What If Kids Didn't Have to Wear Shoes at School? -- A Barefoot Mom's Point of View

by Susan Milton, Clearwater parent
 

Barefoot Zoe with Jackie and Johnna

One thing that makes me feel happy every time I arrive at The Clearwater School is that I don't have to put on shoes to go and find my kids, and that I often see at least one or two barefoot kids right away as I walk through the parking lot. 

 

Maddy's walking feet

Shoes are required at most schools, because many people believe that bad things would happen if students didn't wear them.

• They could  be injured by broken glass or other sharp items.
• Germs could spread.
• People would sue each other.
• It must be a violation of health codes.
• Kids who are allowed to go barefoot at school won't be successful in the real world, where shoes are required.
• Bare feet are a distraction in class.
• Bare feet are indecent.
• Chaos would break out without a rule requiring shoes.

I didn't make any of these up, and have heard or read all of them.

Jacy in the office

On the other hand, there is a small but growing number of people, myself included, who are convinced that none of these fears are based on reality, and instead believe that going barefoot as much as possible is actually much healthier and safer than wearing shoes. If you are interested in learning more, this website is a great place to start. And here's one specifically for parents which mentions Sudbury schools.

Reading the information about the many joys and benefits of bare feet, I would be tempted to think that if kids weren't required to wear shoes at school, none of them would. And they would all grow up happier, healthier, stronger, and safer as a result. Pretty soon the whole world would be better place.

Krista

Since shoes are not required at Clearwater, I have had the chance to find out what actually happens if kids don't have to wear shoes at school. The truth is that nothing very dramatic happens at all. In fact, most of the people choose to wear shoes most of time. I guess they want to keep their feet warm or to avoid stepping on sharp things. But I always see a few barefoot kids indoors and out, and if you see a barefoot mom walking around Clearwater, that's probably me.

Sometimes people are mildly curious, but mostly no one really cares. I've never witnessed or heard about anyone with a foot injury at Clearwater, but if someone did hurt their foot, I imagine that they would sit down for while and put a bandage or ice pack on it, just like with a scraped knee or hurt finger.

Lily rehearsing barefoot

I am always impressed by how fair and sensible the rules are at this school where kids vote on the rules. There are many rules at Clearwater, but the rules are almost never based on knee-jerk reactions to things or fear about extremely unlikely occurrences. The fact that there is no rule against bare feet is a great example of that.

The best thing about all of this, in my opinion, is that individuals are accepted and respected whether they are choosing to wear shoes at the moment or not.  And we all get to see that just because something is a little bit unusual doesn't mean that it's a problem.

Clearwater Mounts Its First Full-Length Play

Scene from an early rehearsal

For the first time in The Clearwater School's 17-year history, a group of Clearwater students is producing and offering public performances of a full-length play. You are cordially invited to attend a performance, scheduled between Thursday, May 30 and Sunday, June 2.

 Screenwriter (Jesse) and supporting actress (Lily) interact while the cinematographer (Gregory) sets up the shot

The play is Attack of the Killer Murder...of Death, by Wayne Rawley, a local playwright, whose work has been produced at the Empty Space Theatre and Seattle Public Theatre, among others. To date over 20 of Rawley's plays have been produced in Seattle, Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay area.

Supporting actress (Lily) and movie star (Benji)

There will be three evening performances at 7:00 PM and two matinees at 2:00 PM Saturday, June 1 and 11:00 AM, Sunday, June 2. The Thursday, Friday and Saturday matinee performances are already sold out, but seats are still available for the 7:00 PM Saturday and 11:00 AM Sunday performances. Running time is one and a half hours, plus intermission.

 The actors listen to the director (Matt)

Tickets are available for a suggested donation of $10 per person. There is one intermission, when audience members can purchase homemade baked goods and beverages. Reserve your seats today by calling The Clearwater School at (425) 489-2050 or sending an email request.

 Play producer and assistant director (Gabriel) and director (Matt)

In preparation for this production, students involved in the production founded the TCS Acting Society, which has worked for the past several weeks to  renovate an unused storage area at school into a performance space. They cleared out the rooms, repainted and added lighting and curtains.

