Spiritual Strivings of Youth Section of the School for Spiritual ScienceReport, August 2015, by Ariel-Paul Saunders.

I am excited to share the current surge of new activity in the youth section.  There are more people, resources, inspiration and programming than I have seen in my four years of work with this section!

We are in the midst of our second crowd funding campaign of the year.  The goal is to raise $3500 to send four representatives to a four-day leadership gathering in Dornach in September.  The fundraising is going well and we appreciate all of the support that is pouring in!

Please take a minute to have a look at our fundraising page and consider donating, even $1, and sharing it with someone else you know.  This is the web address: http://igg.me/at/youthsection.

We are also in full swing planning our fall conference in connection with the AGM of the American Anthroposophical Society, in St. Louis.  For this event we are looking closely at the question of race as a catalyst for moral development, and working with a few key texts including the book: Witnessing Whiteness by Shelly Tochluk and The Spiritual Foundations of Morality Lectures by Rudolf Steiner.

Behind the scenes we are working on building up a consistent newsletter with an engaged readership and a website to help people connect and stay connected.  We are also involved in supporting other youth section initiatives including: The Future Conference, a conference for Waldorf high school students on the West Coast; Free Columbia, an art and social activism training in Philmont, NY; and the Heartbeet conference series on the future of the Camphill movement.

One of the key ideas that we are working with is the importance of collaboration.  From what I have heard, all of the people currently active in youth section work right now really recognize the value of intergenerational work.  In that light, I have been interested in reframing the work of the youth section to include people of all ages who are interested in the spiritual questions of young people.  After all, some of the greatest contributions to youth section work have come through people who were no longer considered youth themselves.  I think that we are ready to let go of the idea that participation in the work of the youth section should be restricted to a certain age group.

There is a lot to look forward to with the emergence of a cohesive carrying group to support and recognize youth section initiatives in the years to come!

Some of the key people working with the section are: Nathaniel Williams and Seth Jordan in Philmont, NY. Abigail Dancey, Virginia Hermann and Megan Durney in Spring Valley, NY, Daniel Evaeus, Matthew Temple and Frank Agrama in LA.  Leslie Loy in Sacramento, CA, Sara McMullen-Laird from Ann Arbor, MI.

If you would like to connect with our work there are many ways to do so!  You can support our crowd funding campaign for the September initiative gathering in Dornach by going to this website http://igg.me/at/youthsection.  You can also sign up for our newsletter by e-mailing me, like our facebook page (North American Youth Section), and consider joining us at our AGM conference this October in St. Louis.  Please feel free to contact me: aripaulster@gmail.com with any questions, to get involved, or offer your support.

With sincere gratitude,

Ariel-Paul Saunders