Phil’s Blog
Just another Blog.lrei.org weblog

Dear LREI Families,

Thank you to those who were able to join us last Wednesday for our Building for Action event. It was wonderful to have so many of you there, along with alumni, past parents and staff, to share in the tremendous support for LREI that was in the room.  For those of you who were not there, you might want to visit our web site, click on the Building for Action button to view much of the information we shared on the 24^th.  If you scroll down to the bottom of the page you can watch the Then and Now slide show that was a crowd favorite at the event.  Or, just click here. 

As you heard last week, or will see on the web site, we announced plans to renovate and green all of the classrooms in the Sixth Avenue buildings over the next few summers—we completed the majority of the middle school classes this summer—and to add a great deal of space to the Charlton Street campus, as well as to renovate current Charlton Street spaces.  This work grows out of the strategic plan created by the Board of Trustees, and a large group of LREI community members, in 2000.  In addition to creating improved spaces for our current student body in the lower, middle and high schools, this campaign will create a larger high school building to provide for the planned increase in the high school student body.  A larger high school student body will be more attractive to many prospective families, will allow for an increasingly academic program and will support our tuition remission program for all three divisions and ongoing increases to faculty salaries and professional development funds. 

In the weeks and months to come there will be many opportunities to learn more about Building for Action.  There will also be opportunities for those who want to join the Building for Action team.  There will be a drop-in information session on the morning of Wednesday, October 8^th from 8:15-9:30, in the Sixth Avenue cafeteria.  I will be available to discuss our goals and to answer any questions you may have. 

I look forward to continuing the conversation. 

Best,

Phil

Dear LREI Community,

I am writing this to you mid-day today, the first day of school. As I write, the upper classes in the high school have been dismissed and the ninth grade is continuing their orientation. The middle school is moving from a morning with a schedule of abbreviated classes to an afternoon filled with family conferences. Our youngest students are all gone for the day, having spent some time in their new classrooms as part of the phase-in schedule and the upper elementary students are enjoying lunch and recess. The past few hours have been filled with excited reunions and the eagerness to return to school that we see each year on this most wonderful of occasions. The school year is off to a terrific start and over the next few days all students will begin their full program.I look forward to sharing their many and varied successes with you.

Of special note, as you have heard, we did significant construction in the middle school and the high school over the summer. I invite you to visit the middle school classrooms which are as functional as they are beautiful. I also extend an invitation to all to attend a gathering on Wednesday, September 24th to hear more about our plans for both sites.

I have attached two letters to this week’s blog. Click here to read a note from Chap, Director of Diversity and Community, reminding families of students new to LREI about our family orientation, LREI 101, which we ask you to attend on Monday, September 8th at 8:45AM. The second is from the parents of a student in our Early Kindergarten introducing their son, who has a physical disability, to the community.

A reminder of a few upcoming events:

Monday, September 8th, from 8:45AM-10:15AM I ask that all new families attend LREI 101, our orientation program for new families. This gathering is an essential component of your entry into the LREI community. We will meet in the Sixth Avenue Cafeteria.Monday, September 8th, 6:00PM, Michael Patrick, ’71, Chair of the LREI Board of Trustees and his wife, Carol Sedwick, invite new families to a reception in their home at 6:00PM, 250 West 94th Street, 15E.Wednesday, September 24th, the LREI Board of Trustees will host an event to share plans for the future of LRIE.  Please plan on attending this evening event.  You will receive an invitation shortly. 

_{Finally, mark your calendar for your child’s curriculum night:}

_{Fours-First Grade—Thursday, October 2nd, 6:00PM (new date)}

Second-Fourth Grade—Tuesday, October 7th, 6:00PM

Middle School—Tuesday, September 16th, 6:30PM (correct date)

High School—Monday, September 22nd, 6:30PM

I look forward to seeing you soon.

