It’s with a tremendous joy I can share that Shannon Honigblum has been collaborating with L’Ecole des Enfants for the past couple of months regarding the curriculum development and the mentoring of our teachers. She has already held some calls with our teachers to support them to be ready for their first Rudolf Steiner module in Kenya in early August. Shannon will come to Bouaké and mentor our teachers for a month in end August and beginning September. Our collaboration is just starting and we are very exited to co-create together with Shannon and build a solid foundation for our school.
Shannon’s shares with you in her own words about her background and what led her to our school:
Warm greetings to all. My name is Shannon Honigblum, and I grew up in Florida and New York, attending a Waldorf School from nursery school through high school. During that time, I studied in Germany and France, attending Waldorf schools there.
I have long felt a strong connection to Africa. During college, I went to South Africa for six months, teaching in a farm/township school connected to a Waldorf school; I traveled around South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Malawi. Upon graduating with a BA degree in Classics, I became a Peace Corps volunteer in Niger for two and a half years, working with women and children in a health care setting while speaking French and Zarma. During this time I traveled to Burkina-Faso, Mali, Ghana, the Ivory Coast, Senegal, and Cape Verde. I loved getting to know this part of West Africa. Returning to the United States, I received an MA degree in Literature from New York University, and an MS degree in Waldorf Early Childhood Education from Sunbridge Institute. I have been fortunate to experience and teach in Waldorf schools in all three sections of the school, as a high school English teacher, a sixth, seventh, and eighth grade class teacher, and as a kindergarten teacher. I am a writer and my publications include: Making a Family Home (Steiner Books: 2010) and Waldorf Early Childhood Education: An Introductory Reader (WECAN: 2017, editor). From my work in the school in South Africa, to my years as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Niger, to my service as a Fulbright Scholar in Russia, to my work and studies as a Waldorf student and teacher, I have a deep understanding of Waldorf Education, a global perspective, and an interest in helping the Waldorf Education movement succeed internationally and in many different kinds of situations. I am very much looking forward to returning to the Ivory Coast in support of this important initiative. Beginning a Waldorf Early Childhood Program is an exciting and much needed endeavor; the children who receive this education will be very fortunate indeed.