Kristen Daley

Handwork Teacher

Ms. Daley (Kristen) has been teaching grade school handwork in Waldorf schools since the fall of 2001. She grew up and attended public school in Clawson, Michigan and went on to study fine arts at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and received her BFA degree with a concentration in fiber arts at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. Kristen then attended Waldorf teacher training foundation courses overseen by Eve Hardy at the Detroit Waldorf School. Through the years she has participated in various handwork and pedagogical courses, workshops and lectures at Renewal in New Hampshire, at Sunbridge College in Green Meadow, New York and also at Waldorf schools in Ann Arbor and Detroit, Michigan, at the Waldorf School of Princeton in New Jersey, at the Kimberton Waldorf School in Pennsylvania and here at the Hawthorne Valley Waldorf School. Kristen began lead handwork teaching at the Oakland Steiner School in Rochester Hills, Michigan. She assisted in handwork classes at the Detroit Waldorf School with Beth Krause (Miss Beth) and Carol Lalinsky. She taught 1st through 8th grade handwork at the Waldorf School of Princeton for 9 years and has been the handwork teacher for grades 1, 2 and 3 at this school since the fall of 2014. Kristen says, "It has been a wonderful journey with all of the students I have crossed paths with. I am humbled by the amount of projects that have been made over the years. As time has passed, I realize I have been inspired by the students just as much as I have taught them. The ability to create is both freeing and thought-provoking. It is a spark of light to shed on countless ideas. Handwork is a true love of mine. It has been a privilege to interact with my students in their processes of putting themselves out into the world. Through observation, interpretation, problem solving and understanding their own creative intentions and actions they build upon personal and collective experiences through this process of making. I am in gratitude to be a part of one of the many experiences the students have with this curriculum that they can continually draw from, that is always at their fingertips."