 Cop (Aidan), producer (Maddy) and crew member (Tommie)

Rehearsals started March 18, and two weeks ago, actors began rehearsing off book. Actors and the technical crew are working on costumes and props.

 Crew member (Tommie) and costumer (Mara)

During the past three years, several of the people involved in this performance took acting classes at school with Clearwater parent, Pearl Klein, and developed three improv performances. Three of the actors have performed scenes at Clearwater events. Four members of the cast have acted in public performances at local theatres, but no one else has ever been in a full-length play before.

 Cast minus one

Crew and cast for this performance are:

Gabriel Klein, producer, assistant director and actor
Matt Garrity, director and staff member
Meghan Conken, stage manager
Mat Riggle, technical director and staff member

Actors (in order of appearance): 
Lily Garrity
Leo Campbell-Klein
Jacy Rain Scott-Laakso
Benji Janapol
Mara Campbell-Klein
Gabriel Klein
Jesse Linder
Tommie Sterling
Gregory Brewer
Aidan Linder
Maddy Linder

Whistlepig! This Weekend! Be There!!

It's time again for Whistlepig, The Clearwater School's fundraising festival of music, food and games. And this weekend...there WILL be sun and heat!

Celebrate Cinco de Mayo or the fact that it's a gorgeous day and join us on Sunday, May 5, 1:00-5:00 pm. There will be wonderful performances by students and staff, homemade carnival games, great food and the most delicious baked good you can imagine. We suggest a donation of $10.

We are grateful to our food sponsor, Von Trapp's, one of Seattle's hottest new restaurants. They donated their house-made bratwurst and frankfurter sausages for your eating pleasure. In addition, there will be delicious side dishes, salad and drinks to round out a meal.

We also thank Clearwater parent, Elrond Sheppard, for creating this year's lovely Whistlepig design, now available on a variety of apparel and gifts in Clearwater's Cafe Press shop.

Expert bakers in the Clearwater community will supply a plethora of luscious pastries and other goodies for dessert. Plus, three students will mix delicious mocktails on demand.

There will be lots of opportunities to watch and participate in music throughout the day, too. 

Music and performance schedule
1:30-3:00 pm Open Jam (bring instruments and enthusiasm)
3:00-3:15 pm Recitation and original story reading
3:15-4:00 pm Music performances by Clearwater students and staff
4:00-5:00 pm Karaoke (sing your heart out!)

This year, there will also be several great carnival games, made by Clearwater students and staff. Try your hand at skee ball, a nerf shooting gallery, 5-hole mini golf,a  pachinko-style game, football toss and spin the wheel. Have fun and win prizes!

Get your face or arm painted by an extraordinary artist, relax with a short massage or energy work, and make your own button.

Whistlepig is perfect for the whole family. Bring your friends and enjoy a fun and beautiful day!

What if there were no grades in school?

At The Clearwater School, children are trusted with the freedom and responsibility to direct their own education. Without grades, groupings by age or mandatory tests, children engage wholeheartedly in their passions, and find their own standards of success. Students spend years setting and achieving their personal goals, becoming resourceful, self-confident and skilled adults with a commitment to their own success.

 
Post by David Linder, Clearwater parent

Imagine at the end of every day at work, your employer handed you a card with a list of everything you’d done wrong and everything you’d (in their eyes) done right. 

Every PowerPoint presentation greeted with a thumbs up or thumbs down. All your email corrected for perfect grammar and sent back to you.

In a very short time, you’d learn exactly what your employer wanted and what they didn’t want.  After a while, you might even be the perfect employee, knowing exactly how to please them. 

And then you change jobs. Or get a promotion. Or quit to start your own business. And all of a sudden, you have no idea what’s right – there are different people to please, different rules to follow. You find it impossible to improvise, to be flexible, to be creative. Without the immediate feedback, you’re stuck.

This is the environment we often put children in. We evaluate their homework, their tests, their attendance, their attentiveness--even their effort. 

