On the Road with Lauren: Hands, Head, and Heart: Educating the Whole Child... Outside!

#District Stories Read time:
Though I was driving down a country road in the middle of central Wisconsin, traffic was steady. We passed farms and corn fields, then the line of cars turned off the main road onto a driveway weaving through the trees.

It was 8:00 in the morning, drop-off time at Tomorrow River Community Charter Schools in Amherst Junction, Wisconsin.

My coworker, Laura, and I were visiting TRCCS to find out what this Waldorf-inspired school is all about.

Check out our video!
 

 
As we took our first look around, a thought crossed my mind: “This is real-life Camp Walden!” If you’ve seen the Parent Trap, that should paint a pretty accurate picture of what the campus felt like.



Cabins (and yurts) are sprinkled among the trees, home to classrooms and the school office. Kids run about on the trails connecting them. A lake at the bottom of a hill borders the campus on one side.

TRCCS is a Waldorf-inspired school. Waldorf education was established by Rudolf Steiner in Germany in 1919. In Waldorf schools, there’s a heavy emphasis on meeting the child where they are at developmentally and engaging their hands, head, and heart. What does this look like? It looks like lots of time in nature, low-tech learning, hands-on activities, hiking, music, and simplicity. There are Waldorf-inspired schools in over 70 countries. One of the things that makes TRCCS unique is that it’s a Waldorf-inspired public school, meaning it incorporates many of the elements of a traditional Waldorf school, while also adhering to the same state standards as any other public school.

We kicked off our time on campus by chatting with Hailey Micheloni. Hailey is a seventh-grade teacher, though next year she’ll teach eighth grade. Teachers at TRCCS practice looping, where they move with their class from grade to grade. They value getting to know their students on a deeper level, even making home visits to gain a fuller picture of what life is like for each child.

Hailey told us about some of the beautiful elements of Waldorf education: chalkboard art, beeswax, clay, handwork... By keeping children’s minds and bodies active, they engage the whole child and aim to foster their love of learning.

But you don’t have to take my word for it.

Ginny and Milo took time out of their classes to chat with us next. Ginny is in seventh grade and Milo in third. They told us about woodcarving and whittling, gardening, and time spent cleaning up Sunset Lake. They both genuinely seem to love going to school. In fact, Ginny mentioned she’d like to teach kindergarten at TRCCS someday.

Both Ginny and Milo were excellent communicators. When I mentioned this to Principal Al Northouse later in the day, he smiled and cited two reasons TRCCS students tend to thrive in this area: First, since technology is limited, students are always having face-to-face interactions, not hiding behind devices. Second, the school helps nurture presentation skills. In fact, eighth graders give a one-hour presentation as part of their capstone project!

The lack of technology also means these students are highly imaginative and excel at finding ways to entertain themselves. They played with sticks, climbed on logs, and explored the woods on their own. Some ate lunch on tree trunks, while others unpacked sandwiches as they perched on the front steps of their one-room schoolhouse and asked us what we were up to as we carried our camera equipment by.

Throughout the day, we heard lots of laughter, as well as music drifting through the air. There were ukulele and violin lessons, singing in the classrooms, and practice for a school play (students are writing the script, sewing the costumes, and creating the sets themselves).

Laura and I really enjoyed our day on campus. TRCCS offers students a beautiful learning environment, an engaging curriculum, and a unique approach to education. If you’d like to learn more about the school, or their virtual school which is open to students anywhere in the United States, visit trccs.org.

Thanks for joining us on the road!

 

Follow-up resource: On the Road with Lauren: Cranberry Science and a Splash of Red

Cranberry bogs produce tart treats for Thanksgiving, but also science experiments with real-world payoffs for local students. See how with Lauren on the road.