Soren Gabrielsen Will Go to Berlin to Teach English and Jazz to High School Students.

Soren Gabrielsen, a member of Waldorf High School of Massachusetts Bay's graduating class of 2003 and graduate of Connecticut College (2007), has recently been selected to receive the prestigious Fulbright Teaching Fellowship. Soren, who pursued a double major in German and philosophy in college, will teach English in a German high school in Berlin, and he plans to start an extracurricular club for students to study American jazz and folk music. Established by the U.S. government after World War II, the Fulbright program provides for international exchanges with the aim of furthering intellectual and cultural relationships between the U.S. and other countries. Each year, approximately 1,150 students are awarded Fulbright grants. Fulbright fellows receive round-trip transportation to the host country, a living stipend, research allowances and medical insurance.

While a student at Waldorf High School, Soren studied German and spent a semester studying abroad at a German Waldorf high school as part of Waldorf's exchange program. "Living and studying in Germany, of course, really accelerated my learning of the language," he says.  "The experience was so fantastic that I decided to major in German in college and do another year of study in Germany." Soren spent his junior year abroad at the University of Freiburg where he took a full slate of seminar classes designed for native German speakers, not the lecture classes the typical American students take. "I didn't realize until much later that my choice of classes was unusual and maybe not the smartest thing to do. The workload was huge," he says.

Soren credits one of his experiences at Waldorf High School with giving him the idea for his Fulbright proposal. "I had been playing violin and viola for several years in youth orchestras at a fairly high level, but I was getting burned out with all the practicing. Then Willie Sordullo, the jazz teacher, asked me to play viola with the jazz ensemble. Jazz and the challenge of improvisation turned everything around for me and re-energized my interest in music. I played jazz on my viola for hours. I was so excited because I had found the freedom to create my own music. That experience made me think that studying jazz and folk music would be an exciting way for German students to learn about American culture and study English. I will be designing a curriculum that will explore the music's history and development through listening to recordings, reading contemporaneous news articles, and watching live concert films and documentaries. I also hope to show how jazz and folk music have influenced other genres of music, art and literature," he says.

To Soren's former teachers at Waldorf High School, it's no surprise that this student of German and philosophy is going off to Berlin to teach jazz and folk music. One of the hallmarks of his high school years was his enthusiasm for the breadth of the Waldorf high school program. "What I appreciate most about my Waldorf education is that I never felt that I had to fit into someone else's mold or limit myself to one or two things," he says. "At Waldorf, I experienced an environment where I felt comfortable to develop many different interests, like sports, music, German, art, drama, as well as academics. I felt free to work hard and challenge myself to do well, not just in one area but in several."

As he looks forward to his Fulbright fellowship, which will start in September, Soren anticipates that it will help him figure out what his next steps are: "I'm considering graduate school and the possibility of teaching at the university level, or I might decide to go to law school. I know I'm going to learn a lot in Berlin. Not only am I going to learn more German, but I'm going to know a lot more about jazz and folk music by the end. I'm excited about all of it."

By Sarah Myers '08

The Class of 2008 is proud to announce our production of  "A Frayn Festival", which will go up next week. In a series of one-act plays, we will put on the final performances of our Waldorf careers. The first, Alarms, is a sketch in which the alarms that often disrupt our daily lives interrupt an evening among friends, creating chaos and mayhem. The second, Doubles, portrays two couples "on holiday" contemplating life's meaning, who occupy back-to-back hotel rooms, and the misunderstandings and confusion that develop. The third and final play, Audience, is a comic take on the events and conversations among members of an audience watching a play. The play's director is in the audience on this particular night.

During our selection process we read several plays in class. When we first read Audience, we liked it immediately because so many of us would be "on stage" at the same time. Since this play was too short to be done by itself, we read other one-acts by Michael Frayn. Doubles and Alarms were appealing because they portray the disturbances and distractions of everyday life. All three plays are lively and modern, exploring the perceptions and realities of the human condition.

Mrs. Wells, our director, is helping us to maintain the level of focus the plays demand. The type of dialogue, repetition, and similarity of lines are a challenge. Often characters are speaking over each other, and the action is fast-paced with multiple exits and entrances. In Doubles the actors are also called upon to mirror each others' gestures without looking at each other.

According to one senior, "It feels great to be finishing up our senior year with these plays that are both thought provoking and funny. We're all working together to pull this off and make it the perfect ending to our high school career."

