FAMILIAR FACES (1st edition)



^{Hello DWS Alumni from the 70's and 80's! Welcome to our first edition of Familiar Faces. With DWS alumni spanning the globe, we thought it would be nice for you to see what everyone is up to and to have the opportunity to re-connect with your DWS community.}

^{*Note: class years listed are for graduation of the 8th grade and the names following the year are the class teacher at the time of graduation.}

Frances and Jerry Altwies

Subject & Class Teachers

Pictured: Frances and Jerry Altwies alive and well in Honolulu on his 80th birthday.

Frances: I came to DWS as a parent, faculty spouse, assistant to Raschid in the kitchen, and office bookkeeper before taking up teaching again. After being a specialty teacher of crafts, art, PE, and art history, she stepped in to become the fourth grade class teacher in 1984 and taught that group of spirited students until her move to Honolulu Waldorf School in 1987.

Jerry: It was during my last class at Wayne State University that I first heard about Waldorf Education; a guest lecturer, one Dr. Werner Glas, presented a clear and reasonable vision of what education for young children could, indeed, should be. My daughter Kristine was enrolled in Betty Martin's pre-school class and I enrolled in Waldorf Teacher Training Program.

I took my first DWS class two years later in 1971 and taught them through 8th grade (the class of 1978-79). After a sabbatical year studying Art Therapy in England, I took another class grades 1 to 4 before moving to Hawai’i where I continued teaching the Waldorf way at the Honolulu Waldorf School (Kula Ho’omohalpua), until I retired in the year 2000.

David Bush

Class of 1976-77 | Bette Ann Sayers-Hart

I reside in Los Angeles and work in the film industry, where as a set decoration gang boss I oversee the dressing of stage sets and locations. I entered the industry in 1994 and have been fortunate to work on a broad array of projects, among them Steven Spielberg’s 2015 film “Bridge of Spies” (see photo above — I'm on the far right).



Of the skills I’ve acquired in the course of my career, none serves me more essentially than my Waldorf education. Apart from a strong grounding in history, culture, languages and the arts, DWS provided a space in which to open and nurture my imagination, often in ways I did not fully appreciate until adulthood. Being now in a field that each day presents creative, logistic and organizational challenges, I value the capacities to visualize and innovate that Waldorf helped develop.

Central to my Waldorf experience was wondrous Bette Ann Hart, my instructor from grades 2 through 8. Her patience, generosity and passion for education created a truly immersive learning environment, bringing life and resonance to all subjects. Though my classmates and I were young, she engaged us as adults, always with grace, respect and a clever, gentle wit. I miss her and am grateful for my years as her student. 

Betsy (Bush) Reid

Class of 1978-79 | Jerry Altwies

My day job is Producer for Jackson Dawson, a creative marketing agency in Dearborn, MI. I reside in Detroit not far from the school.

Growing up, I had a chalkboard in the kitchen on which I created numerous drawings. About ten years ago, I added a chalk wall to my kitchen to resume the joyful practice. Having a creative outlet brings me peace and keeps me balanced with the world.

The first drawing pictured is loosely inspired by the marble floors in the Vatican. The second is inspired by a tile from Michigan based Pewabic Pottery.

Claudia Valsi

Class of 1982-83 | Paul Gierlach

I've been living in Freiburg, Germany for the past 20 years with my husband Scott (also a musician) and our twin boys Paul and Ian. I have an orchestra job in Basel (Switzerland) and also teach harp privately and through a local music school.

Last December during the lockdown my orchestra colleagues recorded chamber music for our season ticket subscribers. This violin and harp duo with our concert master is a lovely piece and I thought you might enjoy it.

Violin and Harp Duo

Karin Schaefer is an artist living in Brooklyn, NY and South Egremont, MA. She and her partner Diane Crespo also owns a toy store called Acorn, which carries products inspired by her experience of wonder and play as a Waldorf student. Karin and her partner have a son and two grandchildren. 



Instagram

Gallery Work

Acorn Toy Shop

Michelle Duncan

Class of 1983-84 | Michael Kidney

After a little (or a lot) of professional ADD - trained at Parkland in

Dallas, private practice in the UP, faculty at Michigan State,

Georgetown and a short stint at Howard (and a lot of locum tenens) - I have been living in Philadelphia since 2017. I am an Associate Professor of Ob/Gyn/RS at Temple University School of Medicine, a full time Ob/Gyn Hospitalist and Laborist, and the Medical Director of the OB Triage Unit.

