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I would visit the school and give
one or two well-attended evening
lectures that put me in touch
with the larger community. The
audiences were alive, filled with
profound questions. They couldn’t
wait for me to finish a sentence to
raise their hands to ask a question.
I could see that a Waldorf school
here was going to change the lives
of many people, some who were in
a position to change the tenor of
the whole community. The larger
community was also being reached
through Grassroots TV, radio
inter views, and The Aspen Times,
where I was interviewed. The Aspen
initiative had a high profile, was
more grandiose in its goals, more
determined.
Ever y year I would visit there was a
little more growth, in spite of occa-
sional negativity from new parents
who would come passionately and
then drop out for no apparent rea-
son. One felt that though the seed
case might be battered and cracked,
the kernel within really had integ-
rity. Something was there. More
than most, they were FAMILY writ
large. Teachers, parents and board
members were all the same people,
few and tight.
As a Waldorf consultant, I have
ties with over 100 schools but I’ve
never seen more strong and vibrant
personalities or greater selflessness.
These people could have been do-
ing any number of worthy things
with their lives, but they devoted
themselves to the school by a strong
destiny. Year by year it grew more
independent, attracting young and
vital teachers who made their con-
tributions and stayed or moved on.
I’ve often had the impression that
something of medieval Europe has
reincarnated in the Roaring Fork
Valley. The “castles” are up on
the hillside with the higher view,
defending against those who would
invade their way of life. The vil-
lagers and craftspeople who tend
the land with daily work are in
the valley. Who bridged the two
in medieval times? The monaster-
ies and the monks who lived in
them, the bards and minstrels, and
the craftspeople who became the
artists. This bridge impulse lives in
Waldorf schools. We know that a
monastic impulse lives in Waldorf
teachers who devote themselves
to the education, to beauty and
a pathway to the spirit with little
compensation. One should never
forget the original impulse of the
Goethe Bicentennial in Aspen
because that is what the Waldorf
school really embodies.
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