Page 1 - MidWeek East - May 3, 2023

TO THE BEAT OF A DRUM
Pālolo Elementary school students play the drums. SEE PAGE 3
SOUP FOR THE BOWL
Maile Andrus-Price shares her gnocchi soup recipe. SEE PAGE 8
East O‘ahu Waldorf Student Excels
A PUBLICATION OF
AN EDITION OF
(From left) Suzy Travis, head of school for Honolulu Waldorf School, Rudiger Rückmann, Ellen Rückmann-Bruch and Benjamin Bruch pose for a photo on the campus of Honolulu Waldorf School.
ANTHONY CONSILLIO PHOTO
EBY STEPHANIE LOPES
ast Oʻahu’s Waldorf School sev- enth-grader Ellen Rückmann-Bruch is exceptional.
She won the school’s spelling bee this past February, placed eighth at the 2023 Honolu- lu District Spelling Bee at Stevenson Middle School, participated in three virtual Honolu- lu Marathons and published her haiku poems in a local publication the past three years — among many other achievements.
And, she has Down Syndrome.
“A few months before Ellen was born, we found out she had an extra chromosome,” recollects dad Rüdiger Rückmann, who re- sides in Mānoa with husband, Benjamin Bruch and their daughter, Ellen.
SEE PAGE 4
“Ben and I were able to meet families who had children with Down Syndrome, and these parents suggested setting the bar high, making sure Ellen would be in the regular classroom when she attended school,” Rück- mann remembers. “When specialists visited Ellen in the hospital, they noted she was alert, taking everything in.”
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