The seed of our school was lovingly planted more than 30 years ago, long enough for deep roots to have taken a firm hold in the earth, and long enough for our very first graduates to begin beaming with pride as their own children complete eighth grade. Iolani Sommer de-Ris, class of 2009 with teacher Andrew Sansone, holds the distinct honor of being the very first second-generation Great Barrington Rudolf Steiner School graduate. In the first generation is her mom, Fiona Sommer de-Ris (class of 1987, with teacher Peter Elliston), who also has a daughter, Mareika, in the class of 2012. To highlight this important milestone, we asked Iolani and Fiona to share some thoughts on their Waldorf school experience.
Fiona began at GBRSS in 1978, when we were still known as The Pumpkin Hollow School, and her family’s association with a Rudolf Steiner education dates back even further, since Fiona’s parents and grandparents were active in Eurythmy and Waldorf Education in Germany and the United States. As Fiona’s life took her to Europe for high school, back ‘home’ to the Berkshires to start a family, and then through an anthroposophical training in social therapy, she met the many challenges along the way with courage, enthusiasm and a sense of purpose borne from those formative years. It was clear to her that she wanted to provide this same solid life foundation for her own children.
Iolani is a remarkable athlete, and shares her mother’s appreciation for Waldorf education. She enjoys the relationship with her teacher because, as she says, “it grows from first grade to eighth grade.” When asked if she will go on to a Waldorf high school, she is leaning on her mother and father (Hartmuth Sommer-de Ris) to guide her. Like her mother, she believes that wherever she lands she will thrive, because her education thus far has given her “a deeper level of understanding of myself.”
Fiona acknowledges that much has changed since she graduated from GBRSS twenty-two years ago, in those pioneering days when the school was just 16 years young. Much more was demanded of the parent body, she says. Fiona’s fondest memories are of sunlit classrooms, happy, hardworking teachers, parents car-pooling in rusty cars and, of course, volunteer “elves” preparing for the Annual Handcraft Fair months in advance (some things never change). Fiona views the school as a “living, breathing entity” that has grown and evolved to meet the needs of our time and today’s students. “I believe it is deeply important that parents continue to work in support of, and have faith in, this education and its curriculum, which provides such stability and nourishment for children,” she says.
Today 26 children of alumni are currently enrolled in GBRSS, and the “second generation” continues to grow. It seems that their parents, having once found a home in Waldorf education, know that they want to give this same gift to their child. Thank you, Fiona, for your deep commitment to GBRSS and Waldorf education. And congratulations, Iolani, on all of your accomplishments; we wish you continued success wherever you may go!