“Good morning family, friends, teachers and graduates.
It has been the honor of my life to teach this outstanding class of eighth grade students before me. I have never known a more impassioned, inquisitive, creative, and connected group of students. Your connection to each other is strong and deep, with many of you having been here for nearly a decade. Each one of you has nurtured a connection to your own inner voice as well, connecting to your true nature, to your heart's calling, to your inner compass. As you move out into the world, I wish for you to continue nurturing your inner life with tenderness and care. I wish for you to hone your voice, meeting your outer life with purpose. Sometimes your voice will be loud and large, and other times your voice will be small and shaky. Lead with hope- listen for the thing with feathers..that perches on the soul..and sings the tune without the words, and never stops at all.
There are many things you have learned over the years, but some of the best lessons are most deeply ingrained in our Waldorf culture. I leave you with this set of recommendations to live by:
Indoor shoes.
Do not let the dirt, dust, and gravel of the outside world tread upon your heart at the end of the day. Protect the room in your chest. Wear indoor shoes.
Body, Mind, Spirit & Voice It takes the whole person to sing & rejoice. Your Class verses.
Remember to stay present. There is always time to ground yourself no matter how fast life seems to be moving around you. Take that moment of stillness when embarking on new adventures, challenges, unexpected changes, or familiar events. Be present. Be full. Be whole.
Earth who gives to us this food Sun that makes it ripe and good, dearest earth and dearest sun, we’ll not forget what you have done. Our blessings.
Remember to give thanks as often as you can. The attitude of gratitude will transform your experiences..and make your lunch taste better.
Come and sing oh sing a song of gladness, come and sing, oh sing a song of joy. Singing.
When we sing together, we breathe together. And when we breathe together, our hearts (our literal hearts) synchronize. Our heartbeats synchronize with one another! The tricuspid valve and the aortic valves-- they “lub dub” together. Singing allows us to lose ourselves for a little while, forget the day if only for a few minutes, and to join together in presence. Little known facts about singing: Singing will make you live longer. It will give you superpowers. And I heard that singing for an hour before each test will ensure you pass with flying colors. [said with a twinkle in her eye] That’s just something I heard. We really love singing at the Waldorf school.
Go outside.
If we look to Emerson as an example of how to most efficiently break down our allotted time outside each day for recess, our time amounts to approximately an hour and fifteen minutes- an hour and twenty if we model our gusto and efficiency for completing chores after Emerson as well. An hour and twenty minutes outside each day. Spend time outside every day. Ground yourself in nature, move, breathe, play, or touch grass. Give yourself enough time to commune with nature and allow it to heal or soften what ails you.
Main lesson books.
Find a way to make your learning your own. Take knowledge into your heart and put it back out into the world again. Whether it’s history transformed onto paper, or illustrations of animals from the Sahara desert-- find a way to transform knowledge into something beautiful that is just for you.
Form drawing.
Be slow and thorough in your striving. Create habits and rhythms in your daily life, forms that you move through again and again. Let the flowing of your habits and routines take form within you, carrying you through life like a river..in the shape of a celtic knot. Build upon these forms each day, adding new and complex pathways. Bring intention and attention as you form yourself in this life.
Chores.
Care for your environment and strive to leave each place a little bit better than you found it. These mundane tasks are acts of service to our communities and to ourselves. What you do makes a difference.
Dancing.
Specifically, dancing around our maypole, working together, endlessly weaving and unweaving, knocking into each other, getting tangled, making knots, swiftly skipping with confidence in the wrong direction, colliding with another student and falling into a tangled mess on the grass. It is no small feat to learn the maypole dancing. For some, dancing means stepping outside of your comfort zone and allowing new things to surprise you. For others, dancing is as easy and natural as breathing. But it is only through dancing together that we can weave a beautiful, precise woven pattern on the maypole. Work together and remember that we are all ribbons weaving in and out of many lives around us. Weave with intention, even when we inevitably collide. Take joy in the things that we can only create in community together.
Daily Verse spoken by 8th grade:
The soul is dyed the color of its thoughts.
Think only on those things that are in line with your principles
And can bear the light of day
The content of your character is your choice
Day by day, what you do is who you become
Your integrity is your destiny
It is the light that guides your way
(*Shortened Commencement Speech by Ms. Dehan, IWS Middle School Teacher, from June 10, 2023, for the graduating Class of 2023. Words in italics were spoken by the audience and/or 8th graders.)