A packed audience was treated to selections of Mozart's "The Magic Flute" during the high school commencement ceremony of the Lake Champlain Waldorf School on Saturday, June 12. Eleven students in the class of 2010 performed a cappella and in full, gorgeous harmony during the students' poignant and emotional farewell to the independent school in Charlotte and Shelburne. Founded in 1984 upon the philosophy of Rudolph Steiner, the Lake Champlain Waldorf School's mission is to teach its students to be artistic, intellectually curious, and creative problem solvers in order to ready graduates to enter and serve the world and communities well. The school is the largest independent school in the state of Vermont offering early childhood through high school programs.

Steve Crimy, one of the high school's humanities faculty members described each student to the gathered parents, alumni, friends, and teachers before presenting the diplomas, each a beautiful watercolor. He spoke not in terms of their accomplishments but about the unique qualities and inherent gifts that each individual brought to the class and to the whole Lake Champlain Waldorf School community.

For the graduation ceremony, the school drew upon the rich festivals and celebrations that mark each student's career. On the first day of each school year, every first grade student walks through a flowered arbor and is presented a rose by a high school senior who welcomes them into the school community. As a lovely closing to their Waldorf education, graduating seniors in turn received a rose to mark the completion and flowering of their education, along with their diploma that was created by an alumnus of the school.