Grades teach kids how to react to someone else’s judgment. In a typical school, we grade kids for almost 20 years.  Then we send them out in the world and complain that they don’t know what they are doing, that they aren’t independent enough.

David is the dad of three Clearwater students and co-owner of Sublime Media in Seattle. 

Clearwater Students Star in Professional Music Video

by Shawna Lee
photos by Matt Garrity

In January, Clearwater staff member Matt Garrity, also a musician and 17th Chapter front man, heard from friend and music producer, Christian Hansen, that he needed two young people  to perform in a professional music video for the London-based duo, Still Corners. Matt offered to find a boy and girl from The Clearwater School to be in the video. He asked Lily and Arlo, both 13 years old, who enthusiastically agreed. Matt took some photos of Arlo and Lily and sent them to the director who approved them for the project. The shoot was two days later on a school day.

 Lily with her fancy skates

Matt drove Arlo and Lily to the set (Skate King in Bellevue), where Christian Hansen, producer, director and camera man, introduced himself and the two members of Still Corners, songwriter Greg Hughes and vocalist Tessa Murray. Lily said, "When we went there, we didn't know whether we'd get a big part or a little part. We thought we might just be background. It was a huge surprise when I found out I was the star of the video."

Christian took Lily and Arlo over to the costumer who had them try on a variety of clothes. Arlo tried on a pair of pants and a few sweaters, before he was ready. Lily reported, "we brought a bag of clothes, but the costumer only had me use one thing of my own--my socks. I tried on a few things he brought that were so uncomfortable that I said I didn't want to wear them. It took about an hour to find something that worked. The clothes they put on Arlo looked better than the clothes he usually wears."

Lily and the costumer putting together her video wardrobe

Trust, Spirituality & Raising Kids - Public Conversation

The Clearwater School presents a free public presentation and discussion, "The Practice of Parenting: Trust, Spirituality and Raising Kids."

The presentation will be Saturday, April 13, 2013, 6-8pm, at Two Dog Yoga, 12549 28th Ave NE, Seattle, in the Lake City neighborhood.

In practices ranging from Christianity to Qigong, we work to stay present, are challenged to let go, strive to be compassionate. Trust plays a key role as we open to the situations our lives bring. By taking trust into the parenting relationship, we allow our kids the opportunity to know themselves deeply--thus engaging in their own spiritual journey.

This lively presentation and discussion features Martha Hurwitz (qigong instructor and Clearwater parent), Stephanie Sarantos (developmental psychologist and Clearwater staff member), and Benji Janapol (musician, poet and Clearwater student).

Join us and invite your friends, neighbors and coworkers to this fascinating conversation. For more information, email or call (425-489-2050) The Clearwater School.

Clearwater Profiles - Emma

by Shawna Lee, Clearwater staff member

Eighteen-year-old Emma is relatively new to The Clearwater School; she has attended since January 2012. Before that, she attended Woodinville High School. One day, in Emma's English class, her teacher talked about different educational philosophies, including Clearwater's Sudbury philosophy. [Her public school teacher was Christine Traxler, whose 9-year-old daughter has been a Clearwater student since she was three years old. Christine recently gave a presentation at a Clearwater public forum about why she chose Clearwater.]

Until Emma was 12 years old, she wanted to be a veterinarian. "One day when I was 13, I thought, 'who helps the people who help the animals?'" She decided she wanted to be a medical doctor. "Until a year ago, it was a big dream of mine. [My parents and I] looked at medical schools."

To achieve her career goals, Emma planned to attend an Ivy League college, but in public school "getting a 4.0 [GPA] was not happening." She believed she wouldn't be able to be a doctor because everyone told her she needed straight A's. "I forced myself not to want becoming a doctor. I know now that I could become a doctor, but I don't want a doctor's lifestyle."

When Emma first enrolled at Clearwater, she studied SAT test prep materials for two hours every day to improve her SAT score and prove to her parents that she would put her freedom and unscheduled time to good use. "I took the SAT once and didn't do well. I didn't study for it and didn't care. I've never been able to take a test well, because of nerves and worry. It's something I'll have to face."