By Daniel Rouse

What’s it is like for children to grow up on Waldron Island in the 21st century? Young people have lived on the island for generations. Indigenous people raised their children here for millennia coming seasonally to harvest food from the sea. Early homesteaders worked long hours providing for their families’ needs and children historically participated in that work. But of course children will still find fun even in the harshest of conditions. One Waldron elder remembers having competitions with her siblings to see who could last the longest staying barefoot into winter. Once, she ran barefoot to school in the snow stopping to put her feet into fresh steaming cow pies to warm her feet. Oh to be a kid growing up on Waldron!

I recently sat down with the kids at the school and asked a few questions, to try to get an idea of what it must feel like to be a child on Waldron. One question I asked, was “How is living here on this island different from living on the mainland?” One student put it simply, “There are no paved roads. There is no grid, and there are no stores outside of the farm stands.” Another student said, “There are a lot of wood stoves in people’s houses, and there are mostly outhouses instead of indoor bathrooms.” Other comments included, “I don’t have cellphone service everywhere I go.” “There are no school buses.”

Living “off grid” can be challenging at times, but these Waldron children seem to take that in stride. Travel to and from the island is always weather related. When you need to delay a departure or an arrival due to rough seas or high winds, it isn’t always fun and can be frustrating. One student said, “Sometimes travel plans can get messed up.” But children absorb the inconveniences as much as adults.

These young people are being raised in a tight knit community which cares about preservation of the environment and sustainable ways of living. The more I have talked with the children, the more I realize that those community values, combined with the surrounding forest of Douglas fir, big leaf maple, madrone, and red cedar, make for a bountiful and vibrant life. In addition to the kind neighbors who watch out for each other, we are blessed with amazing birds (great horned owls, bald eagles, shore birds and song birds), and the Salish Sea resident populations of seals, whales, a myriad of crustaceans, mollusks, and fish. It got me thinking about how a community of people strive to limit their carbon footprint and maintain the health of the surrounding environment — all while raising the next generation of caring souls.

What do all humans need in order to feel safe and secure? We all have basic needs of food, clothing, and shelter. We need ways to keep warm, ways to procure water, and ways to assure health and safety. The island community works hard to create and maintain a safety net which includes response to medical emergencies and wildfires. Regular trainings in First Aid and fire response help keep us on our toes. The adult community is responsible for systems that provide such care and safety. Without a doubt, the kids I talked with feel that safety and security. They have what they need, and the island is what they know.

One of the differences between here and the mainland, is that you need to plan ahead. Unlike the mainland, or even the three biggest islands in the San Juans, life here is not centered around the automobile. We are not an island of paved roads, sidewalks, and driveways. You can’t just hop in the car and drive to the grocery store. And typically, everything consumed on the island comes from the island itself or arrives via the water.

So what do the kids think about basic needs?

Food

“Most of our food either comes from shopping off island or the farm stands on Waldron.”

“We get fresh food from the garden.”

“My family gets food from our grandparents’ farm.”

“We get food from the co-op and sometimes, it’s delivered.”

“My family cans stuff, like tomato sauce, green beans, apple sauce, and jam.”

“We freeze berries in the summer to thaw and eat them over the winter.”

Clothing

Although there are people on the island who spin, weave, and knit, and others who sew clothes, most people get their clothing from shopping on the mainland or ordering items online. Boots, rain gear, and lots of layers keep the kids dry and warm. In an effort to keep the school floor clean, the teachers and students take their shoes off — upon arrival. It is fun to notice that both teachers and students sometimes end up wearing similar socks. But during late spring, summer, and fall, there are plenty of bare feet!

Shelter

Homes on the island range from old log cabins, to modern tiny houses. New construction happens every now and then and frequently lumber is milled on-island from the plentiful stands of fir and cedar. There has been a long tradition of milling lumber on the island. Otherwise, there are plenty of barge runs which carry lumber truck deliveries. The school was establish in 1897. The current building itself was built in the 1920’s and consists of two large rooms, a library, office, and kitchen. The solar panels on the roof offer an interesting juxtaposition with the 19th century concept of the one-room schoolhouse. There are outhouses on Waldron, as well as indoor bathrooms. The school has outhouses and it’s just a fact of life for many families who don’t have septic systems. The electricity on the island is mostly generated by solar power. The only time when it doesn’t come from the sun is when you need to charge your batteries with a propane or gas-powered generator. The kids I talked with talked about wood stoves keeping them warm in the winter. The school is currently heated by propane stoves.

Chores, Free Time, and Play

Many children have chores. Although setting the table, helping prepare food, clearing dishes from the dinner table, etc. happen everywhere with children’s help, chores on Waldron might be more unique. Here they might include efforts to help keep the home fires burning. Some mentioned making kindling and keeping the firewood box full. Others talked about their parents feeding the fire, while at least one child said it was her responsibility to feed the fire. Gardening is another way kids participate, not to mention farm chores like feeding and watering animals, and collecting eggs.

What about free time? Listing a variety of things one can spend time doing, the kids shared the following favorites:

“Exploring the woods and the shoreline.”

“Messing around with boats.”

“Sewing”

“Hiking in the Preservation Trust lands.”

“Picking salmon berries.”

“I can wander off by myself and ride my motorbike.”

“Reading”

“Thinking”

“Hanging out with friends.”

“Riding bikes and scooters.”

“Ice skating on ponds in the winter.”

“Playing soccer.”

“Piano and violin lessons.”

One child shared the fact that she can “explore whenever she wants.”

Another child said, “Because of where we live, I can venture into the wilderness more than most people can.”

The school frequently hosts activities and outings with student from the other outer islands — Shaw, Decatur, and Stuart. These other “remote and necessary” schools are also small. It benefits everyone when these kids have a chance to be together. Attending community events is also a fun pastime. May Day, Easter-egg hunting, a visit with Santa who arrives on the Santa Ship, Christmas caroling, Halloween parade, school events like Pizza & Poetry, and Apple Day when the community turns out for cider pressing, the Solstice bonfire, the annual Craft Fair, Pancake Breakfast, and even the occasional contra dance. There is a lot to do on the island!

Finally, one of the things that I believe makes life special on Waldron is that young ones have so much experience in craft making and life skills. Parent volunteers take time out of their days to help with school curriculum. We have resident artists involve them in projects like building paper mache planets during the study of the solar system, poets who teach poetry, ceramists who help the kids make special clay tiles, electrical engineers who teach about sustainable energy, solar and hydrogen power, sailors who teach sailing, weavers who teach the kids how too make felt from island wool, ornithologists who teach bird identification, and ecologists who help the children understand invasive species.

Growing up on Waldron means growing up in a thriving community where your classroom isn’t limited to the school building. The island is the classroom — the forest, the pastures, the shoreline, and the water. Growing up on Waldron instills confidence in task mastery, tool use, and crafting. But more than anything, growing up on Waldron allows for creativity and new ways of looking at the world. Where else in the world can you have a student decide that he doesn’t want to use any fossil fuels in his movements and transportation on the island. When asked how long he hopes to walk and ride as he move about the island, his answer is, “As long as possible.”

I might note that living on Waldron affords life in the slow lane. Often kids can be over scheduled with too many activities or “enrichment” experiences. Island life offers a healthy limiting effect so that while you make choices about how to spend time outside of school, you don’t find kids stressed out by too many things to do. We are lucky to live in a place that allows for unstructured play and a pace of life that stimulates creativity and groundedness. The kids here have agency. They also have time to think. Parents work hard to care for the needs of the children and the wider community works hard to embrace the needs of everyone.

Waldron Island School