Best,

Phil

June 21, 2008

Dear LREI Families,  

The school year is now officially over. The students have left for the summer, the faculty has had its celebratory end-of-year lunch and we have said our goodbyes.  The classrooms have been readied for Summers at LREI, our summer camp, which begins bright and early on Monday morning.  As we look back over the past few weeks, and the whole school year for that matter, there has been no shortage of opportunities to watch our students, your children, at their best.  As always, one of our grandest events was our high school graduation.  Please visit www.lrei.org to see photos of this year’s commencement exercises.   Thank you to all 564 LREI students for your hard work this year. We are very proud of you.  Thank you to each LREI family for all that you have done to support the school and its progressive mission.  We are grateful for your participation. Thank you to the parent reps, committee chairs and the PA Executive Committee.  Thank you to Kasey Picayo, outgoing co-president of the Parents Association. Kasey has been a superb advocate for the school and its families and will, I am sure, continue to be an active and important member of the LREI community.  Another special thank you to Marthe Jocelyn, parent of one of our wonderful seniors, who will be moving away from the school next year.  Marthe, a trustee and member of the LREI community for many years, was one of the founders of the Literary Committee and an active participant in many, many LREI activities and initiatives.  Marthe, thank you for all that you have done and, knowing you, will do in the future. 

To all, have a wonderful summer. 

Best, 

Phil

June 5, 2008 

Dear Lower and Middle School Families, 

As the school year comes to a close, your families are involved in a variety of culminating activities—potlucks, recitals, award ceremonies, performances and concerts.  No doubt about it, LREI is a busy place.  Clearly, the most significant conclusions are filling the lives of the twelfth graders.  In the days to come, the seniors will share their Senior Projects, celebrate their time together at the annual Senior Banquet and participate in our 63^rd Commencement Exercises—tremendously important events in the lives of our seniors and their families.   

While the school year is winding down, this summer is shaping up to be one filled with much excitement.  Only a few days after school ends our summer program, Summers at LREI, begins.  This program, the summer camp and the Summer Institute for middle school aged students, will fill the buildings with activity until the end of July.   

As if that is not enough for one summer, the Sixth Avenue buildings and the Charlton Street building will be undergoing significant work this summer.  Over the next three summers we will be updating, renovating and “greening” all lower and middle school classrooms and offices, as well as a number of the larger, community spaces.  With new lights, floors, paint and cabinetry, at the end of this process the rooms will be brighter with better storage and will be more environmentally responsible.  This summer, the work will begin with the middle school classrooms and the two fourth grade rooms.  In the coming summers, we will pay equal attention to all Sixth Avenue spaces.  All work on the Sixth Avenue campus will be completed in time for school to begin in September. 

Work on the Charlton Street building is part of a larger effort.  In 2003 the Board of Trustees approved a Strategic Plan that called for the high school to grow to 240 students in a site that supported this larger student body and our expanding program. In order to fulfill this plan the School purchased, debt free, the townhouse directly to the west of the 40 Charlton Street building.  The plan is to combine the two buildings into a larger, improved facility.  At a special Board meeting in mid-May the Trustees voted to begin this work this summer.  The work on Charlton Street has started already and will continue through the summer and into the school year.  The more disruptive work will be completed by the time school begins in September.  This project, as I have explained to high school families, will continue throughout the 2008-2009 school year in the rear of the building and in the townhouse adjacent to the high school.    All work on our Charlton Street campus will be completed by September 2009.  While I am not able, now, to share the complete plans as they are still evolving, we are looking forward to doing so in the fall—on September 24^th to be exact.  

We are very excited about the coming months and the improvement that they will bring to our buildings and to the program.  I will send home periodic updates of the projects in both buildings.  Do not hesitate to contact me with any questions you may have.   

Best, Phil

spring

1. the season of the year following winter and characterized by the budding of trees, growth of plants, the onset of warmer weather, etc.
2. the first stage and freshest beginning

culminate        cul-mi-nate

1. to reach the highest point or degree
2. to come to completion; end

Spring has clearly sprung.  The weather is warming, the trees are budding, the ball field is full each afternoon, as are the benches in Little Red Square—with students, parents and faculty taking advantage of the season.  While spring is a moment of new beginnings, as I walk the halls of the three divisions at this time of the year, the more prevalent feeling is that of a beginning of culmination, a coming to completion.  All LREI students and families will have opportunities to participate in or witness these endings in the coming weeks.  Among these events have been or will be:

·        the upcoming middle and high school sports awards ceremonies;

·        the middle school musical, Into the Woods;

·        the first grade Learning Center, Funky Earth Café and block neighborhood;

·        the second grade city constructions;

·        the fourth grade immigration play;

·        the eighth grade Sustainability, Day of Learning.  On this day the eighth graders led workshops for all middle school students dealing with issues of sustainability. They also organized two assemblies featuring outside speakers;

·        the seventh grade trip to Philadelphia and the eighth grade trip to Gettysburg and Washington, DC;

·        the fifth grade Grecian Festival;

·        the seventh grade’s mock Supreme Court hearings;

·        the publication of IE, our literary magazine;

·        Senior Project presentations;

·        and ArtACTION, an exhibit of high school art, organized by senior Ella Suanders-Crivello, that will raise funds for a variety of causes. More information in each division’s blog;

and countless other moments taking place in each classroom and around the City.

