“When I was in middle school at Brooklyn Waldorf, I wasn’t stressed by all the work I was doing because it was taught with enthusiasm. I think if I hadn’t gone there, I would be so burned-out now. Brooklyn Waldorf gave me a resilience to be ‘fresh-out-of-the-gate’. I think by giving me the freedom to really explore my own interests, I learned at Brooklyn Waldorf that there’s more to life than simply doing the absolute best for every single class assignment. That’s not say I don’t try to do my best. But there is a difference between my personal best versus trying to be the #1 best. I think that difference determines one’s mental health.” – Harper Class of 2014

“In eighth grade, we went on a trip to the Redwood Forests in California. That was fun. We camped there for a whole week. That was my first time camping. It was fun experience bonding with my classmates but also connecting with nature. We made our own food. It was a new experience and afterwards, I felt like I could go camping again and I could teach other people how to pitch a tent or how to make food or how to start a fire out in the wilderness. I think for a lot of kids growing up in the city, you just don’t get to experience nature that much. I doubt that many kids at other schools get to camp in the woods or learn outdoor survival skills.” –Emanuel Class of 2014

“Making Main Lesson books was a really good way for me to learn. As part of each Main Lesson, our teacher led a lecture where we had to take notes, and based on those notes, we drafted essays which were then corrected. We then had to incorporate those corrections into a final version. The entire process helped me become comfortable with organizing my thoughts onto paper. Now that I’m in high school, I can easily make my own study guides ­and flush out rough drafts of papers.” –Tesia Class of 2015

“Being a student at Brooklyn Waldorf gave me a good foundation of life skills that I don’t think I otherwise would have received. The natural world was woven into all our experiences which I appreciated since the city can be a bit isolating sometimes. I love how things inside the school are made from nature. Today, my friends in high school are surprised when I tell them I’ve worked with wool or that I went to a farm, sheared sheep and made it into yarn, or that I learned how to make wooden tools, or fires out in the woods. Experiences like these that I received from Brooklyn Waldorf have been empowering!” –Tesia Class of 2015

“I remember our 8th grade project presentations. We were asked to independently study an important topic, put together a presentation and convince the audience why this topic deserves our attention. I chose to research and present on the food industry in United States. I looked into industrial farming and the way animals were being treated in industrial farms. The experience helped me become a better public speaker. I talked about the ways cows are treated on industrial farms. The presentation was an opportunity to come out of my shell and it came at a key moment in my life as an academic. It’s a time that I remember feeling really confident in myself.” – Asa Class of 2014