Mulberry Waldorf School celebrated 25 years with May Fair
Kingston’s Mulberry Waldorf School celebrated 25 years of independent elementary education with a return to an in-person, outdoor celebration on Saturday, May 14, 2022.
According to a release from the school, families gathered for a May Fair, to enjoy seasonal crafts and children’s activities, live music, traditional maypole dances, and the planting of a commemorative tree.
May Fairs mark the arrival of spring with a community event, according to the release. Central to the celebration are maypole dances performed by children from each grade who learn increasingly complex dances, weaving ribbons around the pole; the maypole symbolizes a tree of life and the blooming of spring vegetation. Children crafted flower crowns and dug for buried treasure, accompanied by local musicians, including Mulberry’s current artist-in-residence, Gary Rasberry.
“It has been my honour and privilege to be here for the entire school year, doing lots of singing, and I wrote a song about Waldorf education called ‘Here We Have Time,’ and that’s what we’ve been trying to do,” Rasberry shared.
With many of the school’s founding members in attendance, a young Swamp White Oak Tree was planted to celebrate the first 25 years of Mulberry and to represent a living symbol of their hope and commitment to another 25 years of growth, according to the release.
Charlotte Schurer, one of the school’s founding teachers, reflected, “Waldorf education remains one of the best approaches for children and teachers, and it required the commitment and sacrifice of a community to make it possible to launch the school 25 years ago and maintain it through many challenging periods.”
Organizers said that families appreciated an opportunity to gather as a community and reconnect, and children were thrilled by the return of the ever-popular baked goods and meals-to-go sale. All went home with full hearts and full containers reflecting the diversity of family specialties, according to the release, and classes were successful in raising funds for their end-of-year outdoor adventure trips.