What: Michaelmas at EARLY CHILDHOOD
When: Wednesday, September 25th, 2019
Where: Grades Campus
Wednesday, Sept. 25th
EARLY CHILDHOOD Michaelmas Festival
The first school festival of the year! Michaelmas at EC will be this Wednesday, September 25th.
This is an event that takes place during school hours and is just for the children. The children will be participating in games of "strength and courage" like balance beam, bag toss, jumping through a hoop of "fire" (made out of paper), climbing, crawling through a tunnel, and potato sack races. We ask that children wear red shirts to school this day.
After the Games, we will enjoy a special snack in each classroom and later we will gather again for the puppet show "The Little Boy Knight." Dismissal is at regular hours. There are sign-up sheets in each classroom for parents to provide a special snack and decorations.
What: MICHAELMAS AT GRADES
When: FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 27th, 2019 at 1:10pm
Where: Grades Campus
Friday, Sept. 27 @ 1:10pm
GRADES Michaelmas Festival
This year we will be celebrating Michaelmas a little different, each grade will recite a verse and then they will head to the field next to the church to do all the Games. This year, the 8th graders will be responsible for the Games and they will manage all the kids in the field along with the teachers. Each grade is responsible for a game, please get in contact with your grade teacher to see how you can help. We ask that children wear red shirts to school this day.
Parents are welcome to attend the Grades Michaelmas celebration. Here is the itinerary of events:
MICHAELMAS PRESENTATION: There will be a short presentation that will take place in the playground at 1:10pm where parents can observe.
MICHAELMAS GAMES: Then parents will walk over to the field along with the teachers and the children for the Games, where the 8th Graders have coordinated the events.
DISMISSAL: After the Games, children will walk over back to class with their teachers at 3:00pm to enjoy a popsicle in the classroom and prepare for dismissal. Parents can then pick up their children through the car line at their usual time.
Parents: Please park at the Connected Life Church Building next door. We are allowed to park behind the building only.
Class Parents: Please coordinate with parents as to who will bring the popsicles for each class. The popsicles should be a specific brand so they are all the same: the Whole Foods 365 Brand Strawberry Fruit Bars that come in a 4 pack.
Thank you, everyone, for working so hard for this event!
WHAT IS MICHAELMAS?
Here is a great explanation of what the Michaelmas (pronounced like "mickle-mas") celebration is about:
"Michaelmas, which began as an equinox and harvest festival in the Middle Ages, is also a feast to honor The archangel Michael or Mikail. Michael is an archangel in Judaism, Christianity and Islam and, in all traditions, he is a symbolic leader of the force of good over evil and courage over cowardice. The celebration of Michaelmas teaches the importance of overcoming fear and strengthening resolve.
Michaelmas falls near the autumn equinox, when the weather is rapidly changing, the days are noticeably shorter, and we feel a natural instinct to prepare for the colder months ahead. It marks the end of the harvest and the season when we feel the impulse to turn inward after the long, warm days of summer, and gather up strength and fortitude to face the colder days and long nights of the winter ahead.
Michaelmas is typically the first festival of the new school year celebrated in Waldorf schools. Themes of harvest and courage govern the preparations, games and activities of this festival, which culminates in a play performed by the grade school children. In the play, a destructive fiery dragon is tamed by the people of a town whose hearts are endowed with courage and enthusiasm by St. Michael. It is a story that parallels our own human challenges, illuminating the inner courage it takes to find and bring forth our own inward light when the sun, warmth and growth of the earth are fading. The story speaks to children in a deeply symbolic way, feeding their innate need for truth and justice.
Each student must face their own difficulties in life, both internal and external, and Michaelmas both educates and empowers the children to find the courage to take on and defeat their personal dragons. And so, we celebrate Michaelmas in the Waldorf tradition to remind ourselves of the strength we need in the coming season and in our personal lives to defeat darkness and let hope prevail."