About Me
In 1972, I was in college in Pennsylvania when I decided to take a bird watching course in Florida. At the time I was a physical education major and couldn’t wait to get college credit while on ‘vacation’. The professor was thought of as somewhat a radical and throughout the trip he presented a different global picture than the one I had been exposed to. This new paradigm included ever increasing resource demands in a limited resource world, while simultaneously increasing amounts of pollution of all kinds, including a new threat called global warming (more accurate today – climate change), which would also be increasing and demanding more resources to combat. The consequences to our social structure would be great. My professor gave me a list of titles of books to read and soon my life changed dramatically. My major morphed into biology and chemistry with a strong interest in the environment. To pay for college I worked at a gas station and learned how to repair cars and after graduation I taught chemistry for one year. Knowing I needed more skills for my future, such as carpentry, plumbing, electrical work and gardening, I embarked on this journey. Along the way I was blessed with two daughters and a step son, Kim, Jonna and Chris.
It was when I transplanted to Vermont with my partner Lisa that I was able to utilize my skills. We moved onto a piece of land near the Canada border, hand- built our home, set up an off-grid solar electricity system, and grew most of our food. It was at this time that Lisa and I were introduced to Waldorf Education. I felt I had come full circle when I was introduced to Spatial Dynamics (Physical Education for Waldorf Schools) and became a Movement Teacher at Green Mountain Waldorf School.
Several decades later I moved to the Montpelier area and began teaching Movement at Orchard Valley Waldorf School. There I was able to incorporate my low impact, low cost skills and ideas. I built a Hoophouse out of trees that was used as the gym, which is described in the Movement article. During these years of teaching it became clear what I really wanted to do next, which was to build another home that would offer a learning atmosphere demonstrating another path to be taken. One that would consider the Earth and how to share resources with other inhabitants, a path strong in science, math and knowledge as a whole, a path where our experiences are put to use to solve challenges and not depend on the political arena solutions. My partner Mary and I moved onto a piece of land and this website represents our progress.
- David Maynard
It was when I transplanted to Vermont with my partner Lisa that I was able to utilize my skills. We moved onto a piece of land near the Canada border, hand- built our home, set up an off-grid solar electricity system, and grew most of our food. It was at this time that Lisa and I were introduced to Waldorf Education. I felt I had come full circle when I was introduced to Spatial Dynamics (Physical Education for Waldorf Schools) and became a Movement Teacher at Green Mountain Waldorf School.
Several decades later I moved to the Montpelier area and began teaching Movement at Orchard Valley Waldorf School. There I was able to incorporate my low impact, low cost skills and ideas. I built a Hoophouse out of trees that was used as the gym, which is described in the Movement article. During these years of teaching it became clear what I really wanted to do next, which was to build another home that would offer a learning atmosphere demonstrating another path to be taken. One that would consider the Earth and how to share resources with other inhabitants, a path strong in science, math and knowledge as a whole, a path where our experiences are put to use to solve challenges and not depend on the political arena solutions. My partner Mary and I moved onto a piece of land and this website represents our progress.
- David Maynard
