Paul Haluszczak is Tending the Spring

Six years ago, I became a Springhouse Trustee two months into a global pandemic. I didn't know what I was getting into. I just knew that something about this small learning community in Floyd, Virginia felt alive in a way that most things didn't.

I've been trying to describe that aliveness ever since.

I've told the story of students building wooden bridges and a twelve-sided outdoor deck — learning physics and math and environmental science not from a textbook, but from the earth beneath their feet.

I've told the story of sitting in Defense of Learning panels, listening to teenagers describe — without any prompting — exactly where they excelled, where they struggled, and where they wished they'd given more. The self-awareness in that room would humble most adults.

I've even told the story of dancing. Twice. In one week. Which, if you know me, you know is nothing short of a miracle.

What I haven't said plainly enough is this: Springhouse didn't just bring me on as a Trustee. It gave me a community. A place where, even in the hardest stretches of the last six years, I could walk in — virtually or in person — and feel like life was still worth leaning into.

That's what they do. For Trustees. For staff. For the young people who show up every day to a school that actually believes they matter. And increasingly, for communities around the world who are looking to redesign education from the roots up.

This June, Springhouse needs to raise $120,000 to meet their annual operating budget. Every year, I run a personal fundraiser to do my small part.

This year, I'm trying something different.

I'm not focused on the dollar amount. I'm focused on the number of people who show up.

My goal is 100 donors — 100 people who are willing to say, with whatever they can give, "I believe this place matters."

A gift of any size counts. Five dollars counts. Twenty-five dollars counts. What I'm after is a community of people standing behind this work.

If you've ever believed that education could be something more than it is — more human, more alive, more connected to who we actually are — Springhouse is proof that it can be. They've been doing it for 12 years in a small town in Virginia, and the ripples are reaching Brazil, South Africa, Belgium, and beyond.

Will you be one of my 100?

GIVE TODAY — and if you're able, share this page with one person who you think would want to know this place exists.

Every donor makes a difference. Every single one.