She was recently employed at Glenaeon Rudolf Steiner School as the Playgroup Manager and Educator, and Biodynamic Restorative Agriculture Teacher for students ages 2-14 and adults. She has also created in depth courses for the Sydney Rudolf Steiner College in Biodynamics & Nutrition. These are accessed by many audiences including families learning together. Sandra regularly offers workshops within schools and communities through her business Wise Ways Work:Education for all ages. 

 

Since 2000 Sandra has been leading students of all ages on farms and gardens abroad and in Australia. She considers it a great privilege to assist educators to interpret their landscape and culture in ways that are supportive to individuals and the lands.  

 

Sandra holds a Masters of Science in Steiner Education (Columbia University), a Bachelor of Child Studies Degree (University of Nova Scotia), and certificates in Waldorf Primary Education, Biodynamic Gardening & Farming, and Drama Therapy.

Sandra is currently a Director of the Sydney Rudolf Steiner College and is the 'Birth to Three' representative of the Steiner Early Childhood Australia committee.Sandra is a long time guardian for Periwinkle Rudolf Steiner Community Preschool in Byron Bay. Sandra is an active member of the Tree Veneration Society and the Network for Exploring Creativity in Therapy and the Arts. 

 

Early days

Sandra was born in suburban Cali Colombia and weekends were spent at her Irish Godmother’s ‘finca’ outside Bogota. This early impression of ‘life on a farm’, complete with 200 ducks and chickens, a couple of pigs ’Coca and Cola’, a herd of beloved horses, a couple of cows and dogs, where smells were abundant and people coming and going picking coffee beans, tea leaves, and many types of citrus especially oranges, made for an exciting weekend life. Farm weekends were alternated with climbing picnics and enhanced adventures in the Andes mountains. Thus Sandra's early childhood years were spent until, because of war, they moved to her mother’s home country of Canada.

 

Studies

Sandra chose the study of how children learn and how to develop programs suited for children’s needs which the Bachelor of Child Study Degree she achieved in Halifax Nova Scotia gave her. Rudolf Steiner’s Waldorf Education was the one  pedagogy that jumped out at her. From that moment in 1979 Sandra followed this pursuit of curriculum and healthy educational life making that Dr. Steiner taught. 

 

She used this as a basis for creating a successful ‘Children’s International Centre in Ottawa for the YM-YWCA. This was a ‘first experiential' children’s program in those early ’80’s in Canada. Sandra developed skills at that time of working with volunteers of all ages from the diplomatic, refugee, international students, resettlement and immigrant populations to create an authentic Children’s International Centre for visiting children to learn from. She also began a program for adolescents to learn of world issues and apply their interest meaningfully within the Ottawa community, and a program for immigrant women called ‘Living in Canada and Liking it’. A study group she began at the time on “Middle East’ issues gave participants an opportunity to gnaw on the issues and find the possibilities of healthy solutions. These community development skills that are crucial to low budget organisations like the YMCA’s YWCA’s have become part of Sandra’s professional mantra: ‘what can we do?’ to help our needy societies. 

 

Independent living program in Ontario Canada Sandra designed a program for foster kids who were “released” at 16, being expected to get an apartment, pay bills and go to school. Under the program, they met once a week, the kids would come together, make their own community, develop friendship and share stories. They practised making food together, going shopping, planning, budgeting and nutrition.

 

In 1997 she moved to New York to pursue the necessary years of study to become a Waldorf Biodynamic Gardening teacher with a Masters in Science from Columbia University. When interning for the Pfeiffer Centre garden with Master Biodynamic Agriculturalist Gunther Hauk,  Sandra specialised in developing learning programs for students with classroom learning challenges. She has carried this into her teaching work, witnessing that nature’s spaces are complete with all the lessons that can be applied to inside the classroom. 

 

During her time living at the Fellowship Community in New York, She and the other farmers were given community support to develop a farm education program for students from schools and holiday camps to have day visits to the working farm. Thrilling it was for visiting children of all ages to come in bus loads from New York city, the Bronx and surrounds, to spend time with the cows, sheep, chickens and work in the growing fields and green houses. Some children had not previously touched soil. As the students ate their lunches with the elderly residents of the Fellowship community they interacted joyously telling of their experiences. The residents were aglow with this interest. Many groups came repeatedly through the year to ‘experience the seasons’ on the farm. An old farm building was renovated to house ’story time’ and old farm tools featured. 

 

Repeatedly in her life Sandra was reminded that her mission was to help people to feel connected to caring for the land as a right and as a survival skill. 

 

Australia 

In 2001 was invited to bring her passion for bringing 'people to the land and the land to people’ to Australia. She and her daughter immigrated to Australia and Sandra began the ‘Working Together’ program at Regenesis with people recovering from substance abuses. Sandra was thrilled to see the results of participants after years of practising forms of alchemy that were damaging to their bodies, minds and souls, the participants were transported as they enjoyed chopping, stirring and kneading inside the kitchen, and digging, planting and harvesting in the garden. 

 

She also taught biodynamic gardening at the local Southern Highlands Steiner school and created many biodynamic gardening community events with colleagues. 

A move to the Northern Rivers in 2004 led to Sandra teaching in the preschool at Shearwater Steiner School. In 2006 Sandra established her own Home Waldorf early childhood education program for hundreds of families for 8 years. “Living Loving Learning and Laughing too’ was a popular starting point for many young children in the Byron Shire who then went on to the local Steiner or other schools. At this time too Sandra began her ‘Parenting Education programs‘ for the parents of the children in her programs. This was an opportunity for parents to enjoy learning of ’the why and how’ of Steiner Education. These events and Sandras' festivals were so engaging that families continued their involvement in her home based community for many years. 

 

In 2013 Sandra began her consulting in early childhood education and biodynamics in other lands: Fiji, China and Vietnam have been often visited. She considers it a great privilege to assist educators in foreign to interpret their landscape and culture in ways that are supportive to incorporating Waldorf education and biodynamics, rather than superimposing the latter on an already rich culture. 

 

In a short time at Glenaeon Rudolf Steiner School Sandra increased the garden class teaching from 4 primary classes, to 9 classes linking early childhood, primary school and a high school class. A key contributor to the success of these classes was the engagement of parent volunteers who are delighted to be ‘in the garden’ learning with their children and the other students. These ‘working in the garden programs’ were held on three different campuses for which Sandra was also responsible for the flourishing gardens. 

 

Sandra left her inclusive mark on the playgroups she developed for Glenaeon by developing playgroup programs suitable for nourishing families. Under her leadership the number of playgroups offered annually doubled and included specialty ones for families of different cultures too. 

 

To support self education through colleagueship Sandra has started social chat groups for both Biodynamic Gardening Teachers and a Playgroup Educators. Sandra’s webinars on biodynamic agriculture classes and early childhood education are also popular learning events. 

 

Giving ‘life’ space to grow

Community development has always been at the heart of Sandra’s professional and personal life. She has brought her capacity to ‘give life space to grow’ to the endeavours she has pioneered in many parts of the world. ‘Working together’ is a concept that she brought to her adopted home of Australia after living on a biodynamic farm centred around care for the elderly in Chestnut Ridge New York. She could see the healing that happened for all the residents of this farm by being active doing meaningful work for the benefit of all. 

 

A lively life Sandra leads in suburban Sydney gardens and afield leading classes of all ages. Sandra’s joyous family life is also centred around nature and practising the domestic arts and sciences with her grandchildren.