From the AWS Faculty

by Melissa Downs, Faculty Chair

It is always so nice to come back to school in the fall – we are all rested up and rejuvenated, the children have all grown and changed, and we are all ready for the new challenges of a new year. The school is not truly living until the hallways echo with the sounds of children!

As most of you have heard by now, the school’s name is changing from The Redmont School in the Waldorf Tradition to the Alabama Waldorf School, a change that will be capped off by a ceremony during the school day on September 29th. This date was not chosen randomly – it is the day of an old festival known as Michaelmas. Michaelmas was one of the four cornerstones of the year in Europe hundreds of years ago, along with Christmas, Easter, and St. John’s Day. In the cycle of the year, each of these cornerstones embodies the character of the season - Christmas, and many winter holidays in other traditions, celebrating the light in the darkness; Easter, along with most spring holidays, celebrating the rebirth and rejuvenation that is easily seen in the natural world; and St. John’s Day representing the vitality and life of the summer season. As summer winds down into fall, we face the dying back of life and the growing darkness that is winter. In Michaelmas, we celebrate the story of St. Michael and the Dragon (and often a similar story – St. George and the Dragon). In both, humanity faces darkness and evil, and in both the darkness is conquered and transformed. It is a celebration of hope and transformation, and in the story of St. George – transformation through love.