Renewal In-Person Seventh Grade
Week 1 — In Person June 28 – Friday, July 3, 2026 Wilton, NH REGISTER NOW Teaching Seventh Grade: Meeting Students at the Threshold of Adolescence In-Person with Sarah Azzinaro Seventh grade can be a turbulent time for students, teachers, and parents, as early adolescents navigate shifting dynamics and the search for independence. Yet, the rich seventh-grade curriculum offers an antidote to disaffection, engaging students’ curiosity, creativity, and sense of wonder. From perspective drawing to discovering the golden ratio in nature, this year is filled with subjects that capture imaginations and expand worldviews—providing the perfect tools to meet students where they are. This Renewal Course offers inspiration, practical guidance, and artistic renewal for teachers preparing to meet this pivotal year with confidence, clarity, and creativity. Participants will engage deeply with the essential elements of seventh-grade teaching, including: Curriculum Blocks and Creative Exploration Presentations and discussions on each traditional seventh-grade block, including history, math, perspective drawing, and more, with strategies to deliver content in ways that excite, challenge, and motivate students. Child Development and Social-Emotional Learning Insights into the developmental shifts of seventh graders, including identity formation, social dynamics, and ethical inquiry, with practical strategies for supporting students’ growth with empathy and creativity. Arts and Rhythm Incorporating artistic activities, movement, and rhythm into the classroom to foster focus, creativity, and embodied learning. Social Justice and Representation Exploring ways to integrate themes of justice, diversity, and decolonization into the curriculum, cultivating relevance, critical thinking, and inclusive engagement. Practical Guidance for Teachers Resources and strategies for lesson planning, classroom management, parent communication, and balancing the demands of teaching with self-care and professional development. Additional Course Offerings This course also includes Eurythmy with Alexandra Spadea, supporting movement, coordination, and embodied learning appropriate to the middle school years. Participants will engage in Teaching Music and Singing with Meg O’Dell and Artistic Engagement with Narsingh Khalsa, offering meaningful artistic renewal and practical classroom applications. In addition, Teaching Science in Grades 6–8 with Will Minehart provides hands-on, developmentally aligned approaches to physics, chemistry, and earth sciences, supporting adolescent curiosity, critical thinking, and experiential learning. By the end of the course, teachers leave with renewed confidence, practical tools, and inspiration to guide students through the transformative challenges of seventh grade—fostering curiosity, imagination, and meaningful engagement with the world. Sarah Azzinaro is very grateful for having been introduced to Waldorf Education during her college years and discovering the learning methodology she craved and longed for as a child. As a Waldorf teacher, she is dedicated to awakening the potential of each child in her care, so that they can develop into lifelong learners with the ability to see what is hidden and wanting recognition. She earned her B.F. A in Theatre Arts from Cornish College of The Arts, a Fine Arts Certificate in Early Renaissance Art History from Scuola Internazionale d’Arte Santa Reparata Campus di Firenze, and an M.Ed. in Waldorf Elementary Education and Integrated Learning from Antioch University New England. For six years, Sarah was a professional actress in New York City, discovering teaching when hired to work as a teaching artist for three years with The Missoula Children’s Theatre. Since 2013, Sarah Azzinaro has taught at The Brooklyn Waldorf School, Sophia’s Hearth, The Monadnock Waldorf School, and Pine Hill at High Mowing School. She has served as an AWSNA delegate for the past 4 years. In 2025, she graduated the eighth grade class from High Mowing School. She is now headed into third grade with her second class. When she is not teaching, she enjoys crafting, pickling and canning, traveling, hiking, practicing yoga, and learning Italian. Sarah Azzinaro Each Renewal Course, Grades 1–8, Includes: Eurythmy with Alexandra Spadea — Offering developmentally appropriate movement experiences that support embodiment, balance, and learning readiness across the grades. Teaching Music and Singing with Meg O’Dell – Practical approaches to cultivate musical life, rhythm, and singing in the classroom. Artistic Engagement with Narsingh Khalsa – Guided artistic practice in drawing, painting, form work, and creative exercises to inspire teaching and inner life development. Teaching Science in Grades 6–8 with Will Minehart – Hands-on, inquiry-based scientific exploration tailored to middle school students’ developmental needs. These offerings provide teachers with practical tools, inspiration, and experiential learning to integrate the arts, rhythm, creativity, and science into classroom practice while supporting their own professional and personal growth. Alexandra Spadea grew up in a Waldorf school in Germany, where her lifelong love of eurythmy began. She trained at the Elena Zuccoli School in Dornach, Switzerland, and graduated from Eurythmy Spring Valley, NY, in 1994 under the directorship of Dorothea Mier. Alexandra taught high school eurythmy at Green Meadow Waldorf School (1994–2000) and has been a member of the Rudolf Steiner School, NYC community since 2009, teaching grades 7–12 and serving as a class advisor. She earned her postgraduate B.A. in Eurythmy Pedagogy in 2015–16. Alexandra Spadea Meg O’Dell loves helping people access their innate capacity for wellness, vitality, and connection. She does this as a somatic coach, supporting individuals and couples in growth, transformation, and healing, and also as a music teacher and vocal mentor. She teaches music at The Bay School, a Waldorf school on the coast of Maine, and leads a large intergenerational all-comers chorus called Misty Mountain Singers. Meg serves as faculty for Antioch University’s Waldorf Teacher Training and CfA’s Waldorf High School Teacher Education Programs. She is a regular instructor for CfA’s the Renewal Courses and introductory Explorations program, and she has taught with LifeWays North America. She received her M.Ed. from Antioch University New England in 2008. Her great joys include spending time with her growing children and visiting the small, misty mountain that rises out of the sea near their home. Meg O’Dell Narsingh Khalsa is a Waldorf educator and artist with a degree in Education from Prescott College and teacher training from Sunbridge Institute. Currently teaching a combined 2nd and 3rd grade class at the Waldorf School of Princeton, Narsingh brings 18 years of experience teaching fine arts