Student Spotlights – The Camphill School

Sam attends classes once a week while continuing her daily work at Beaver Farm. Her connection to the Camphill Academy began years ago, when she served as a practicum supervisor for other Academy students.
“It was really interesting to see little snippets of what the Academy was like,” she recalls. “Over the years, I picked up what the value of it was—sitting in on reviews and meetings gave me a sense of how meaningful the program is.” Now, as a student herself, Sam finds balance in having “one foot outside” the community. “There’s a lot of peace at Camphill, and the Academy gives me the space to slow down and focus inward,” she says. “But being outside also keeps me rooted in the wider world. My husband is a preschool teacher, and it’s been fascinating to talk with him about how our approaches overlap, especially with human development.”
Outside of her work and studies, Sam nurtures another creative side — music.
“I’m in a band with Carlos, who also works at Beaver Farm. We’ve been playing together for over ten years. It’s a really cool thing I get to do,” finding a balance between Camphill and the independence of life beyond it.

Sam’s colleague Toni Morales joined the Academy in a rather lucky way. “I actually thought the Academy was just for live-in co-workers,” Toni says. “Then I found out that wasn’t the case. Someone dropped out, and they let Sam and me split the schedule—she goes in the mornings, I go in the afternoons.”
This arrangement offers Toni a valuable perspective. “Having one foot in Camphill and one foot outside gives you a different view. When you live in, you move to the community’s rhythm. It’s wonderful, but stepping out also helps you understand the experience of our commuting students who go home every day. I think it makes me more relatable to them.”
Toni began working at Beaver Farm during COVID—a time when life in the community was especially close-knit. “We became our own little pod—just our day unit,” she remembers. “It was strange not knowing what ‘normal’ looked like, but it was also great learning from that small group and seeing how things opened up later.”
What keeps her coming back every day? “I think I’m suited to this job. I have the patience and the temperament for it. I laugh every day with the students—they teach me something new all the time, whether it’s patience or a new way of thinking. I just really enjoy it.”
When she’s not at the farm, Toni spends her time at home cooking, learning to knit, and relaxing with her cat, Juniper. “Sam actually found her! She sent me videos saying, ‘You’d love this cat.’ And she was right.”

For Emmanuel Martinez-Zuviria, a student in the Camphill Academy who works at The Camphill School, the path to the Academy has been both personal and reflective – a return to his roots, on his own terms. “For me, what’s very important is having balance,” Emmanuel shares. “The Academy work can be deep and heavy at times, so being able to step outside of it and experience life beyond Anthroposophy is also really important. It helps me keep a well-rounded understanding and relationship with the work.” Having grown up in a Camphill setting, his parents were coworkers in Whitestone, and he attended the Kimberton Waldorf School. After high school, Emmanuel spent six months living in a Camphill community, but soon realized that the live-in lifestyle wasn’t sustainable for him. “It kind of engulfed everything. I couldn’t remove myself from it, and I needed space to figure out how to stay connected to Camphill in a more balanced way.”

That balance eventually came through his current role at The Camphill School and his studies in the Academy. “Now my wife and I can have a close, meaningful relationship with the work and with Anthroposophy—but also step back, reflect, and come in fresh each week. It’s a rhythm that really works for us.”
Emmanuel began working at The Camphill School in 2020, initially planning to stay for a year before pursuing a college degree. But when he learned about the Camphill Academy diploma program, the path forward suddenly made sense. “In a country where it’s nearly impossible to get a degree without going into a lifetime of debt, the Academy offers something so practical and meaningful. By the time I finish, I’ll not only have a degree but also seven or eight years of real work experience. That’s huge.” What keeps Emmanuel coming back every day? “It’s the children we work with. They show such a raw picture of humanity—pure emotion, unfiltered expression, real love, real frustration. It’s incredibly humbling and reflective work. You see yourself mirrored in them, and there’s never a dull moment.”

When he’s not working or studying, Emmanuel finds his balance outdoors. “I play a lot of disc golf, which is like golf, but with frisbees. There’s something Anthroposophic about it – you spend time in nature, it’s goal-oriented, and there’s this sense of projecting yourself into your throw. It’s like the modern man’s discus.”

Lindsay Hess is a special education teacher at The Camphill School, where she leads a 9th grade classroom with compassion and creativity. Currently in her second year of the Academy, Lindsay brings a thoughtful and hands-on approach to her teaching, shaped by her deep commitment to her students. Listen to Lindsay share her experience in the Academy and how it continues to influence her work in the classroom.

For Toni, Sam, Lindsay and Emmanuel, being commuters doesn’t make them any less a part of the Camphill community—it gives them balance and a bridge between worlds. Their experiences bring fresh perspectives into the classroom and connect community life with the wider world.