Housatonic Valley Waldorf School took time to smell the roses and celebrate the start of their 2018-19 school year with its annual Rose Ceremony on September 5.

Students, faculty, Board of Trustees, and parents gathered in the Atrium to witness the special assembly led by seventh grade teacher Marleen DeGrande.

Ms DeGrande explained that each year, close to a thousand Waldorf schools around the world have a Rose Ceremony for their incoming first grade and eighth grade students.

During the event, the students from the Class of 2019 presented a red rose from Riverbank Farm to their buddy (or in some cases, two buddies) in the Class of 2026.

The idea is that the students would establish a connection that day and grow their bond throughout the school year, as the buddies will have opportunities to have lunch and celebrate different occasions together in the future.

After each student joined their buddy on stage and all were seated, first grade teacher Emily Remensperger placed a table and candle at the front of the room.

As eighth grade student Ester Yu lit the candle, Ms Remensperger began to tell the tale of two young children and their discovery of finding a magical blood-red flower with a dew drop center. The riveting story captivated the crowd, and when she got to the very end, she paused and said, “If you want to know what happens next, you’ll have to ask a first grader.”

Each year at the Housatonic Valley Waldorf School’s Rose Ceremony, a teacher tells a different story and only reveals its ending to the first grade students. It becomes a fun way to help initiate conversations between the older and younger students.

Concluding the assembly, everyone sang the school song in unison and the parents of second grade students invited the parents of first grade students to enjoy a welcome breakfast designed for them.