For each student there will be many opportunities to demonstrate all that they have learned this year. For older students, there will be tests and quizzes and papers and presentations.  For all there will be projects and events, including those listed above. Clearly, you will be invited to share in your child’s culminating events.  There are also a number of events that are open to the whole community.  Keep your eye on the blogs for more information.  As a preK-12^th grade school, among our most important culminating events are the publication of our college list (we will email it to you next week, once all decisions have been made) and, of course, Commencement—an essential event.  Enjoy these opportunities to celebrate our students’ growth and learning and their many, many successes. 

Happy culmination,

Phil

Dear Families,  I hope this note finds you well and rested after your children’s Spring Break.  I want to use this week’s blog to share a few updates and thoughts.   

• First, it is my pleasure to announce that Sandra “Chap” Chapman will be returning as our Director of Diversity and Community next year.  When Chap began in her current role last July it was as Interim Director of Diversity and Community.  As you know there was a small, dedicated group of parents, teachers and administrators who interviewed a number of candidates and hosted half-day visits by Chap and another finalists.  Thank you to those parents who attended the group interviews and to the members of the PA and the affinity groups who participated in interviews and discussions. In the end, it was clear that Chap was the best candidate and I am thrilled that she will be continuing her work with families, faculty and students in all three divisions. 
• As her first official act, Chap has asked for me to remind you of two events next week—actually one event being offered at two times. We invite you to participate in ”Bringing the Conversation Home: Strategies for Addressing Challenging Diversity Topics Your Child Brings Home,” happening on Tuesday, April 8^th at 8:45AM in the Sixth Avenue cafeteria and Thursday, April 10^th at 6:00PM in the Charlton Street cafeteria. These conversations will focus on real situations that have occurred in LREI homes throughout this past year.  The situations deal with issues of class/wealth, race/ethnicity, gender, and family structure. These have been interesting and fruitful conversations in the past and I encourage you to join in this year.  Please RSVP, particularly for the Thursday evening session, as it will only take place if we are expecting sufficient parent participation.  You can email Chap at schapman@lrei.org or let the receptionists know that you will be attending.
• Over Spring Break 47LREI students traveled overseas on school sponsored trips: 
  • Fifteen eighth graders traveled to France with their French teachers Sharyn Hahn and David Lee.  This group visited Paris, Versailles, took the train (TGV) south to Avignon, and Aix-en-Provence, then off to Nimes, St. Jean de Vence, Monaco, Aise, and Nice. 
  • Nineteen eighth graders traveled to Spain with Gabrielle Keller, Middle School Spanish teacher, Margaret Andrews, middle school math teacher, and Victor Diggs, seventh grade core teacher.  This group went to Madrid and Barcelona, visiting the new Prado, a comprehensive Picasso exhibit at the Reina Sofia and the Sagrada Familia Cathedral as well as strolling, shopping and eating along the Ramblas in Barcelona. 
  • Thirteen high school students visited the Gunter-Stohr-Gymnasium, the school with which we have had an exchange program for the past five years. These students stayed with a host family in Munich, attended school, visited many museums, the Royal Residence and Dachau, as well as reuniting with friends made when the German students visited us in October. Many students traveled with their host families over the Easter weekend.  Some went skiing in Austria and others visited Verona and Venice.   
  • Finally, we are nearing the departure date for seven of our middle school robotics team members and their coaches—Sherezada Acosta, Carin Cohen and Steve Neiman—who will travel to Tokyo for a global robotics tournament.  In the coming days you might see afternoon bake sales that this group is organizing to help pay for some sight seeing excursions and to support the other US team that has been invited to attend this event.  

