One of the joys of the Year 12 Project presentations is to witness the ‘becoming’ of our young adults; to glimpse that step into the world of young people imbued with individuality, coming to understand the power we all have, the power of freedom.
What Rudolf Steiner meant by this term was a journey towards the freedom to be ethical individuals, able to make up their own mind and bring the future into being by their commitment to it from motives which serve each other. Our 2023 cohort of Year 12 students exhibited this in the presentation of their Year 12 Projects.
We have seen every student discover an external expression of the world through their own personal engagements. Even when they decided to focus their project on a familiar or fondly enjoyed area of interest, they have all discovered not only something about themselves, but something wonderful about the world and their place in it and their capacity to share life with others and make a positive difference. This is surely the pinnacle of education.
Zoe asked the audience how we can make connections between young and old members of the community and spent time getting to know members of a retirement village; Oliver challenged us to think about which was more important, his relationship with his Dad or with the engine they were building? Celina demonstrated that it is possible to make a difference out there by being creative with ‘waste’ furniture so that it is not simply thrown onto landfill. Lawrence proved that going fishing is not just escapism from the ‘real world’ and helped clean up local waterways. We were confronted by what it means to feel different from others and Annabel offered a way for young people to be reassured through her creation of an ADHD alphabet book. Amy challenged our perceptions based on habit through revealing the marvels of underwater photography at the South Coast. We were also asked by Lauren to consider whether the boundaries of art are wide enough to include cake decoration and Jax demonstrated that everyone can face up to and succeed in a 100 day life challenge with a friend and a little encouragement.
In addition, we heard about sharing the intangible idea of culture in a children’s picture book in Spanish, from Millie, and Eleanor demonstrated what it means to express generosity of spirit to others through the agency of a therapy dog who can be a ‘best friend’ to others as well as be her own pet. Cassie undertook the challenge to share communication and joy through dance with older Canberrans living in institutions who can only sit or lie down. Juliet nearly brought the audience to tears through her animation of tree spirits communicating through music and Cal reminded us that we can set a fashion and don’ t have to wait to follow others in our quest to express out individuality. Maggie took the audience back to the site of her fairy gardens in Class 3 as a way to show the power of creativity in her Steiner education.
Tom reminded the adult audience that participation in sport is worth pursuing into adulthood and can be squashed by unrealistic expectations. Eve spoke about tattooing, which has been rendered more popular in our culture including by women, and asked whether a tattoo defines the person or not. Students were offered some insights from the practice of mindfulness by James, and led through a garden to promote calm in Dementia sufferers, by Hugh. This contrasted with the artistry involved in using ancient skills to forge a katana or Japanese sword as experienced by Dylan through his self-imposed ‘apprenticeship’ in his garage. Maddie invited us to consider adopting a cat and reminded us of the responsibilities involved based on her volunteering at the RSPCA. Photography of wildlife in the ACT by Zoe raised awareness of the fragility of our local ecosystems and this was contrasted with the possibilities of a ‘virtual walkthrough’ of the rainforest at the Botanical Gardens, created by Helen.
This weekend, these students crossed a threshold into their future, with everything we have tried to foster for them to take on their journeys: an mind, an open will and an open heart.
