The Greenwood School Founders Page: Tom and Andrea Scheidler

01/31/2022

RIP Tony Barrand 1945-2022
Some Greenwood students in the 1999 film production of my play, THE UNICORN had the privilege of working with this folk legend.

I asked my long-time friends , Dr Tony Barrand and his wife, Margaret Dale to coach a group of students through the intricate MORRIS SWORD DANCE at the beginning of the film. Tony also set the tune for “Old Tosspot” , a drinking song performed by two of the knights.

Our student performance is recorded in his contributions in the American Folk Life center at the Library of Congress in Washington DC

The world will miss this glorious human being, gifted scholar and performer.

01/17/2022

“When behavior problems are situational, the situation is the problem.”

- Andréa Scheidler

11/20/2021

"God does not need religion. People do."
-Thomas D. Scheidler

I met Tom four years after he had left the monastery. Tom had been in St Meinrad, and Duns Scotus seminaries studying to become a Franciscan for twelve years. He left because he wanted to be more engaged in the world. Author Richard Rohr remembers Tom as the brother who introduced him to the writings of Teilhard de Chardin.

When Tom and I met, it was love at first sight. We shared a spiritual path. I had been working with children who had learning and behavioral issues. He had been in Harlem helping Latino people to find jobs, then took a position as a counselor for the physically disabled.

The year we were married Tom was working on a project through the Art Students League of New York that brought young ghetto artists from the inner city to Vermont to study with nationally recognized artists.

In 1974, Tom and I began our work with an amazing group of young students who had been designated as "learning disabled". A University of Maine study found that the primary determinant of success in school was a sense of belonging. We believed that mainstream schools were "disabling" for bright students when they were isolated from their peers (due to a lag in learning rote skills) and when their very real aptitudes went unrecognized and unchallenged.

In 1978, we founded The Greenwood School in Vermont as a unique pre-prep program for boys. Greenwood was not a "special school" but a junior boarding school with a tutorial component. We retooled the "standard" curriculum to create an enriched and structured learning environment that would encourage our students to engage, express and show their very real intelligences, while supporting them with individualized instruction in specific areas of academic need.

Behind our work with these great young minds at our Greenwood School was our conviction that every human being has genius and purpose; that everyone at birth is a miracle of life. In our many graduates, we are so satisfied.

We are born into a garden so that we can learn how to... become gardeners! It is so simple really. If our words become weeds, we must correct the soil. We must cultivate what is needed in the depths of the heart : A sense of belonging...connection. Love.

We are all born connected. Our strong egos shift, sift and separate. Isn't it easy to forget the truth of who we are?
We don't just all "matter", we all belong with each other here as creative and productive beings sharing life on our precious Earth.

"God does not need religion. People do."

Oh,Tom, how I miss you! Giving thanks through the tears.

11/17/2020

I got this wonderful message from one of our earliest faculty members, Jim Di**le:

“Once again I find myself thanking you and Tom for starting me on this path of teaching. Over the decades I’ve taught such a great and wonderful variety of students from different learning styles, countries from Senegal and Hong Kong, wealthy children, ..... and now out in the middle of the western landscape of Colorado with rancher and coal miner children.
Without the skills, foundation, and guidance that you both provided me, I would not be the teacher that I am today.

I have no idea what my curriculum will be at this school but I can whip up a lesson plan and do teacher education modules at the drop of a hat and have been doing. I believe they will have me do the entire middle social science, tutor and substitute for a variety of other teachers. You’ll laugh, I even taught Spanish and French class last year.

I don’t even know what I’ll be paid but teaching is in my blood and I’ve never been happier. My classroom view towards the mountains with grazing horses is a great way to start and end my class day.

The Prometheus project technology is amazing and I’ve totally embraced this aspect of teaching over the years that this next step is a huge leap for classroom teachers. So, I thank you a million times over for this gift that you gave and shared with me!

Love to you, your friend, Jim”

07/20/2020

Saddened to hear of Joy’s death today.
Tom and I counted on her many skills during pivotal founding years at Greenwood. Always exacting and knowledgeable. A special friend and community member. I stayed in touch and worked with her to promote my studio in Brattleboro. Gone too soon. Thank you for your support and care, dear Joy.

GUILFORD — Joy Wallens-Penford, who died last month at the age of 72 after a brief battle with uterine cancer, is known for her many contributions to the community. Most notably, she …

03/07/2020

Two years ago today at 1:30 PM in the afternoon, alumnus Mark Garcia visited Tom in hospital. He spoke with Tom and gave him words of thanks on behalf of all the Greenwood alumni.
I am deeply grateful.

Tom died at 2 o’clock in the afternoon
on March 7, 2018. We had been together in life and in love for 50 years.

My love and gratitude to all alumni who took the time to call and to thank Tom over the years. I am thankful for the care,support and for the updates on your own lives that have been shared here on Facebook. My love to you all

06/26/2019

06/17/2019

Father’s Day 2019.
Remembering you every time I look at our sons, our students , the empty chair, the extra pillow.

Re-membering your ready laugh. The sparkle of your eyes in wordless moments. Your wisdom. Your patience and willingness to endure.

We loved long, shared ideas and worked hard on ourselves together.
Beloved man.
The best of your kind because you were noble in character,
faithful in intention,
studied your faults,
encouraged others to grow.
You were often generous.
Spiritually focused.
Fatherly and strong.
A provider.

I was blessed to share parenting our sons with you to the last.
Ever your wife, dear Tom. A grown woman, yet how I miss how small my hand felt in yours...

05/26/2019

Dear Friends,

Our friend, Rob Mermin, founder of Circus Smirkus Is simply a marvelous, gifted and dedicated person who deserves support for all the work he has done with youth, for the work he wants to continue to do since his diagnosis of Parkinson's.

Like my late husband, Tom, Rob is not stopping his efforts because of this disorder, but is incorporating it into an active effort to help others as he helps himself.

I met Rob back in the mid 1980's, before Circus Smirkus. I wanted to do a circus with my students and I brought him on for help with the clown acts. I researched for months, called in my niece who was a theater major and on our ever creative faculty at the school. Students had a hand in creating their own acts. From acrobats, to magicians, to clowns, our Greenwood School students did an amazing performance that was two years running, underwritten by outside grants. As an advisor, Rob was an important part of our success.

Circus Smirkus continues and has roots not only in Rob's dream, but in our Greenwood School and in Pine Hill School ( where I did my internship for my Master's degree from Antioch New England).

No one knows better than I do that Parkinson's is a disease to be tackled and lived with joyfully and intelligently with love, humor and endurance.

Please consider supporting Rob in his important work.
I have. I do.

Small donations add up!

Rob Mermin is on the frontier of a brave new endeavor. He needs our help.
Please make a one time or monthly supporting gift through Patreon.

Become a patron of Rob Mermin today: Read posts by Rob Mermin and get access to exclusive content and experiences on the world’s largest membership platform for artists and creators.

05/07/2019

Thanks both to its accessibility and its stunning views, New Hampshire’s Mount Monadnock is one of the most popular hikes in the world.

04/27/2019

Our founding trustees gifted us with these shirts in June of 1978. I was 29 and Tom was 38. Amazing! Ever grateful to Henry and Elizabeth Hulbert, Mark Anton,Mignon Kolb, Ed and Lucy Cole, Pearl and Lionel Bernier, Alice Garside, Elsie Rak, Ross Stevenson, and so many others that secured the foundation for our school. An astounding , gifted and supportive group of wise professionals and student parents, we could not have had our campus ready in just three months, without you!