Joany Richardson

Meadowlark Class Assistant Teacher

I became a hairdresser at the age of twenty, having known I wanted to do just that since I was eight years old. I retired in January 2022, after 21 fulfilling and enchanted years. I have plot a journey to a find my new center and in front of me I have a beautiful skein of freshly wound wool, ready and waiting to be knit into something magical; something my values align with.
Underneath the roots of my work experience is my family's love of Waldorf Education and the community that Prairie Moon Waldorf School has become for us. Our first experience with the Waldorf Community was the Winter Light Faire in 2010 with our then four month old daughter. I won't call it "life changing" as I believe our paths are predestined; instead I will call it a "re-connection with home" sensation.
Sweet Peas Garden (parent/child classes) immediately followed, then moving our home to be closer to the school, enrolling our first child, Elizabeth, then our second daughter, Mable, in the Early Childhood. I spent days volunteering in the classroom, attending parent evenings, festival and committee work, then serving on the board for three and a half years. Most recently I have joined our administrator, Mr. Kennedy, on the Steering Committee which is providing more knowledge around AWSNA and the Policies and Procedures a working Waldorf School needs.
As I companion my girls through their educational journey, I continue to learn about both the curriculum as well as the community and the teachings of Steiner. Book studies ranging from "Heaven on Earth" and "You are Your Child's First Teacher" to "Spiritual Tasks of the Homemaker" and "Partnerships of Hope" broaden and enlighten me more and more. I admire and take influence from Janet Lansbury, Magda Gerber, Nancy Blanning and Adam Blanning. My Sunbridge Institute trainings have given me a wider swath of community and a more diverse resource pool to dive into.
I have reflected and taken notes on my passions and volunteer work: natural childbirth, breastfeeding, homeopathic medicine, the natural development of the child, handwork, Waldorf Education and Mother Nature. I then wove those together with the core of my joy as a hairdresser: one on one connections and deep conversations that could be picked-up anytime and include anyone fluidly. With clarity I see in front of me the completion of a full spiral walk. I am back at the beginning, I am at Early Childhood.