Giving Tuesday 2022

Lakota Waldorf School is organizing this fundraiser to benefit Wolakota Waldorf Society.

Tax deductible

With a united heart, we come together on behalf of our students to ask you to support our all-important Annual Campaign for $30,000.

What will your gift support? It will help bring our unique and culturally relevant programs and activities (shown on the right) to children, Grades K-8, living on one of the poorest Indian reservations in this country.

What makes our school unique? Lakota Waldorf (LW) provides a unique learning environment – one that weaves together the age-appropriate pedagogy of a “Waldorf Education Curriculum” with a “Lakota Language and Culture Program.” In addition, LW is the only Waldorf school in North America located on a Native American reservation (the Oglala Sioux Tribe).

Founded in 1993 with only one kindergarten class, Lakota Waldorf now serves Grades K-8 with the programs and activities needed to fulfill our mission – to provide an education that prepares our students for the ever-growing complexity of the 21st century while also strengthening their cultural identity and native language skills.

Here are highlights of how the Lakota Waldorf School integrates its programs and supporting activities:

We teach basic academic subjects, such as math, English, social studies, and science, in individually focused blocks of time – a vital feature of a Waldorf Education curriculum. Traditionally, subjects are not taught from one leading textbook. Instead, various activities and teaching methods connect one primary issue to many disciplines and learning styles. However, the most distinctive feature of our curriculum is that we also integrate relevant Lakota cultural activities such as Lakota storytelling and myths, drumming and dancing, and native crafts such as beadwork, leather work, and quill work.

To help us fulfill our educational goals, all teachers participate in the Academy for Indigenous Waldorf Pedagogy – our own on-site teacher training program. We also participate in weekly Lakota Language classes. This enables us to support our students as they build their fluency with daily Lakota Language classes, which they demonstrate in plays and other dramatic activities performed in the Lakota language. (This is significant because less than 5% of the Oglala Lakota Tribe members are fluent in the Lakota language.)

Each student receives a wholesome breakfast, lunch, and snack every school day. (These meals serve as the primary source of nutritious food for some of our students.) Known as our Healthy Meals Program, it is partly supported by the school’s Organic Garden – a resource that gives our students practical experience in gardening and food preparation and a connection to nature. In addition, we foster reverence for the earth and environmental sustainability through our Earth Day Every Day Eco-Code, which includes recycling, the use of eco-friendly cleaning supplies, avoiding the use of plastic materials, and more.

Please know that your gift is all-important. Why? Because Lakota Waldorf is a tuition-free school. The grants we receive only cover approximately 60% of our operating expenses. For the remaining 40%, we put our faith in the generosity of individuals like you from around the world who believe in our work.

Thank you ahead for making as meaningful a gift as you can. Truly, we are deeply grateful for every donation given to our Annual Campaign goal of $30,000.

Pilauŋyayapi (We thank you all),

The Lakota Waldorf School Teachers & Staff