Page 4 - MidWeek Honolulu - April 19, 2023

4 APRIL 19, 2023
Down Syndrome Not A Setback As Multi-talented Student Defies Expectations
FROM PAGE 1
my daughter’s teacher, An- nie Ushiroda. She looked at me and said, ‘Your daughter is magnificent — articulate and smart,’ ” Ruckmann shares. “The Maʻemaʻe principal told us that our daughter would go to col- lege someday. These con- versations reinforced our conviction in Ellen’s capa- bilities.”
her favorite part of partic- ipating in the school spell- ing bee was listening to her friends’ cheers.
“We had the belief right from the start that the sky would be the limit for her,” says Ruckmann.
“A Waldorf school nur- tures students finding their strengths in a beautiful way,” Ruckmann illuminates. Ruckmann also joined Ho- nolulu Waldorf School this past August as a lead teach- er and high school director, tasked with relaunching the upper school program.
After taking Ellen home to New Hampshire from the Scranton, Pennsylvania, hospital where she was born, Bruch soon accepted a Celt- ic language professorship in Germany, where the couple enjoyed strolling with baby Ellen along the Rhine River.
Now, Ellen is at Honolulu Waldorf School.
An opportunity for Ruck- mann to be an administrator at an Iowa Quaker school lured the family back to the United States, and Ellen en- rolled in a preschool “with all the other kids,” Ruck- mann describes.
Ellen Rückmann-Bruch at Honolulu Waldorf School’s library. Rückmann-Bruch’s interests include spelling, poetry and running marathons. ANTHONY CONSILLIO PHOTO
Ruckmann and Bruch were offered administrator and teacher roles, respectively,
“When I joined Wal- dorf in August, I loved the school,” Ellen articulates. “I am learning a lot — math, economics, geography, hula, German, English, knitting ... This is the most fun school I have ever been to.
“By nature, Waldorf ed- ucation is meeting children where they are at,” describes Honolulu Waldorf’s head of school, Suzy Travis. “Stu- dents are allowed the time to do their work, find their strengths and produce their best quality.
Then, they had the chance to live in “the most beau- tiful place,” according to Ruckmann — Hawai‘i.
at Pacific Buddhist Acade- my.
grade at Maʻemaʻe Elemen- tary School.
“The best thing is my friends; they are really nice and accept me for who I am,” adds Ellen, mentioning
“I have learned to never make assumptions about what a student can do.”
Ellen enrolled in first
“I’ll never forget meeting
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Valid at 1618 South King Street, Honolulu, 96826 PLU: 4735