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About
Cecilia (Freeman) Koester, M.Ed.
Cecilia (Freeman) Koester, M. Ed., is internationally
known for her work with children and adults labeled as having autism,
hyperactivity, Attention Deficit Disorder, or severe handicaps. She
has created a movement-based program specifically designed for teachers
and parents who work with this special-needs population. Over a two-year
period, Koester journaled her experiences as a teacher in a public
school
classroom, drawing out the gifts of eleven children who had complex
developmental needs. The result is the remarkable and provocative book
‘I am the Child.’ Since publishing the book
Koester has taught workshops throughout the U.S. and Singapore.
Based on Brain Gym, Koester’s approach
with children and adults that have multiple challenges is simple and
straightforward.
Cecilia
talks about Cecilia
My fifth grade teacher used to sing to me, “How do you solve a
problem like Cecilia?” And then while learning to build wooden
boats at the Rockport Apprenticeshop in Maine, almost 25 years later,
the other apprentices used to sing the same song to me. What is it about
Cecilia that causes people to smile and sing and wonder about her inquisitiveness?
I came from a family of eight children. Mom left when I was 3 years
old and so I was raised by my alcoholic Dad; and more accurately by
my brothers and sisters, and so I became a survivor. In reality my passion
and enthusiasm for life was never squashed. When I was in the fifth
grade, I had a wonderful teacher—Sister Pauline Marie—who
influenced me greatly. She was an inspiring woman who always asked her
students to find their greatest heart’s desire…to follow their
dreams…to do the necessary work to become a genuine human being,
so as to be of service to others. Sister Pauline exemplified her own
favorite saying: “Actions speak louder than words.”
Sister Pauline invited me to look beyond the circumstances of my family
life, and in responding to her invitation I began a lifelong journey
inward.
I questioned everything. I wanted life to be less of a struggle: I wondered
how I could change myself to become “like everybody else,”
and wondered why life felt so hard for me when people all around me
seemed to be enjoying it, or at least having an easier time.
At seventeen, in the midst of all these questions and this search for
a purpose in life, I took a summer job in a pickle factory. There I
met John Mildrew, a kind man who, like Sister Pauline Marie, had great
enthusiasm for life. He was a high school physics and calculus teacher
who was working a summer factory job. In his conversations with me,
Mr. Mildrew offered me the gift of believing in myself. He helped me
to see that each day brings a very blessed opportunity; and he helped
me to expand my view of the world. So, with John Mildrew’s steadfast
encouragement, my fifth-grade dream of becoming a teacher resurfaced.
I spent the next two years working as a legal secretary to pay my college
expenses. I wanted to bring to fruition the seed planted by Sister Pauline
and nurtured by Mr. Mildrew. I wondered if I could bring all my life
experiences—including the challenges—to a classroom. Maybe
I could affect children in the same way that those two dedicated teachers
had affected me: with hope, love, and encouragement. And so I received
the necessary education and began teaching.
My first five years in special education brought much satisfaction,
yet on the whole they left me feeling disheartened. I had overidealized
a career as a teacher, thinking I could touch the life of every child
as profoundly as my fifth-grade teacher had touched my own life. At
the end of those five years, I left the teaching profession to turn
my energies to other endeavors.
In the midst of these varied career experiences, I found myself still
searching for happiness and inner peace, so I retreated from the world
at a place called Gentle Wind in Kittery, Maine. Through this retreat
experience, I began to be able to accept myself for who I am and to
work with the personal resources available to me. It’s difficult
to put into words the quantum leap in awareness that I was able to take.
The Gentle Wind Project continues to be the focal point of my ability
to grow into a self-actualized human being who invites the spirit of
truth and practicality into my everyday life.
I now continue to offer to challenged children and adults, a space—not
an actual place, rather an opportunity that we share in one another’s
presence—where we each can grow. This space is similar to the one
offered me while I was on retreat at Gentle Wind. It is a space that
is sacred, where each can explore, live in peace, and come to discover
his or her inner self while living in this tumultuous world.
In both my private consultations and while teaching workshops or doing
presentations, I hold the intention of doing my best to create this
kind of gentle, open environment where everyone can learn how to learn.
The Brain Gym program is the ideal resource to draw from in creating
this kind of environment, for it honors the learner at any level of
progress and addresses the physical comfort and ease of learning as
requisite to mental performance. The simple Brain Gym activities also
give me a way to address my own fears and learning blocks, thus modeling
the self-actualizing behaviors I would like my students to discover
in themselves.
I have created, wherever I go in the world, an ongoing workshop where
children and adults are invited to grow to their greatest personal potential.
I believe that if I have a story to share with you that will assist
you in understanding or accepting how you “be” in the world,
then I shall share this story with you, from my heart. I grow as I see
myself reflected in the many faces in the class and life is much easier
when I am able to accept myself for who I am, and when I take the time
to ponder how I can best gather resources to do my own small part in
making a difference in another person’s life. I have learned the
importance of acceptance. When I acknowledge and accept people and circumstances
just as they are, I see that I have empathy, for myself and for others,
a love of learning and a willingness to be in the process—whatever
that process may be. Then I can truly be open to the continual opportunities
for learning that is offered to me. I have deep gratitude for the many
lessons and the sharing that so many people have heartfully shared with
me. I invite you to be present in life, to be present with another human
being. The miracle is not in walking on water, the miracle is in being
present for another human being. And as the Orian Mountain Dreamer so
eloquently stated, “It doesn’t interest me how old you are
[or what kind of ability or disability you have] I want to know if you
will risk looking like a fool, for love, for your dreams, for the adventure
of being alive.”
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