 It was wonderful to welcome your children back to school on Monday. They all seemed to have grown so much in just two weeks! One of the aspects of the spring that makes it such a fruitful time of the school year is that students fully inhabit their grades. When they entered school in September they were essentially still operating as members of the grade they had left in June. For example, new fifth graders still had one foot firmly planted in the lower school.  Students’ slow journey through the fall and into the winter supported, encouraged, nudged and demanded their maturation into fully-fledged members of their current grade.    Upon returning from a two week break on Monday there was absolutely no part of last year left in them.  We have even started to see glimpses of next year from time to time.  There is a confidence and easiness in the students in the spring; the student’s work, individually and in groups, is graceful and smooth in a way that it was not just a few weeks ago.  Much will be asked of all LREI students in the coming weeks.  The last quarter of the school year will require that the students continue to develop skills and competencies while putting to use all that they have experienced and learned in the past seven months.  Each child will have a number of opportunities to share with their families and the community all of the abilities that are part of their new selves and that will support them as they, in a few short months, take that step into the next set of challenges.   

Best, 

Phil

Dear Families,  I hope this note finds you well and rested after your children’s Spring Break.  I want to use this week’s blog to share a few updates and thoughts.   

• First, it is my pleasure to announce that Sandra “Chap” Chapman will be returning as our Director of Diversity and Community next year.  When Chap began in her current role last July it was as Interim Director of Diversity and Community.  As you know there was a small, dedicated group of parents, teachers and administrators who interviewed a number of candidates and hosted half-day visits by Chap and another finalists.  Thank you to those parents who attended the group interviews and to the members of the PA and the affinity groups who participated in interviews and discussions. In the end, it was clear that Chap was the best candidate and I am thrilled that she will be continuing her work with families, faculty and students in all three divisions. 
• As her first official act, Chap has asked for me to remind you of two events next week—actually one event being offered at two times. We invite you to participate in ”Bringing the Conversation Home: Strategies for Addressing Challenging Diversity Topics Your Child Brings Home,” happening on Tuesday, April 8^th at 8:45AM in the Sixth Avenue cafeteria and Thursday, April 10^th at 6:00PM in the Charlton Street cafeteria. These conversations will focus on real situations that have occurred in LREI homes throughout this past year.  The situations deal with issues of class/wealth, race/ethnicity, gender, and family structure. These have been interesting and fruitful conversations in the past and I encourage you to join in this year.  Please RSVP, particularly for the Thursday evening session, as it will only take place if we are expecting sufficient parent participation.  You can email Chap at schapman@lrei.org or let the receptionists know that you will be attending.
• Over Spring Break 47LREI students traveled overseas on school sponsored trips: 
  • Fifteen eighth graders traveled to France with their French teachers Sharyn Hahn and David Lee.  This group visited Paris, Versailles, took the train (TGV) south to Avignon, and Aix-en-Provence, then off to Nimes, St. Jean de Vence, Monaco, Aise, and Nice. 
  • Nineteen eighth graders traveled to Spain with Gabrielle Keller, Middle School Spanish teacher, Margaret Andrews, middle school math teacher, and Victor Diggs, seventh grade core teacher.  This group went to Madrid and Barcelona, visiting the new Prado, a comprehensive Picasso exhibit at the Reina Sofia and the Sagrada Familia Cathedral as well as strolling, shopping and eating along the Ramblas in Barcelona. 
  • Thirteen high school students visited the Gunter-Stohr-Gymnasium, the school with which we have had an exchange program for the past five years. These students stayed with a host family in Munich, attended school, visited many museums, the Royal Residence and Dachau, as well as reuniting with friends made when the German students visited us in October. Many students traveled with their host families over the Easter weekend.  Some went skiing in Austria and others visited Verona and Venice.   
  • Finally, we are nearing the departure date for seven of our middle school robotics team members and their coaches—Sherezada Acosta, Carin Cohen and Steve Neiman—who will travel to Tokyo for a global robotics tournament.  In the coming days you might see afternoon bake sales that this group is organizing to help pay for some sight seeing excursions and to support the other US team that has been invited to attend this event.  

