to view - Pasadena Waldorf School
Transcription
to view - Pasadena Waldorf School
BLESSINGS PWS Gala Reader Thank you to Diana Koenigsberg, Ivy Reynolds, Doug Piburn, and Lucas Janin for beautifully capturing the evening. Fantastic photos! All PrOceeds frOm BLESSINGS Benefit Funding Our Future One School, Two Campuses… As we move towards the future, we are grateful for the foundations built by those teachers, staff members, and parents whose vision and labor built the programs and the facilities we currently enjoy. We also are grateful for a community that continuously comes together to envision possibilities that not only will benefit our current students, but will further build a legacy for future children and families, some not yet even born, coming to meet Waldorf Education in the 21st century. After acquiring our Mendocino property in 2012 just blocks from our lower school campus, we are now blessed by two beautiful campuses on a combined nearly 9 acres. We have exciting plans for improvements to serve our growing educational programs. A New Home for our High School… Moving to our new campus on Mendocino Street We are truly excited that the high school will have a permanent home on a PWS-owned campus. This beautiful 3-acre site offers existing classrooms, offices, and outdoor recreation spaces. The proximity to our Mariposa campus promotes community and the one-school culture we have been seeking. Having a fully functioning Mendocino campus expands possibilities for both high-school and lower-school programs and events. Informed by our long range Master Site Plan, construction and renovation plans will be program-driven to meet the needs of our high school, including science, art, humanities, and athletics. We are currently in the budgeting and initial design phase. Growing… Expanding our Early Childhood Program The indoor and outdoor spaces available on the Mendocino campus are perfect to fulfill the goal of expanding the Poppy Preschool and Sweet Pea Parent Child programs. With each of these classes currently at capacity and having a waitlist, we look forward to offering this important program to more families, and ultimately strengthening enrollment up through the grades. Our teachers are truly excited to realize this expansion, and are deeply committed to retaining the vision of a nurturing environment that beautifully reflects and embodies the rich warmth of our Early Childhood Programs. This plan also creates additional indoor and outdoor spaces for the Lily and Rose Kindergarten classes as the Poppies and Sweet Peas move to Mendocino, freeing up much-needed room for our children to play and grow. Better than before… Rebuilding the 1st and 2nd grade classrooms that were destroyed in a fire as permanent structures (over and above what our insurance will cover) Since the accidental electrical fire that destroyed our 1st and 2nd grade portable classrooms in August of 2014, our entire community has come together in a way that reflects the strength of our school. Working with our insurance company, a process of intensive research and planning has taken place so that we may not only create the vision for replacement, but also transform the tragedy of the fire into an amazing opportunity. Pasadena Waldorf School has resided on its historic Scripps Hall campus on Mariposa Street for over 28 years, and it is now time to envision, design, and build permanent buildings that are truly reflective of this powerful education and of all that we hold important and dear as a community. This opportunity to rebuild the 1st and 2nd grade classrooms as permanent structures now becomes the first phase of our long range Master Site Plan and informs the vision for all future facilities. Ensuring that our new buildings have a beautiful aesthetic, enlarged spaces, natural lighting, better ventilation, and improved outdoor spaces will better serve our students as well as provide an important path to the future of our campus facilities. blessings COmmittee 2015 Chairs DeAnne Todd Fred Eric fOOd Chef Fred Eric AuctiOns Melanie Burgess Joanna Simpson Design & Art DirectiOn Tamlyn Wright Caro Foellmer DecOratiOns Michelle Goode Nicole Schiller AudiO seating Lighting Special AdvisOrs Markus Duran Dwight Campbell Graphic Design Audra Donahue Entertainment DeAnne Todd Pamela Forrest Ron Hamad Ted Masur Gildart Jackson Yuval Ron Jeffrey Bernstein Tara Hughes Joanna Simpson Gretchen Palmer Blake Bailey PWS DevelOpment COmmittee cO-chairs Ginger Gelber Noreen Cruz PWS Faculty AdvisOr Adrienne Wilde PWS DevelOpment Office Melissa Puls Jon Brody BLESSINGS On our Gala Team DeAnne Todd, Gala Co-chair I am so thankful Gildart Jackson made me stand on the stage at the end of the Gala (even though I had just discovered my jumpsuit had been on backwards the entire night). I was able to take a minute and look out over the room and see what we had accomplished and it was an amazing view. I couldn't believe how you transformed the room from an empty shell to a Waldorf Home completely reflecting our community. I will never forget it. I am in awe of the talents of this group. My family has been at other schools with a lot of talented parents but the difference here is the love and reverence each of you has for your children, the school, and the world. You give of your time selflessly and with such ease. It was my sincere pleasure to create this Gala with all of you. A final thank you to those who attended- you made the night amazing. