Stone Carving Teacher

Job Title: Stone Carving Teacher

Program: High School

Reports to: School Director

FLSA: Part-time

Date: July 2024

School Year: 2024-2025

The Opportunity:

Shining Mountain Waldorf High School (SMWHS) is at an exciting point in its 40-year history. We have recently moved into a new state-of-the-art high school campus, which is adjacent to the existing lower school campus. As such, our school has been deeply engaged in a revisioning process to launch a unique, contemporary identity that includes several innovative program opportunities.

We are seeking a dynamic, student-centered, part-time Stone Carving Teacher to teach a four-week stone carving course with our Junior and Senior class.

Classes would be held daily from 3/31/25-4/25/25 from 8:20-9:30am, for a total of twenty classes.

Class size will be under ten students.

Shining Mountain Waldorf School, founded in 1983, is an accredited Pre-K-12 nonprofit independent school located in Boulder, Colorado on the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains. We are recognized for our academic depth, experiential learning, artistic integration, wilderness experiences, and strong athletic program. Our school is about an hour’s drive to Denver and Rocky Mountain National Park. We are close to world-class hiking, skiing, and outdoor recreation. A college town, Boulder is home to the University of Colorado and Naropa University, as well as numerous local organizations that provide a rich variety of arts, lectures, and workshops. Boulder is known for its natural beauty, environmental initiatives, sustainable agriculture, farm-to-table dining, and more than 300 days of sunshine each year.

Position Summary

The High School Stone Carving Teacher will be in charge of preparing for class, teaching the hands-on studio class, and keeping an organized studio. Educators and artists who bring a record of success teaching alabaster carving and an interest in sharing their passions with adolescents are encouraged to apply.

This course consists of sculpting a 25-pound piece of alabaster. Each student will learn to form the stone by using hand chisels, rasps (files) and hammers. They will polish their piece by hand sanding, using rough to fine sandpaper. They will work directly with the shape of the stone to draw out their form. The students will allow the form to emerge rather than imposing a preconceived idea. The students also experience resistance with the hard stone and learn how to meet it and form it into a work of art.

Essential Responsibilities

Teach skills needed to carve and chisel alabaster stone.

Provide instruction by which students learn to create concave and convex surfaces.

Teach students to allow the form to emerge rather than imposing a preconceived idea.

Lead students to find an intentional form in “one breath” rather than a six-sided form.

Instruct students to finish their form by eliminating blemishes and polishing it to a shine.

Demonstrate and teach students to practice presence and conscious action.

Engage the students’ will and intellect.

Instruct students in safety, and proper care and use of tools and equipment

Organize supplies in storage areas and care for materials, equipment, and tools

Evaluate each student’s performance and growth in knowledge and aesthetic understandings, and prepare reports at the conclusion of the course.

Education and Qualifications

Education in Arts

A minimum of four years of teaching experience is preferred

A love of adolescents

Demonstrated ability to work well with students and colleagues

A strong commitment to equity and inclusion

Demonstrated teaching capacity in blacksmithing

Waldorf teaching experience and and/or training, a plus

Work Setting

High School art studio–inside/outside

Salary, Hours, and Benefits

This position will be a part time hourly position daily from 3/31/25-4/25/25

Studio Classes - paid at hourly rate: $45 to $75 per hour

Colorado Paid Sick Leave - 1 hour for each 30 hours worked - up to 48 hours per year

This is a part time position - no additional benefits are offered at this time

Physical Requirements

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the Essential Duties and Responsibilities of this job. While performing the duties of this job, the employee must be able to perform:

Sitting and standing for class presentations

Lift 25 pounds, bending, stretching

Mobility to move about the classroom and walking to buildings throughout our 12 acre campus

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform essential functions.

Shining Mountain Waldorf School is fully committed to Equal Employment Opportunity and to attracting, retaining, developing and promoting the most qualified employees without regard to their race, religion, gender, gender identity, disability, familial status, sexual orientation or national or ethnic origin, citizenship status, veteran status, or any other characteristic prohibited by state or local law. We are dedicated to providing a work environment free from discrimination and harassment, where employees are treated with respect and dignity.

Interested candidates should send a letter of interest and intent, resume, brief biography, and three references including current employer to hrmgr@smwaldorf.org.