 It was wonderful to welcome your children back to school on Monday. They all seemed to have grown so much in just two weeks! One of the aspects of the spring that makes it such a fruitful time of the school year is that students fully inhabit their grades. When they entered school in September they were essentially still operating as members of the grade they had left in June. For example, new fifth graders still had one foot firmly planted in the lower school.  Students’ slow journey through the fall and into the winter supported, encouraged, nudged and demanded their maturation into fully-fledged members of their current grade.    Upon returning from a two week break on Monday there was absolutely no part of last year left in them.  We have even started to see glimpses of next year from time to time.  There is a confidence and easiness in the students in the spring; the student’s work, individually and in groups, is graceful and smooth in a way that it was not just a few weeks ago.  Much will be asked of all LREI students in the coming weeks.  The last quarter of the school year will require that the students continue to develop skills and competencies while putting to use all that they have experienced and learned in the past seven months.  Each child will have a number of opportunities to share with their families and the community all of the abilities that are part of their new selves and that will support them as they, in a few short months, take that step into the next set of challenges.   Best, Phil

The following note from Phil was published for the opening celebration of the Visibility: Lesbian and Gay People We Love photo exhibit.  The exhibit is currently up in the Sixth Avenue auditorium and hallway and will be there until Spring Break.  Please feel free to drop in and visit this wonderful show. 

Dear LREI Community,

Thank you for joining us for the opening of this year’s Visibility: Gay and Lesbian People We Love photo exhibit.  I am sorry to miss this wonderful event.  While not here in body, I am with you in spirit and as a fellow supporter of the School’s social justice mission.  This mission was clearly present at the student organized opening at the high school last week.

Thank you to Keith and Kim, to the other members of the LGSA, to the many volunteers and to Chap for the time and energy and care that has gone into creating this show.  Thank you, as well, to all who have contributed photos.  Without your participation and, in many cases, your courage, this show would not be possible.   

We host this exhibit every other year and are often asked the same two questions as we approach the opening.  The first question concerns the goals for the exhibit.  This is an excellent question and one that we spend a good deal of time discussing.  As a school and as a community we need to support colleagues who are not afforded the same rights as others.  LREI has always been active in the fight for equality and social justice.  We host this exhibit to give voice and hope to those who must hide part of themselves from family, friends and colleagues.  I have never had to hide who I love from anyone.  As a matter of fact, society has always encouraged me to be very open about this part of my life—whether when I was in school or now as an adult.  Yet many people risk rejection and injury for sharing this joy with family and friends.  Often, when discussing the visibility exhibit, it is suggested that the prejudice against people who are lesbian or gay does not exist anymore.  Unfortunately this is not so.  Witness the tragic killing of Lawrence King in Oxnard, CA just a few weeks ago.  King, a middle school student, was shot to death in school, reportedly because he was gay. 

The second question often comes from parents of our youngest students.  They ask about our sharing and discussing this exhibit with our youngest students.  As you view the photos in the exhibit a number of themes will emerge for you–dignity, friendship, equality and courage, among others.  But most of all, the theme or feeling or emotion that you will take away from viewing these beautiful photographs is love—love for family and friends and parents and children—and I can think of no reason that, of all things, we should ever question the appropriateness of love, the power of love, the importance of love and the right to love.  This seems to me to be a wonderful topic for discussions with young children, and with people of all ages, for that matter. 

Enjoy the show,

Phil

Dear LREI Community,

Two exciting announcements:

Number 1

As families in the Lower School are aware, we recently completed our search for a new lower school principal.  I am thrilled to share with all members of the LREI community that Namita Tolia will join us on July 1, 2008 as the head of our lower division.  Please click here to read the announcement I sent to lower school families upon Namita’s appointment.  While there will be many occasions to do so in the coming months, I do not want to miss this opportunity to thank Sharon DuPree for the wonderful work she is doing as Interim Lower School Principal. 

I could not be more pleased with the outcome of our search process.  Namita is a warm, smart, thoughtful and passionate person.  The process to select Sharon’s successor was open to all members of the lower school community and included a number of representatives of the middle school, high school and Board of Trustees.   Leading the search was a committee made up of almost half of the lower school faculty.  This group was assisted by an ad hoc Parents Association Advisory Committee that acted as a liaison between the search committee and the parent body.  Each of the four finalists, selected from a pool of 18 first round candidates who, in turn, were selected from the hundreds of resumes we received, met with a large number (over 50) of lower school parents, the advisory committee, Suzanne Cohen—lower school assistant principal, Mark Silberberg and Ruth Jurgensen—the middle and high school principals, a group of fourth graders, a number of trustees, the senior administrative team, the early kindergarten and the entire lower school faculty. After all four finalists had finished their marathon visit, we had a day devoted to gathering feedback from each of the aforementioned groups. This information was added to all that we had received earlier in the process.  As our search drew to a close, the faculty committee and I spent many hours together evaluating our experiences with the four candidates and all that we had learned about these four educators and about the institution over the prior weeks and months.