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. BLESSINGS On our Gala Team Fred Eric, Gala Co-chair Amazing Grace! Thank you all for putting together such a memorable Gala. All of our focus and tireless persistence paid off in creating a night of truly memorable proportions. The Gala team 2015 brought it! It was such a rewarding experience to work with this team, the combinations of talents and heart were felt throughout the crowd. BLESSINGS On our Meal We would like to once again extend our deep gratitude to our incredible and innovative chefs: Govind Armstrong, Monique King, Paul Rosenbluh, Laurent Quenioux, Barbara Monderine, Connie Tran, Octavio Beccera, and our own Fred Eric. Also thanks to Sammy Marvin from Bottega Louie for lending his skills in the kitchen. The meal you created was one of the best we’ve ever eaten, and without your incredible donation of food, talents, and time, there is no way we could have produced the Gala without charging $500 a plate! Thank you Wendy Campbell for starting the evening with a beautiful Blessing on Our Meal. Guests were treated to amazing wines and cocktails at the Gala, all donated by Anna & David deLaski’s Solminer Wine, Palmina Wine, and Benziger Family Winery. Thank you winemakers! Mark Smith and Three of Clubs provided all the beer, sodas, and delicious signature cocktails. BLESSINGS On our Production, Art & Decorations Teams Tamlyn Wright, Caro Foellmer and the production, art and decorations teams quite simply created magic. They turned an empty soundstage at Quixote Studios into something not unlike a dream. What a vision! The thousand string lights, huge wooden tables, burlap fabric draping, incredible projections, lighting and sound, the chandeliers, beautiful table decorations, a huge stage, piano, and oh, that giant willow ball! There were so many people who helped make this happen and we apologize if we missed you in these pages. Michelle Goode and Nicole Schiller’s magical willow ball and exquisite decorations on the tables and throughout the tent and soundstage took many hours of strategizing, prep, trips to the flower mart, laborious work with zip-ties and wires, all marvelously supported by Bonnie Gavel, Kellie Johnson, Jill ParkerJones, Leslie Suhy, and others. Nic Larsen hardly ever touched the ground as he spent 12 hours up in the air, literally, on a scissor lift rigging the lights and fabrics to help turn an empty sound stage into a beautiful setting for the evening. Audra Donahue graphically designed everything from the invitation, program, posters, pens, and projections. Matthew Labyorteaux had no idea what he was getting into when he volunteered to help Markus Duran move the giant willow ball to the Mendocino campus and the chandeliers to Quixote Studios. Youssif Kamal tirelessly helped during setup and even came back for another round of support late night. Josh Ivy did with some heavy lifting then returned to be our Live Auction spotter. Joanna Simpson somehow figured out seats for everyone, a great challenge with tables that sit 35 people! Grandparent Jill Parker-Jones may have set new volunteer hour records spending three days, splendidly assisted by her husband Gary Tubbs, doing just about everything. Sheila Swift, Colleen Osborne, Andrea Phillips, Gladys Alvarado, and Ginger Gelber were rock stars, setting up the auction and cocktail reception tent with great vision and expertise, working until the last minute before the Gala began. Tobi Datum was everywhere – driving to the valley to get the lights, working high on ladders and scissor lifts, happily performing any odd job that was needed, and was last seen with the Gala boat strapped to the top of his car. Wolfgang Kring worked behind the scenes helping the chefs and servers get ready for the big feast, and he also donated the use of his awesome van that made several trips to school and various kitchens all over town. Rebecca Gendry spent half her time on a scissor lift rigging lights and so much more. Late Friday night during setup, Dwight Campbell and April Keltner directed and