The seniors perform "A Frayn Festival" at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday and Friday, May 22 and 23 in the auditorium. Admission is free, with a suggested donation of $5. Families are welcome, but due to the sophisticated nature of the word play, the performance is recommended for children in grades six and up.

"Revolutions" are seen as periods of violent and chaotic change, wherein powerful forces both create and destroy. But are there underlying patterns and rhythms to those terrifying, tumultuous events? The class will explore historical revolutions in the political, economic, and cultural realms, studying the people who fought for change and those who resisted it. We will attempt to answer the fundamental historical question: how does "change" happen?--Course Description

How can we accurately measure things that are so big that using a ruler is either impractical or impossible? The ancient Greeks invented trigonometry to accurately measure the path of stars in the night sky. Trigonometry was rediscovered during the Renaissance, and was used not just for astronomy, but in maritime navigation. Trigonometry is still widely used today in surveying, for example in mapping the route of a new highway. In this block, we will study the theoretical foundations of trigonometry , and then put it to practical use measuring building heights, for example.--Course Description

We will observe the plant kingdom to explore the lawfulness of nature. What is the process of the unfurling and growth of a leaf or a flower? Our investigations will lead us to discover what the characteristics are which group plants into families. We shall learn some of the more common inhabitants of our area and the amazing relationships many plants have with insects. Field work will be an important aspect of the course with the highlight being a trip to Bartholomew's Cobble and the Hi-Rock Y in Western Massachusetts.--Course Description

Drama is a required course at Waldorf High School, and all students in the tenth and twelfth grades prepare and perform a play. We consider dramatic productions an important component of our academic program because their success requires both focus and intense personal commitment. Our students are called upon to put forward their best efforts in many ways as they act, create costumes, design and build scenery, and manage the myriad aspects of stage production. Our drama work also helps to build the feeling of community within a class through the highly interactive activities of theater production.--Web Site Description of Drama Main Lessons

In this issue of The Comet, we bring you the profile of another of our graduates from the Class of 2002.  Many, many thanks to our alumni who so graciously give their time to be interviewed by Laura Wells, Class of 2000, and provide current photos. We very much appreciate learning of our former students' post-graduate activities.

After graduating from Waldorf, Toshie Sueyoshi returned to Japan to continue her education at Yokohama City University. She studied European and American Culture and Literature because of her interest in Dante, Shakespeare, T.S. Eliot, Dostoevsky, and Emerson, all of whom she was introduced to at Waldorf. "What I learned at Waldorf inspired me to study the works of many writers, poets and thinkers," Toshie says. As part of her graduation requirements, Toshie wrote a thesis on The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis, in which she explored why this series of children's books with Christian themes is so popular across generations, for Christians and non-Christians alike.

In college, with her Bible study group, Toshie went on a youth mission to the Philippines in 2005. She was shocked by the financial differences that exist in Filipino society. "On one side of the city many families lived in prefabs, almost buried in rubble, yet on the other side, people in nice dresses and suits walked the streets, shopped in huge malls and lived in mansions," Toshie reflects. "But what surprised me the most was the shine in the eyes of the poorest of the poor. They had hope and joy in serving Jesus and were always willing to give what they did have," she continues.

After graduating from Yokohama City University in March 2007, Toshie took a job with the office staff at Kirisutosha Gakusei Kai - an evangelistic association for Japanese Christian students. She is responsible for the accounting of the Kanto area and organizes alumni lists to ensure they receive the quarterly newsletter. In addition, Toshie studies at the Christian Life Training Center (CLTC) and she expects to graduate from CLTC next year.

Toshie lives in Yokohama City, Japan and enjoys reading books, playing the piano and guitar, taking walks and meeting up with friends. She also cherishes quiet time to think, pray and draw.

Toshie aspires to continue to grow, mature and help others. "There are so many broken families around me. One of my dreams is to prepare a place for such lonely people to feel peace, not because my family was perfect or I haven't been lonely, but because I know how it feels to be alone and in despair," Toshie explains. "It will be fun to have a family myself some day, but I will be happy if I stay single as well. I am just looking forward to what's waiting for me in the future!"

Spare Change for Goderich Yields Doughnuts for Waldorf

The whole school brought their dollars, quarters, dimes and pennies to the morning break this past Wednesday and put them in the big bottle.  When the level got high enough, we celebrated with doughnuts.  The money goes to the Goderich Waldorf School in Sierra Leone, Africa to continue our support of its school lunch program.