Why We Mayfest

by Marianne Perchlik

“The ribbons flow out like ripples of water” observed a kindergarten child preparing for Mayfest

As we move, sometimes struggling to find the dance, sometimes giddy with play, we form patterns. We make visible to one another a woven fabric, each one making visible the often invisible, intangible links of human relationships.

Yet the tree standing at our center is strong and upright. The Maypole is at once something borrowed from the earth and also something created with the work of our hands, with the picturing of our collective imagination stretching back hundreds of years.

Perhaps it reflects the biblical tree of life, channeling the colors of cosmological forces into the growing earth of spring. Perhaps it is any odd tree in springtime. Perhaps it reflects the collective opening of a cosmic yet earthly blossom, a lotus flower of human engagement and connection. Perhaps it reflects the great tree of peace where the people of the Haudenosaunee confederacy buried their weapons forevermore.

"Festival life" is what we call it when we come together as a community to delight in the gifts of the seasons. Each season offers us challenges and blessings, and each season calls for distinctive routine tasks. We plant. We tend. We harvest. We give thanks. We consider and prepare for another year’s fruit.

Imitation is the primary pathway to learning. Through imitation, we stand and walk. We learn language. We sing (or not). We dance (or not). We choose interests. Parents and mentors first teach us through imitation. In our first years of professional development, we apprentice.  

When we come together for festivals, we make visible the essential work of our school. We demonstrate to our children how we work together socially, through challenges, through differences of opinion and how we share our blessings (or don’t). We are always teaching the children of the rising generation through our work as adults.  

This is our Waldorf education, to make a way forward, making visible our imaginings, our inspirations, our intuitions, for a world of wellness and life for the rising generation.

banner image, article photo and gallery photos by Johannes Otter

photo gallery by Dave Littlefield

Orchard Valley Music Teacher Heads Youth Symphony

“If I had to describe it in one word, I would say otherworldly.” Orchard Valley Music Teacher Sean Brekke reflects on his time since joining the school in the summer of 2021. "I love being so connected with the surrounding woods and it's been amazing to teach in such a spectacular location. The families and faculty have been so supportive of this new program and the students' hard work has already paid off by way of a fantastic Winter Concert.”

Sean was also recently named the Executive Director of the Green Mountain Youth Symphony (GMYS). “I’ve worked with youth music groups for as long as I can remember. As a student, many of my summers were spent at music camps such as Third Street Music School in New York City and Kinhaven Music School in southern Vermont. As soon as I graduated from these programs, I took the opportunity to come back and work as a counselor. When I moved to Vermont in 2021 I had two goals: start my own music program here at Orchard Valley and get involved with the Green Mountain Youth Symphony. I was surprised and excited when I heard GMYS was looking for a new executive director.”

Sean received his bachelor's degree in music performance on viola from the Conservatory of Music at Purchase College in 2016, and shortly after graduating, he began working at the Brooklyn Waldorf School (BWS) teaching private lessons on violin and viola and learning about conducting, music education and Waldorf philosophies as part of his mentorship. In 2020, he stepped in to run the orchestra program at BWS, guiding grades three to eight. “When I decided to move away from Brooklyn, I knew that I was going to continue working at a Waldorf school. Serendipitously, I checked out Orchard Valley and saw they had an opening for a music teacher so I jumped at the opportunity. I love the support that arts programs receive in the Waldorf curriculum.”

Sean is also an active performer and has performed internationally from New York City's Carnegie Hall to piazzas in Tuscany, Italy and concert halls in Switzerland. “I started playing violin when I was four years old in Brooklyn, New York from a local teacher in my neighborhood. My parents really wanted me to get involved with something that would be a long-term commitment. They could tell that we were coming into an age of instant gratification and they wanted to instill the value of hard work over a long period of time.”  

Graciously and clearly, Sean acknowledges the significance of the teachers who helped him develop his artistry. "I’ve been lucky to have many amazing teachers throughout my upbringing. Two people who have had a huge influence on me are Mary Jo Pagano and Sibylle Johner. Together, they run the Chamber Music Center of New York. I had the good fortune to work with them both as a student and later on as a coworker. The joy and drive they have for creating music with young people is exhilarating and I strive every day to bring that energy into all my work.”

As Sean looks ahead to his role with both Orchard Valley and the Youth Symphony, he sees opportunities for collaboration.“I would love to see the Orchard Valley students showing up at the Youth Symphony. It would be awesome if both programs grew off of one another!” With the growth and development of the music program at Orchard Valley, Sean looks forward to sharing what his classes have been working on with parents and the school community at the Spring Concert on Friday, May 6th at the First Presbyterian Church of Barre.

