May Faire, Waldorf School of Bend (Photo by Y.L. Wilkenfeldt)
On Saturday, May 1st, the Waldorf School of Bend celebrated the return of spring with their annual May Faire. The fair took place on the school grounds, on O.B. Riley Road, in northwestern Bend.
At 11:00 a.m., Moe Anderson, 5th/6th grade teacher and board representative, started the ceremony, beating a drum while the students entered the field behind the school. Once lined up in a semicircle around the traditional maypole, the 1st grade class came forward to sing and play their flutes.
Next came two versions of the maypole dance, the first led by faculty chair, Laura Elmore, with musical accompaniment on violins by Elmore’s elder daughters, Sierra and Autumn. The second dance was led by parent Robin Sappington-Lowrie, who began with a blessing to the spectators: “May your energy mingle with the earth today, and sprout many new things for you and your family.”
Moe Anderson (Photo by Y.L. Wilkenfeldt)
The fair featured many family-oriented booths and games, including a petting zoo, obstacle course, and face painting. A few booths seemed especially popular, including two crafting centers where children could make head wreaths or wands from twigs, ribbons, and flowers. Another standout was the Pacific Power booth which featured a solar oven.
The Waldorf School strives to keep the event inexpensive, said Anderson, so every kid can walk away with something from nature. It’s one of the school’s biggest family events of the year, with a focus on celebrating spring, and building and supporting community.
At a time when many schools are struggling to keep kids motivated as summer break draws near, the Waldorf School of Bend takes advantage of students’ heightened energy and excitement by building curriculum around seasonal events like this.
Maypole dance (Photo by Y.L. Wilkenfeldt)
For instance, the older Waldorf students make crafts to sell at the May Faire. “This gives them the opportunity to learn about marketing and sales,” said Elmore, while exposing them to real-life math lessons in the form of monetary transactions. “Some of them also volunteer at other booths throughout the event, such as face painting and ribbon wand making. This helps them to feel the sense of community, of supporting the younger ones that they used to be!” The May Faire events, including a performance of The Odyssey by the older students, all tie into the curriculum and/or the Waldorf philosophies of community, creativity, and experiential learning.
With their emphasis on community building and celebrating and acknowledging the turning of the seasons, Waldorf Schools have been “green” long before being green was trendy. For nearly a century, these schools have operated in connection with the world around them, often demonstrating this sense of connection through their celebrations. The maypole dance, for instance, teaches children how to work together to create something beautiful, Elmore explained. “At the end you can see the ribbons, in spring colors, woven around the pole. In a way this can represent the weaving of community and coming together… It is like the saying, ‘It takes a village…’”
To learn more about the Waldorf School of Bend, click here.
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