A skills-based, professional development course for currently practicing Waldorf middle school educators, including class, subject, and art teachers

How can the fine arts support the development of the early adolescent? What are the expectations and requirements of the arts in the middle school curriculum? How can teachers develop the skills necessary to support their students and fulfill their need for beautiful, meaningful artistic experiences?

This course will give you an understanding of the needs of the developing adolescent, the tools to build your own confidence as an artist, and the means to bring out the artist in your students.

Under the guidance of an experienced Waldorf class teacher/artist, you will:

• Hone your own skills in various media, including painting, chalkboard drawing, and Morning Lesson book illustrations (including portraiture, perspective drawing, and scientific drawing)
• Learn how to develop your students’ artistic skills
• Examine the role of the arts in the grades 6-8 curriculum
• Discover color theory based out of anthroposophy
• Study child development of the developing adolescent

Steve Simonak is currently teaching seventh grade at Hawthorne Valley Waldorf School (NY), where he has been a class and high school teacher since 1991. While at Hawthorne Valley, Steve has also taught middle school arts and math, served as the Council of Teachers chairperson, literary magazine advisor, girls’ and boys’ varsity basketball teams coach, and established the Hawthorne Valley Surveying Practicum. Steve, who holds a BFA in Painting from Pratt Institute, received his Waldorf Teaching Certificate from the Alkion Center, where he has been a guest teacher, and has training in Foundation Studies from Antioch. Before coming to Hawthorne Valley, Steve was a teacher in New York City. His hobbies include medieval Christian painting, mapmaking and surveying, gardening, birdwatching, and New York State history.

Course Schedule
Sunday: 5:30-6:30pm registration; 6:30-7pm optional campus tour; 7pm opening session/first class.

Monday-Thursday: Classes begin each day between 8-8:30am and run through 5:30-6pm, with times for break and lunch. Each day includes a balanced mix of content-based work, artistic work, and discussions. Community-wide evening events are offered weekly.

Friday: Classes end early afternoon.

Course Fee
$750 (includes all materials and non-refundable $50 registration fee)

Registration: Click here to register

Sunbridge Institute reserves the right to cancel any offering at any time. If Sunbridge cancels, all registrants will be notified and will receive a full refund. If the registrant cancels, he or she will receive a full refund less the non-refundable registration fee.  Sunbridge reserves the right to make faculty substitutions when necessary.