class ursa

with Ms. Denison
 

our sixth grade 

After having learned about the realms of animals and plants in fourth and fifth grade, the sixth-grade-students will discover the realm of minerals and rocks during their geology block.

Sixth grade describes another major step toward independence in a child's life. While the nine-year-change describes the emergence of a certain awareness of self and taking care of oneself, most 6th graders make another great step in that direction. They perform the step from orally transmitted mythology to fact-based history, starting with the time of the Roman empire and the middle ages. Furthermore, the children expand their awareness of self by learning about their position on earth in relationship to the major celestial bodies in the astronomy block. The counterpart to the skies is the examination of the ground we stand on: learning about earth's crust and what it is made of and what the minerals have to do with us


ursa class teacher

NICOLE DENISON
 
I spent most of my childhood in the rural area of northeast Georgia and earned my Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of Georgia. Upon graduating, I worked for the Taiwanese Consulate Office in Atlanta for three years, then headed off for island life in Hawaii. There, I collaborated with general education and special education teachers, therapists, and parents to offer an environment of healthy growth and meaningful education to children who had intensive sensory needs and language difficulties. The children I worked for, and the educators I worked alongside of, taught me so much about compassion and the value of our attentiveness to one another.  

After four and half years on Maui, we moved on to the Boston area, looking to find our forever home. In Boston, I explored my love for animals and the field of science. I became a veterinary technician, a position which I continued through our move to Salt Lake City in 2015. My most recent work in the animal health field was with a local physical rehabilitation and acupuncture clinic for animals. Since being in Salt Lake City, I have also completed a 1,000-hour yoga therapy training course and find joy helping others through breathing, mantra, movement and meditation techniques from yogic traditions.
I found Wasatch Waldorf Charter School and the holistic pedagogy I had been longing for, in 2017. I began teaching Grade 3 with Class Ursa. I graduated from the Gradalis’ Waldorf teacher training program in 2019 and have a level 1 Utah teaching license, working toward a level 2 license. I am dedicated to the holistic and healing education that Waldorf schools bring to their communities and am passionate about healthy growth and development that Waldorf pedagogy provides. I feel blessed to have found a school community full of people who value presence and strive together toward understanding and well-being for themselves and others. I feel I have found my place and am happy to call Salt Lake City, Utah home.


When students feel safe and valued then the academic pursuits of the class are able to flourish. 


—Misti Moberly, Polaris Class Teacher