This will be presenting a concert featuring both of their string orchestras at the Barre Opera House after a long hiatus. These orchestras are made up of the same instruments that can be found in the Orchard Valley grade 2/3 and 4/5 orchestras. The Youth Symphony will be playing music by Mozart, Brahms and more, and Sean will be performing with them. Tickets are available at the door by donation and children under 5 are free. For more information, please visit .

During each of the two biggest snowstorms of this 2022 winter, folks gathered around their glowing zoom screens for a recollection of the history of ���ϴ��¼�.

These conversations ignited from a requirement by the Association of Waldorf Schools of North America, and set Orchard Valley on a path to begin composing a substantial self-study document. This includes a written history of our school that will be shared with our mentor school later this spring.

On January 17, 2022, founders of the original Child's Garden kindergarten - Susan Darrah, the original teacher; Susan Ritz, the first Board Chair; Carley Claghorn and Kim Tulucke some of the early parents - celebrated the wondrous beginnings of this program when a group of families formed a “community group” creating festivals in their yards and in local parks. 

This group blossomed into the first classroom above the woodshop of a local carpenter on Main Street in Montpelier and then moved to 155 Northfield St in 1990 over 30 years ago. The early families worked side by side to renovate the rented space that was in poor condition and engaged in fundraising for a companion school in Nicaragua at the time. In those early days, they offered marionette puppetry in the local library, hosted a Waldorf Expo in the City Center and provided a hand washing station at the 4th of July parade to help get the word out. National Life, long-time landlord of the Child's Garden donated this building and land to us in 2019 which has been substantially renovated during the pandemic.

On February 4, 2022, a much larger group of over 15 enthusiastic founders came together to recall the arduous and exciting birth of Orchard Valley in the newly renovated classroom building of the Grace Farm campus. In 2000, a determined group of Child's Garden parents started a grade school initiative, the Three Rivers School. Soon after, the Child's Garden initiated a nursery program in the Flanders Building of Goddard College. There was disagreement and uncertainty in those years about when to start a school, where to start it and on what lands. The Child's Garden actually purchased a property on Town Hill Rd for a site that now is the home of an Orchard Valley family. 

Community members toured other properties, engaged in many meetings and even created a “Third Board” (The Montpelier River Garden Initiative) to help navigate the many decisions that extended beyond the work of the existing Board members of both the Child's Garden and Three Rivers School. Then, on August 15, 2003, with the support of a group of community-minded investors who forged the Montpelier Waldorf Investment Community Corporation (later reformed as the Grace Farm Community Partners), Grace Farm was finally purchased from the former Winooski Valley Orchards at auction by Ron Koss on behalf of the future ���ϴ��¼�.

We plan to continue these conversations and to reflect on the birth of our first middle school, to remember the birth of the 4-year high school program called the Initiative (a Vermont Waldorf High School at the Stokes Building at Goddard College from 2013 to 2017) and to remember the birth of Sweet Clover Nursery in 2016.

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Thoughts From Our Participants:

“Through our work on governance, we are getting our Waldorf education.” - Pamela Van Deursen – former Orchard Valley Board Chair, former Initiative Board Chair

“Building community and culture...we have to appreciate each other for what we are doing. By doing this we build a culture of joyful activity.” - Johannes Otter – former Child's Garden Board member, former Orchard Valley Board member

“generosity of time and talent, a resource I had never seen lived with such activity before or since.” - Deb Reed – first school administrator

“Nothing short of a miracle...there were many miraculous turns, sometimes felt like a dead-end, we kept going, kept trying, things resolved.” - Tom Kavet- first Orchard Valley Treasurer

“One of the best experiences of my life....spiritual world was helping in our practical hard work.” - Jacqueline Gabe – first Grades teacher

We Remember:

Peter Fischer (1954-2013) - Built the first Child's Garden classroom above his woodshop on Main Street.

Jim Grundy (1968-2011) - Installed the solar panels on the Orchard Valley Farmhouse; beloved spouse of Nancy Bruce and father of Esme and Ava. Jim also worked on the installation of the radiant floors in the Grades Building.

Christiane Horvath (1979-2009) - Our first Music and German teacher

Stratton C. “Tony” French (1959-2019) - Long-time member of the Grace Farm Committee which hosted pruning workshops each spring in the orchards, Tony was a hydrologist dedicated to the testing and care of the water of Orchard Valley for many years. Beloved spouse of Julie Henderson, father of two alums, Piper and Eli French.

Kathryn Seaver “Kathy” Clark (1960-2019) - Served as the first office manager and remained in service to the Orchard Valley administration until her passing. Kathy substantially contributed to the initiation of the Sweet Clover nursery program. She was the beloved spouse of Keith Clark and mother of alum, Molly Clark.