Grady Keystone earned degrees in Zoology and Art from the University of California at Santa Cruz in the ‘70s and later trained at the Art Students’ League in New York City.
His paintings and murals can be seen in and around Honoka’a and on the mainland.
After meeting Monika in Hawaii, Grady decided to focus on teaching. He received his Waldorf certification in 2009 upon completing an intensive practicum in Edinburgh, Scotland. He brings to the classroom over 40 years of experience as an art teacher and art therapist, singer/songwriter, ambulance driver, woodworker, white-water rafting guide, and outdoor experiential instructor for troubled teens.
Grady accompanied his first graduating class through all eight years and helped
facilitate smooth transitions into various high schools on the Big Island. After taking a sabbatical year to work on music, Grady started with a second group of children and took them through 5 th grade. Upon retiring, that class continued through middle school with Monika as their class teacher. They are now entering their final year at Keystone.
Grady still contributes to the life of the school, teaching special subjects like visual arts (painting, drawing, sculpting), music (singing, song writing, guitar), and illustrated creative writing.
When he’s not teaching, Grady enjoys writing a collection of tales based on his
life experiences and recording his third CD – a children’s album inspired by his many
students.
Monika Hennig has twenty years of experience as a Waldorf teacher, having led two classes through all eight grades. Passionate and enthusiastic, she is an engaging storyteller, weaving together history, science, music, literature, and art so that a new generation of children might take joy in their education and be inspired to life-long
learning. Monika provides a balanced, truly liberal arts education that recognizes and enlivens the soul of the growing child while engaging the student in meaningful and challenging academic work. Her graduates exude confidence and excel in their continuing educational journeys.
Background and Education:
Monika graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of California at Santa Cruz with a degree in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology and minor in Music. She later combined her artistic and
scientific passions, receiving an MFA in film production from the University of Southern California. The Alfred P. Sloan foundation supported several of her science-themed scripts, and “Chasing Patterns”, a family-friendly short about a little boy who doesn’t like math until discovering the beauty of patterns in nature, went on to be distributed by the Spiritual Cinema Circle. Upon moving to Hawaii, Monika completed her Waldorf teacher training through the Honolulu Waldorf School.
As a child, Monika attended several Waldorf schools from 4th grade through high school and now makes it her mission to pass on the wonder and breadth of Waldorf education to new generations.
Growing and Evolving in a Changing World:
Having experienced Waldorf education from the perspective of both student and teacher, Monika continues to celebrate tradition while navigating the challenges of our rapidly changing world. Though she appreciates the many positive contributions of the
computer age, she prefers to keep screens entirely outside the classroom and preferably, out of the home life of the developing and impressionable child. She emphasizes the importance of direct human interaction over social media, which she fears erodes the will and focus of her students and the social cohesion amongst peers.
She deems it essential for children to acquire strong language and social skills, a dependable conscience and moral compass, and a degree of self-reliance and mastery over one’s own self. Without discipline, there is no freedom, and that discipline begins
at home.
Monika is entirely devoted to the class in her care, pledging to stay with each incoming group of children for all eight grades, and commits to making her classroom accessible to everyone, regardless of financial circumstances.