SHEILA GALVEZ

Sheila believes that learning never stops, and that everything and everyone around us are our teachers. Nature, art, the outdoors, beaches, photography, children, teaching, learning new things, traveling, reading, writing, dance and music are her passions and inspirations.

Sheila grew up in the province of Negros. When she was little, she loved to run and play in the garden, climb trees, play hide and go seek, tag, tumba preso, patintero or tubiganay outdoors, draw, or read story books from the school library. She loved art and scribbled drawings on the sides of her notebooks and school books while listening to her teachers in class. Art and dance classes, softball, volleyball, badminton, girl scouts, baking, listening to music with friends, writing, reading books and collecting poems and inspirational verses kept her busy during her teen age years. She toured several countries in Europe right after her High School graduation, and loved the visits to museums and historical places. She lived in Manila during her college years, career and subsequent marriage.

After finishing an Art degree, Sheila worked as an artist at a newly established advertising firm; a kindergarten and art teacher at a neighborhood school in Makati; an art and art history college teacher at the college where she finished her Art and Advertising degree; and then she joined the corporate world as an Executive Assistant to the head of a Marketing Department at a large local bank; an Employee and Community Relations Manager at the Human Resources Department of another large local bank; and a Corporate Communications Coordinator at a large local conglomerate.

She worked at her husband’s office after she got married, and met Waldorf education at the Manila Waldorf School in Quezon City, where her eldest child was a student at the Parent-Toddler class of Bella Tan. After two years at the Manila Waldorf School, Sheila met the founders and pioneers of Acacia Waldorf School at the Secret Garden, which began at the home of her sister in law in the South. All of Sheila’s children became students at the Secret Garden, and then at Acacia School’s pioneer classes from Parent-Toddler and Kindergarten all the way up to Upper School. Her

children have completed their Upper School at Acacia and are now in their 20’s, pursuing their own careers.

Sheila was invited to teach at Acacia’s Kindergarten when her youngest child was nine years of age. She worked at various posts at Acacia School. She was a Main Teacher at the Grade School, helped establish the Upper School together with teachers and parents ten years ago, and was also an Upper School Coordinator and Sponsor Teacher.

In 2018, Sheila took a few years hiatus from teaching to manage her husband’s office in Makati after her husband passed away in 2017. This school year 2022-2023, Sheila returned to work at Acacia School as an assistant teacher at the Kindergarten. She assists in reading and art classes of Class 3, is a COT Representative to the Parent Council, does book studies with Lower School, and organizes Waldorf Essentials talks for parents and faculty.

Sheila has been active at the school’s College of Teachers (COT), Executive Committee (EXCOM) and Board of Trustees (BOT).

Sheila attended a lot of Waldorf teacher trainings in the country and abroad, including a seminar by German mentor Horst Hellmann at the Manila Waldorf School; Waldorf Asian Teacher Training with mentors from the Netherlands in Bangkok, Thailand; RStep’s Early Childhood Education courses in Makati twice in a row; and the Grade School Teacher Training of Gamot Cogon Institute with German mentor Elisabeth Voss in Iloilo City.

She attended two Kolisko conferences at Cultural Center of the Philippines and one at St. Scholastica’s College in Manila; as well as several art workshops of American Waldorf Art teacher Van James in Iloilo, Makati, and Pampanga; Eurythmy workshops of German Eurythmist Tanya Baumgarten in Makati; an Upper School Physics workshop with German mentor Froilan Osswald and Waldorf Office Administration seminar with German mentor Nana Goebel at an International Waldorf teacher conference at Simeotech in Quezon City; a Parcifal art workshop by Iris Sullivan at Acacia School, a biography workshop at a local Waldorf teachers conference at University of the Philippines in Quezon City; and a Middle School and Upper School International teacher conference in Taikura, New Zealand.

She has attended all the yearly Asian Teacher Training conferences given by Waldorf school mentors from the Netherlands at Acacia Waldorf School. Her most recent Waldorf teacher trainings this school year 2022-2023 included a Maths Workshop by Netherlands mentor Paul van Meuren; and online zoom teacher workshops from Nurturer Studio in India; English Language workshops by European mentors Martyn Rawson, Sven Saar and Kevin Avison; and Lesson Planning and Implementation workshops also by European mentors Alan Swindell and Sven Saar of Waldorf Institute Direct.

Sheila has a Masters in Art Education from the University of the Philippines in Quezon City. She completed her Degree in Art in Advertising at College of the Holy Spirit in Manila. She was a Deans lister and received a Gold Medal for Leadership for her work as Editor in Chief of her Art college newsletter. She completed her Upper School, Elementary and Primary School at St. Scholastica’s Academy in Bacolod City, where she won First Place in a Drawing contest during her Senior Year, and Second Place in a national Folk Dance competition in her Junior year, wherein she and her schoolmates represented their school at a provincial meet amongst many local private and public schools in the province.