When the school began in 1977, in the garage of our family home, we established a set of values upon which the school would operate. They were based upon the description of a school about which my spiritual teacher would read to us. Basically, it was a place where all involved would be respected and honored for who they are, where children and families of all walks of life would be celebrated, rather than just tolerated. She read of this place often, and one day I mentioned that I’d like my kids to go to a school like this someday. Her reply was, “Good. Why don’t you start it?”
Early on our focus was also on planetary stewardship and kindness toward each other. We had a garden and learned about saving the whales and having clean air. There has always been a strong thread of inspiring creativity and giving kids big self-directed projects that invited using their imaginations. Earth Day has for decades been a special day at the Seed.
Originally we were called The New School, a name that was used for a school started before the Seed that was driven by similar principles and values. A few years in, we received a notification that The New School was the name of another school in Arizona and we needed to pick a different name. Not long after, I had a dream that the name of the school should be Awakening Seed. Over many years, we’ve grown into that name.
I’m happy to say that although we’ve slightly updated our mission statement, Awakening Seed has stayed true to its original values. Kindness, inclusion, respect for others and the planet, compassion, and innovation are alive and well. We have refined our skills in teaching children how to use their voices and advocate for themselves and others. We cultivate an approach that invites children to be life long learners by modeling that practice as their teachers. We have a passion for social justice, and a few years ago developed a website to highlight our social justice work.
Our APA (parents organization) has been revitalized in the past two years, using these core values to guide their work:
- community building
- inclusivity
- sustainability
- staff support
- family support
One of their community building ideas is to have a multi-cultural day to celebrate the many cultures that make up our Seed community. Originally, an event for this spring was on the calendar. It was decided to defer this event until we have time to make it the kind of event that it deserves. We will keep working on this in the coming months, and when the time is right, it will be wonderful. We are committed to upholding Awakening Seed’s values, even in times of uncertainty for our country and planet. We believe that kindness, light, and love with prevail.