installed the gorgeous lighting assisted by Eric Adkins, Tobi Datum, Anthony Dimino and Kim Ha. Andrew Huber and Peter Listro never sat down during the entire evening perfectly executing the follow spot and lighting boards. Cynthia Reis worked for hours as a child-wrangler and helped open and install over 1,000 string lights. The PWS Audio Guild consisting of Markus Duran, Murry Hammond (and Annie!), and Timothy Fitzpatrick, was working overtime throughout the setup, event, and strike. They handled the sounds in the tent and the soundstage, making sure the instruments were crisp and speakers could be heard loud and clear. While not volunteering seemingly everywhere there was a need, at the end of a long setup day Alan Jergens dutifully repainted the white flooring to ensure it would be clean and ready for the big night. Cassiel Hamilton painted the chef’s appetizer and the friendly Gala welcome signs. Gildart Jackson returned to the Gala stage as our emcee and once again filled the room with his perfect blend of humor and heart as he took us on the evening’s journey. Pamela Forrest was the Gala producer and writer extraordinaire! One minute she was on the stage, the next behind the mixing console executing perfect timing and sequencing throughout the night. Thank you Pamela and DeAnne Todd for the many hours you spent with the teams producing a flawless evening. You told us we would be finished by 9:45 p.m. and you nailed it! BLESSINGS On our Film Blessings to Ron Hamad for directing another beautiful film, Harvest, encapsulating the arc of Waldorf Education at our school. Your brilliance once again captivated the audience and will forever live in the hearts of all of us. Thank you to Mark Haslett for weaving the interviews with Blair Manzke, Arthur Pittis, Dennis Demanett, and Kathy Rinden into a lovely story. The narrative was voiced by our own Adrienne Wilde. Parents Kurt Brabbée and Tobi Datum helped Ron capture the shots in classrooms, on campus, on a farm, and in our families’ homes. Thank you PWS High School music teacher Ted Masur for creating the beautiful score for the film and for his collaboration with Ron on integrating the entire PWS High School student body into the presentation. James Hood not only performed the hang drum instrumentation for the score, he also arranged for PWS High School student Glenna Adkins to record the cello solo at a local recording studio. Thank you to the PWS Teachers, Students, and Families who allowed us into your classrooms and homes to make the film. Look for Harvest on the PWS website and Facebook page soon. BLESSINGS On our Dancers Tara Hughes choreographed a gorgeous sweeping opening dance that set the tone for the evening, beautifully performed by 4th grade student Sadie Neville, PWS grad Savoy Bailey, parents Julia Bantner, Lilia Lopez, Chad Bantner, Tara Hughes, and DeAnne Todd. 4th grade student Louna Janin sang the vocals of Stephen Sondheim’s Our Time recorded by Jeffrey Bernstein and Markus Duran that introduced the theme that now is “our time” for the school. The dance ended with the first standing ovation of many throughout the evening. Thank you dancers for delivering such a graceful and striking performance. BLESSINGS On our Music Music was a big theme at the Gala and we are so grateful to have Yuval Ron and Jeffrey Bernstein in our community. Yuval coordinated the many fabulous entertainers heard throughout the night. We are in awe of the talents of Livia Reiner, Clay Allen, Shelly Wilner, Timothy Fitzpatrick, Teo Castro, Yuval Ron, and Jeffrey Bernstein who performed throughout the cocktail reception and dinner courses. Jeffrey Bernstein wrote a beautiful score for the Paul Livadary film and worked with PWS High School music teacher Ted Masur and the PWS High School Students on the final number, Our Time. BLESSINGS On our Auctions Melanie Burgess, supported by Joanna Simpson, procured a stunning array of auction items. This year we introduced auctioneer John Kunkle, who did a fabulous job of getting top bids for the live auction and keeping the pace of the evening going at a great rate. Thank you Jennifer Pitt & Andy Mueller/ The Quiet Life for getting the PWS hats printed! Thank you to all of our donors who contributed beautiful and thoughtful pieces to the silent and live auctions, class projects, and raffles: Alicia & Jason Adams (Bootleg Theater), Altadena Fire Station 11, Border Grill, Mary Christopher, Collins Family, Cathleen Cox Bain, Noel Daniel, Monica De Francisco, Film Independent, Bonnie Gavel & Josh Welsh, Nina Hachigian & Joe Day, Cassiel & Jason Hamilton, Jill Parker-Jones & Gary Tubbs, Elite Helicopter Tours, Heidi Rose Robbins, il Capriccio, Fred 62, Charise & Josh Ivy, Maggie Mahboubian (Lalun Naturals), Sacha Malin & Dori