High School News

Merriconeag Waldorf School Receives Challenge Grant

Merriconeag Waldorf School has received a $40,000 grant from an anonymous donor that will increase the amount of financial aid available to high school students. The multi-year challenge grant requires the school to raise an additional $10,000 annually through 2011 in matching funds. The goal has already been reached for 2008.

Merriconeag Waldorf School Welcomes Its First High School Students

Merriconeag Waldorf School opened its high school this September, adding 9th and 10th grades to its already established pre-K through 8th grade program. The school intends to add a grade level each year until all four high school grades are in place.

A ceremony marking the high school opening was held on September 4th in Gray Hall
at the Pineland Center in New Gloucester, where the high school is located. Douglas
Gerwin, founder of the Waldorf High School Teacher Education Program, was the
keynote speaker. In attendance were the high school students, their parents, and
Merriconeag’s faculty and board.

“The world needs what a Waldorf high school can foster in its graduates,” said David Sloan, the high school faculty chair. “These qualities include mobility of thinking, heartfelt empathy, a sense of stewardship for the larger world, and a belief that they can, indeed, make a difference.”

Founded in 1984, Merriconeag Waldorf School, with an enrollment of 250 students, is one of 40 Waldorf schools in North America that now span the early childhood through high school years.

Opening Week for the High School Students

After participating in a first day of school assembly for 1st through 10th grade students, the 9th and 10th graders set out on a four-day canoe trip down the West Branch of the Penobscot River. Led by four experienced leaders, the trip was intended to help this group of adolescents get to know their classmates better. They spent their days paddling (and, for a leisurely hour, sailing, thanks to a huge, makeshift L.L.Bean tarp), swimming and setting up camp; they spent their evenings recounting each day’s experiences around a campfire, under the starlit canopy of Maine’s Northern lake country. David Sloan, one the teachers who guided the trip, had this to say at its conclusion: “Four days of canoeing – 15 teenagers – zero complaints? It doesn’t add up, but who can predict the extent of good will created by founding a high school.”

Highlights from 10th Grade Math Classes

Jeff O’Brien, who is teaching 10th grade math, offered these descriptions of his first classes of the year:

Euclidean Geometry
The idea of proof is fundamental in the study of mathematics. We prove mathematical concepts to be true using as few self-evident truths as possible. In the 10th grade Euclidean Geometry Morning Lesson, we have been focusing on proof. Starting with Euclid’s five common notions and five postulates, we have proven concepts that 10th graders have known for years. For example, Pythagoras’ Theorem, a2 + b2 = c2, is taught to children at a fairly early age. The teacher says, “a2 + b2 = c2, we know this to be true, let’s do some problems using this.” In the Euclidean Geometry Morning Lesson, we say, “a2 + b2 = c2, how do we know this is true?” Not only do we think about why it is true, we prove that it is true. It is the difference between believing something to be true and knowing something to be true.

Ancient mathematicians challenged themselves with geometric constructions: problems done with nothing but a compass and a straight edge. The compass can create a circle and the straight edge can create a straight line. The straight edge cannot be used for measuring. It is an unmarked piece of wood, not a ruler. Using these simple tools, we can construct an equilateral triangle, a perfect hexagon, a perfect pentagon and many other shapes. It is even possible to create a perfect 17-sided polygon using just a straight edge and compass. The image of ancient mathematicians doing complex math drawings in the sand is this very art of geometric construction. In the Euclidean Geometry Morning Lesson, we have been doing geometric constructions in the classroom. We even spent one day in the parking lot using chalk on the pavement, doing geometric constructions in the spirit of the ancient mathematicians.

Trigonometry
Trigonometry is one of the most useful topics in mathematics. Outside our building are some very tall pine trees. How tall are they? Using trigonometry and very little given information, we can estimate these very difficult measurements. Using a yardstick, the 10th grade picked a spot 45 feet from the base of the tree and using a protractor they measured the angle to the top of the tree (62°). Then, using their new knowledge of trigonometry, the students were able to estimate the height of the tree. It happens to be about 85 feet. Imagine how useful this might be to a pulp company or a tree hugger planning to camp out in the limbs of a tree.