily Kandinsky proud. They have humbly entitled the piece “Fort.”

“Fort” is constructed of discarded wood, rain water, earth, clay, melted ice, dirt, and sandbox sand. It is currently available for sale at the low starting bid of $1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 x 10 (to the infinity power). All proceeds will benefit the Waldorf School of Baltimore. The lucky high bidder will have “Fort” recreated in their personal living room by a team of WSB students. Please contact their agent, Ms. Edna Emmet, for further details.

WSB Student Council Delivers Food & Toys to Paul’s Place

/ michel anderson / 1 Comment

Below is a message authored (on a paper bag 😉 ) on Thursday Dec 18th by the members WSB’s Student Council while traveling to and from Paul’s Place in downtown Baltimore:

StudentCouncil-PaulsPlace-4We are now on the bus with Mr. Anderson heading towards Paul’s Place to drop off all of the food and toys our community has collected over the last few weeks. Thank you so much for your donations, they will help many families have a happy holiday season.
We just dropped of the food and had a tour of the facilities. We saw their many community resources… a kitchen, a computer lab, a clothing “store,” and met dedicated volunteers and social workers. We want to continue to support this unique and beneficial organization. When we return from our holiday break, we will have further conversations with Jayna Powell from Paul’s Place about how we can continue to help them with their mission to give the poverty-stricken people of Baltimore respect and dignity.
Sincerely,
The Student Council

Below are photos of our trip:

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!

Holiday Food & Toy Drive

/ michel anderson / Leave a comment

On Monday, Dec 1st WSB had the pleasure of hosting Jayna Powell from Paul’s Place. She came to speak to our middle school students about poverty in Baltimore City as well as the steps Paul’s Place is taking to combat it. She brought a series of photographs entitled “Faces of Hope” which tell the individual stories of Paul’s Place guests. Check them out — they are currently on display in the lobby and middle school classrooms. WSB is working with Paul’s Place this holiday season to help unsure our city’s residents in need have a wonderful and dignified holiday. Please consider donating to our Food & Toy Drive. It will be running until Dec 11th. Check out this list of the desired food and toys: Holiday2014 Food and Gift Shop
WSB will be explore a yearlong partnership with Paul’s Place. More info on that will be forthcoming.


And if you’d like to know more about Paul’s Place you can check out this 8 minute film below:

Permaculture Course: Starting Sept 20th

/ Lehcim Nosredna / Leave a comment

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Have you seen the permaculture design map of the Waldorf School of Baltimore? Did you know that WSB is in the process of implementing many of the design components of this map? If you’re interested in really digging into permaculture, consider taking a 6 weekend course and become a certified permaculturist. This is the same course taken by Michel Anderson, WSB’s Ecoliteracy & Sustainability Coordinator. Click HERE for more info. Members of the Waldorf Community get $25 off by typing in the discount code, “Waldorf School of Baltimore,” at registration.  Act fast!  The first class is scheduled to start Saturday, Sept 20.  Also be sure to visit and LIKE the facebook page, Permaculture Maryland. Enjoy the day!

WSB Green Update: Oct 2013

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logoGreetings! Today is World Food Day, and to honor it, WSB’s Student Council will be hosting a food drive. The drive’s dates are still to be determined — but it will be happening soon. So get ready to clear out those pantries of all the extra canned goods that have been lingering. This morning the 8th grade and I had a lively conversation about food miles. We calculated that the ingredients of a typical bowl of cereal may have traveled over 5000 miles to get onto a kitchen table in Baltimore, MD. We discussed shopping at farmers’ markets vs supermarkets, the importance our local economy, and making informed decisions about the food we eat.

Today at lunch I had some eager 2nd grade students help me roll up the hoses as we start to prepare the garden for the long cold ahead. We’re hoping to do some winter gardening this year, so we’ll be making a some cold frames over the next couple of weeks. We’ll also be edging out the garden and putting down more mulch soon. Plus, we have hopes of firing up the old earth oven before winter hits! More on that soon.

Another exciting development is the new Fairy Garden in the Children’s Garden outdoor area. Working together last Sunday were CG teachers, Mrs. Bechmann & Ms. Landgraf, and parents, Yevgeniy Elbert (Asta), and Roland & Naoko Oehme (Yuma). The new Fairy Garden spawned from a collaboration with Mrs. Bechmann and Roland Oehme of Green Harmony Design. On behalf of the WSB community, the Children’s Garden would like to thank Roland for providing the garden plans, some plants, and lots of hard work; and to Yevgeniy for his gift of hard work, mulch, and tools. Below are some photos of the install — be sure to stop by sometime and check it out. Who knows what creatures will take up residence there come Spring?!

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Spring Projects Progress

/ Lehcim Nosredna / 1 Comment

The main frame of the new playhouse has been erected! On Saturday a small team of students, parents, and friends, came out to help me with earthship foundation and on Sunday the playhouse itself was risen. Below is a chronological slideshow of photos taken over the course of the project thus far:

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This week, as the rest of the playhouse is being finished, I’ve been working with our two 6th grade Rachels on the Chicken Ark.
Below are some photos of the progress we’ve made so far (click on them to enlarge). Today and Thursday I will be working with a small group of 5th graders after school to finish it up.

In the mist of all this the garden has been transforming as well. But I’ll save those photos for another post. Thanks for stopping by and enjoy your day! – Michel

A Call to Arms! Playhouse Community Raising!

/ Lehcim Nosredna / Leave a comment

DSCN5341Come out to the Waldorf School of Baltimore this weekend to help raise our new timber-frame playhouse built by alumnus, Ben Gallagher. It’s picnic potluck style!
Yesterday, today, and Saturday, I will be preparing the earthship foundation. Come to lend a hand Saturday, April 13th, between 11am and 3pm. There’s a lot of dirt to move and pound into tires. An earthship foundation is made out of used car tires that are rammed with earth. This turns them into massive 300 lbs bricks. The playhouse will essentially “float” on the ground, protecting it from the subtle shifts of the earth. Did you know the Goderich Waldorf School in Africa is an earthship? …Watch this VIDEO to learn more.
The new playhouse will rise this Sunday, April 14th, between 9am to 6pm. Come with a picnic lunch with extra to share. Students are welcome to participate.

Hope to see you this weekend!

Seeding a New School Garden

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MGTonight I will be starting the Baltimore County Master Gardener Program. Classes will run from January 22nd to April 9th on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. This is part of WSB’s effort to expand our school’s garden this coming spring. We’re hoping to make the garden a central place for our students to grow and learn. We are also looking into the possibility of opening the garden to the wider community. Please contact me at manderson@twsb.org and let me know your interest and commitment level to gardening this summer — this information will allow me to plan just how vast our garden can grow and be sustainable. This is a fantastic opportunity for you and your children to learn and grow together throughout the summer months . . . not to mention revel in the satisfaction of harvesting the bounty of your efforts (literally!). Please be in touch.
Best,
Michel