Levanoni, Josie Maran & Ali Alborzi (Josie Maran Cosmetics), Dabs Myla, Melinda & Matthew Nix, Veronique & Guido Hunziker-Tschopp, Jennifer Pitt & Andy Mueller, Jill Jason Ross & Brendan Ross, Nicole Schiller & Paul Petrunia, Eddie & Lorraine Vontista (Eagle Rock Juice), and Maud Winchester & Lucas Reiner (Hope Springs). Deepest gratitude to The PWS Doll Makers consisting of Caro Foellmer, Kellie Johnson, Julia Bantner, Lilia Lopez, Tammy Kennedy, Shannon Brousseau, Monica De Francisco, Karine Dermenjyan, Amy Chu-Robin, and Sacha Malin for the jawdropping Gala Doll. Lastly, thank you PWS Students, Teachers, and Parents for creating those priceless works of art. BLESSINGS On our Sponsors There is no way we could have produced the Gala without the incredible support from our community partners. Keith Greco from Greco Design donated the wood dining tables, chandeliers, linens, bars, and more. He literally turned over his giant warehouse to us. Thank you Tamlyn Wright & Silent House Productions for procuring the amazing in-kind support from All Access Staging for the incredible (and enormous) stage, CenterStaging for the beautiful baby grand piano, PRG for string lights, VER for the awesome projector and audio mixing console, and Dano Rowley for his crew of professional riggers for raising the fabrics, lights, and willow ball. Thank you Shellie Rodriguez and Pat Dolphin from Dolphin Event Services, our favorite event rental company ever, for providing several thousand items including plates, bowls, glasses, tables, and the enormous tent for the cocktail reception. Illumination Dynamics and Robert Guzman’s Concept Lighting donated thousands of dollars worth of lights, cables, gels, and more. Thank you Bradley Thordarson for helping with the donation from Green Set who donated all the beautiful trees and greenery that helped create the magical environment. Lastly, a huge PWS thank you to Mikel Elliott, Cambria Bacher, and the entire crew at Quixote Studios - what an incredbile place to host the Gala! BLESSINGS On our High School Coordinating the High School students’ performance became a full time job and we extend our deepest gratitude to Julia Echevarria, Cynthia Martinez, Ted Masur, Arthur Pittis and all the PWS High School Students. Thank you Andrea Phillips, Joanna Holbek-Mathews, and Jennifer Willhite for chaperoning the students all afternoon and evening. You all went above and beyond the call of duty to deliver a performance that was nothing short of breathtaking. BLESSINGS On our Founder In 1979, Paul Livadary founded Pasadena Waldorf School. Since its humble beginnings the school has now grown into a thriving educational institution spanning Early Childhood through High School with our first high school class graduating in 2016. Paul Livadary laid the foundation that our families are benefiting from today. Our community gave thanks to our founder Paul Livadary for the most amazing gift and blessing we could ever dream of. It was an honor to host Paul and his family and thank him for the gift of Pasadena Waldorf School. One of the highlights of the night was “Letters to Paul”. Attendees were asked to write a letter to Paul which were presented to him. It was clear that Paul has touched many people’s lives in a way they will never forget. Founding parent Barry Sanders read his moving and powerful “Homage to Paul” letter to a delighted audience. Barry’s speech is a must read! We’ve printed it in the following section. The Gala Committee would like to thank Kirsten Everberg and the Kindergarten-Grade 11 PWS Students for creating the beautiful paintings of the tree in front of Scripps Hall for Paul, Michelle Foxx for her perfect calligraphy inscription, Yuval Ron for traveling on Mother’s Day to Paul Livadary’s house to rehearse for their brilliant performance, and alumni parent Peter West, who worked behind the scenes to recut the Paul Livadary film along with Jeffrey Bernstein composing a new original score. Thank you to Melissa Puls, Becky Gafvert, Mary Christopher, and Barry Sanders for speaking so eloquently to the attendees about Paul, his vision, and the founding of the school. Thank you to Grace & Barry Sanders and Mary Christopher, our earliest parents and teacher, for flying thousands of miles to join us. Lastly thank you to Paul’s wife Marina Day who worked with us for months to ensure this night was a perfect moment in time for Paul and their family. BLESSINGS Homage to Paul by Barry Sanders I am here this evening to tell you about answering the call. I am here to tell you about trust and faith and believing deeply in a person and answering a call to change the way education looks, and the way teaching gets carried out, and the way trust develops. In 1980, I had a sabbatical from the Claremont