From this vantage point in my career, I have come to value many things about the Waldorf curriculum which has allowed me the skills and mental freedom to chart my path in a field that is often weighed down by

tradition and routine. The left/right brain curriculum in which music,

handwork and early introduction to multiple languages at DWS has really benefited me in so very many ways, because guys… surgery is handwork. Never thought 4th grade cross-stitch would come in handy, but babies are very large and our anatomy is not.

Read PBS/NPR Article

Doctors sound alarm on Temple plan to move labor, delivery unit -WHYY

Anthea Howbert

Class of 1985-86 | Carol Fulmer

I have been living in Ireland for the last 21 years. I met a fellow gardener while studying horticulture at Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania and moved over to his hometown of Dublin. We have two daughters, Ivy 19 and Freya 16 (you can see the Waldorf influence on my choice of name!).



My husband, Tig and I have three garden and interiors shops here in Dublin which we opened starting in 2012. Before that we worked as garden designers and landscapers. Waldorf has had a huge influence on my life. I had really hoped to send my daughters to a Waldorf school, but unfortunately, the only well established one in Ireland is over on the West coast.

Sonya Duffy 

Class of 1985-86 | Carol Fulmer

I am a librarian at the university library system for the New School which includes Parsons School of Design.

Here in New York City I am navigating the world after lockdown, maybe post pandemic Covid but before endemic Covid. I am back in the office in person and attending cultural events like the ballet. I also meet with groups of friends and attend dance classes, sometimes a combination of the two. Yet things are, in many ways, not as they were before in that Covid precautions are taken and there will be some people who can’t participate as much for their own reasons.

I caught up with some visiting last summer and early fall. I was in Michigan, upstate New York, Massachusetts, and Florida. It all felt like some combination of normal and abnormal, but it was great to see people who I could not see during the pandemic lockdown phase. No plans for any big changes at this point. I plan to get back to many of the things that I loved about living in the city, seeing friends and family, and embarking on some new adventures (whatever they may be).

Neal Newman

Class of 1982-83 | Paul Gierlach

Neal has been residing in Texas since 2004 and is a tenured law Professor at Texas A&M University School of Law.

For those of you who knew Neal when he attended DWS in the late 70’s and early 80’s, you may remember him as one whose favorite part of the day was recess.

A competitive runner since age 9, Neal went on to become an All American 800 meter runner at the University of Michigan where he held the BigTen Indoor record for 12 years 1:47.83 was his time and still remains the number two all time fastest for that distance at the University of Michigan. In 1992 Neal competed in the U.S. Olympic Trials which were held down in New Orleans at Tad Gormley Stadium.



One of Neal's true passions and hobbies now is competing in triathlons. Neal competed in 4 triathlons this past fall. The first photo above is Neal posing at the podium after finishing second place in his age group – (50-54). The “Monster Tri” held out in Keller Texas consisted of a 300 meter swim, a 12.5 mile bike, and a 3.1 mile run. To get an idea of the effort, on the run portion, Neal clipped along at a very crisp 7:20 mile pace. He bested all but 1 of the 38 competitors in his age group.    

Remembering Christopher Sayers

Class of 1974-75 | Dorothy Garrison, Joel Kobran

Christopher Sayers, age 60, of Troy, passed away on October 12, 2021.

Chris attended the Detroit Waldorf School until 9th grade and finished high school at Detroit Country Day. His family relocated from New York to Detroit when his mother Bette Ann Sayers-Hart began as a main lesson teacher in 1970. She taught that class (which included David Bush, Moira Mahoney and Meghan O'Meara) until 8th grade graduation (class of 1978-79).

Chris was extremely kind, responsible, had a great sense of humor, was very musical and always studious. Talented and very humble, Chris liked to serve behind the scenes as technical lighting director during class plays and school events. He played saxophone in the school orchestra, enjoyed choral music, bird wild life, and space & science exploration.

He had a true gift for singing and was actively involved in Metro Detroit's choral community singing at St. John's Episcopal Church and for St. Mary's Latin masses in Greek Town.

Chris worked in computer technology for Birmingham Data Systems with offices located in Detroit and California.

The Sayers-Hart family were very dedicated to the success of the Detroit Waldorf School and highly supportive of its Steiner mission.

In lieu of flowers the family requests memorial donations to two of Chris' favorite organizations, St. John’s Episcopal Church Music Program or the World Wildlife Federation.

- Moira Mahoney (8th grade class 1978-79, HS class 1981)

Picture: Taken at the school reunion in 2001, left to right is: Chris Sayers, Danny Scott, Vita Jo Sinacori

Do you know other alums who might like to join this group?

Can we feature you in an upcoming edition? 

Contact: Claudia Valsi, DWS Alumni Outreach Volunteer Coordinator