Colleges, which Grace and I and our daughter spent living in the studio of the Frank Lloyd Wright house in Pasadena. We had written off the local elementary school and Grace made a telephone call to this mysterious person who had the year before started something called a Waldorf School in some church in some small town close by Pasadena. We knew something about such Rudolf Steiner esoterica since Grace’s sister had a few years before chosen Waldorf for her two sons in Davis, California. Besides, we were in no position to complain about what was esoteric and what was mainstream, since we had named our daughter, Kali— Kali Isa. School would start for us that fall, 1980, at the First Methodist Church, in La Canada. But there was a catch (in the early years, there were numerous catches, many more than Joseph Heller’s scant 22): There was not really any room at the church for this Waldorf school—for any school, for that matter. So, on Monday mornings, we were told, we would have to haul all the school desks and chairs out of the basement, set up the classroom, and on Friday afternoons, put everything back in place in the basement— chairs, desks, wastebaskets, bits of chalk and chewing gum, erasers and earphones, blackboards and backpacks: Everything. We were a school on the run, in disguise, in desperate need of space and, much more startling, in desperate need of its most basic ingredient, students. Indeed, we knew that the school had actually begun the year before. Grace had visited it but did not like the teacher and Paul, feeling the same way, had hired for the current year a brand new teacher. Paul assured us that, since she had come from Hawaii, even if she was not great she would be at least pleasant. She proved more than great; she became our dear, dear friend, Mary Christopher. We enrolled that fall with the promise from Paul of eight children. The first week of school, three children left. All three from a single family. Suddenly, we were down to five—a very shaky five. Four of them were kindergärtners; Kali, our daughter, was the only firstgrader. Who would fall next? It began to feel as if we were in an Agatha Christie novel: one by one, two by two, people suddenly vanishing from the scene. Late Friday afternoon, even the school was gone. That second week of the semester, Paul took decisive action. We needed to generate some interest, garner some publicity. We needed to let people know we existed, and oh yes, we needed students. He decided to hold a recruiting session at the La Crescenta Library. To bring out the crowds, he took a full-page ad in the Star News. Grace and I of course went. We went early in order to get a seat. When we got there, we knew we had our work cut out for us. While the auditorium held several hundred people, only three or four people managed to show up, and they were old enough to have children who, themselves, were now collecting social security. Paul introduced himself and one of the four promptly left. (Nothing personal, the older woman said, as she hobbled out the door.) The remaining three ladies said they were eager to hear about the education from that wonderful hotel they remembered in their youth, the Waldorf Astoria. This man, tonight’s shining star, Paul Livadary, forever undaunted, spoke with enthusiasm and resolve, as if the auditorium were packed and he commanded the stage at Carnegie Hall. Grace and I sat in the audience and had one of those basic and startling realizations: we had no building, naturally; we had a brand new teacher, surely; no endowment, particularly; no students, actually; and the head of the operation himself had no experience, ever, with starting a school. OK, we said, if we want our kid to ever reach college, we better get to work! And so we did. Paul not only signed us up that year for a promise called the Pasadena Waldorf School. He signed us up for a lifetime commitment. He signed us up out of immediate friendship and love and a bold desire to change the face of education, yes, but also to change the nature of relationships and trust and, most of all, to resurrect the most elemental force, the human spirit. He signed us up so that, as a majority of ten or twelve innocent souls, we might help save a bit of the world in our own crazy, off-kilter, heroic way. And we signed up with Paul for his love and his relentless power and his commitment, not to the ka-ching of a cash register, but to the I-Ching of seeing in a completely different and brand new register. We knew Paul only a month, not much more. Paul did not want us to move back to Claremont. We could buy a house in Pasadena, but we had no money. That is not a problem, Paul assured us. As I say, we knew him for but a month or two and he simply fixed the problem by writing us a check for the down payment on a house. That was Paul—immediate, generous, loving, daring, imaginative, believing, un-swayed by logic or details or the stubbornness of reality. He would get done what he wanted to get done or what needed to get done. He wanted us to remain in Pasadena; and we did not want to commute to this very real and very ideal but barely incarnated school. When Paul has something in mind, Reality knows enough to stand aside! Behind the Livadary force, logic and impossibility can only wither. We love you Paul. We always have and we always will. Saint Augustine uses Saint Paul—not this one; he is not quite that old—for his example of true friendship. Paul is walking side by side with Peter on the road to Martyrdom. At a certain moment, they find themselves confronted by Roman soldiers. Peter and Paul disregard the commotion around them and lean into each other, forehead touching forehead, holding each other’s hands—in prayer, perhaps, but certainly in a very fleshy connection, in solidarity. They press together so close that they cannot see each other; so close that, even though they peer eye to eye, they cannot recognize each other. They make of their “excessive proximity” to each other something grander than what only one of them might do alone, and certainly what just two simple acquaintances cannot ever hope to do. They look at each other and they look into each other. I point out that a relationship like this, so deep and so intimate and so consequential, cannot be re-produced, cannot be captured in painting or in photography. It can barely be conceptualized. A person must experience it. A person must feel it in the flesh and in the spirit. That is all. Paul and Peter are two; Paul and Peter are more than two, greater than two. In their newly constructed stance, they are monumentally One. Stand next to our dear Paul. This one. Peer into his eyes. You will find yourself transformed into something new and immediate—into that very special category called friend. No other recognition is needed. No other re-cognition is indeed possible. Paul, my dear and deep and most committed friend, I love you. I can say nothing more and I can say nothing less. After standing so close to you all these years—not always eye to eye, but always—always—forehead pressed deeply to forehead—I know you as both Dear Paul and also as its twinning, Dear Friend. And, yes, since you are all wondering about it—this is only natural in our world to wonder about the bottom line—Grace and I did not have to rob Peter to pay our Paul. We simply and gladly, in very short order, repaid the house loan. BLESSINGS On our School Melissa Puls & Jon Brody, PWS Development Office What a magical night! It is always quite humbling when a group of parents create a shared vision and execute it to perfection. A year ago Fred Eric and DeAnne Todd approached us separately about ideas for the 2015 Gala. Fred had this wild idea of bringing in top LA chef friends of his and making the food part of the show. DeAnne wanted to produce the entertainment focusing on homegrown talent and tell the story about who we are as a community. Fred and DeAnne came together to produce a Gala like no other and their talents complemented one another perfectly. A vision was formed, a theme came into focus, and an amazing array of talented parents, teachers, and friends came together to form the Gala Committee. Fast forward one year later and we are in awe of what you produced. The night was perfect, and we cannot thank you enough for the gift you created for our school and community. We raised a lot of money, over $65,000 net, for Funding Our Future, and everyone was proud to be a part of this extraordinary community, all in support of a Waldorf Education for our children. There are two people in particular who made incredible contributions that went largely unseen to most. Thank you Gretchen Palmer and Blake Bailey! You were our team’s mentors this year, advising us throughout the planning, attending meetings, coaching us, helping us steer clear of potential pitfalls, and guiding us through the journey. We are beyond grateful for what you continue to bring to PWS. Lastly, whether you helped with the planning, donated money or in-kind, sponsored a teacher, or attended the Gala, we want to thank YOU, our PWS Community! Your support for Pasadena Waldorf School is unwavering, and the joy you bring to the school every day is always appreciated and never taken for granted. What a Blessing to have a room filled with amazing parents, teachers, staff members, alumni, grandparents, community partners, and our school’s founder, Paul Livadary. It is an honor and a joy to serve you and the school. See you next year at the Gala! (What will you dream up next?) BLESSINGS Thank You PWS!