As I stated earlier, I am so pleased that Namita will be joining us and am sure that when you have a chance to meet her you will be as impressed with her as those involved in the search are. I am equally thrilled with the process, described above, that brought Namita to us.  So many people gave considerable time and thought to this effort.  Members of the community gathered together in order to listen to, and learn from, each other.  Questions were asked and answered, assumptions were tested and understandings were challenged.  In the end I think that we all had a deeper understanding of LREI’s mission and of the essential role that the lower school holds in meeting these ends.  As the process came to its successful conclusion, all involved felt renewed support for the institution’s belief that each voice—each point of view—has value.  Decisions that consider the range of experience represented by the members of our community may be difficult and may create some dissonance. This is okay, however, as, even with this temporary discord, decisions made in an inclusive manner are inherently more productive and enriching for the community.   Thank you to all for your honest, thoughtful and supportive participation.

Number 2

Look out world, here we come!  Our middle school robotics team is one of two teams from the U.S. that has been invited to participate in an international robotics competition in Tokyo later this spring. This team, coached by middle school teachers Sherezada Acosta and Carin Cohen, has done very well in each of the four years that it has been competing in the FIRST LEGO League Tournaments.  Last year the team won the 3^rd place Champions Award and the 1^st place Team Work Award.  Earlier this year, the senior team, made up of seventh and eighth graders, placed first out of all participating schools in Manhattan in the Robot Performance category.  The rookie squad, made up of sixth graders, won the Champions Award.  A few weeks ago the team was awarded the 5^th place Robot Design Award in the All City Championship.  The judges in the tournaments in which we have competed over the years have been impressed with how articulate and resourceful our students are as well as with how well the team members work together.  It was for these reasons that they were chosen to represent the U.S. in the FIRST LEGO League Asian Open Championship.  A tremendous amount of hard work awaits these students between now and late April when they take off for points east.  We could not be prouder of the team and its coaches and look forward to hearing of their successes. Stay tuned, in the weeks to come, for more information on this exciting adventure. 

Finally (I know I said two items), congratulations to our middle school boys’ basketball team on their 61-23 victory over the Browning School for the league championship earlier this week.  Come out and watch the boys play in the opening game of the league’s end of season tournament on February 27^th at the Thompson Street Athletic Center. 

Exciting times,

Phil

January 10^th, 2008

Dear LREI Community,

Happy New Year.  I hope that this note finds your family well and having enjoyed some restful and rejuvenating time during the Winter Break.  On Monday morning the school was filled with children of all ages who, while looking a little sleepy, seemed quite happy to be back in school with their friends and teachers. 

I want to take a moment to bring your attention to some special events coming this month.  There are a number of events that will provide great wintertime activity. Most of the events and activities that I mention below can also be found on the calendar at www.LREI.org/calendar. 

LREI Alumni College Panel—January 10^th, 2007, 6:30PM at the high school, 40 Charlton Street.  This discussion is an opportunity to meet and speak with some recent LREI graduates and to hear from them about their experiences and about how LREI prepared them for college.  

LREI Athletics—Our basketball season is in full swing for all 10 teams!  I encourage you to attend a home game at the Thompson Street Athletic Center, 145 Thompson Street (between Houston Street and Prince Street.)  You can find the schedules for all teams at www.lrei.org/athletics.  In addition, we post a sign in the Sixth Avenue lobby each morning announcing any home games that afternoon.  Upcoming home games include:

·        Our 5^th/6^th grade intramural league, an instructional/recreational league for our youngest middle schoolers, plays each Friday from 3:30PM-5:15PM. These are great games for young fans.

·        January 14^th, 4:00PM—7^th/8^th grade Boys vs. St. Luke’s School

·        January 16^th, 4:15PM—7^th/8^th grade Girls vs. UNIS

·        January 17^th, 4:00PM—Varsity Boys vs. Garden School

·        January 23^rd, 5:00PM—JV Girls vs. Steiner

·        January 24^th, 4:30PM—Varsity Girls vs. Birch Wathen Lenox School

·        February 21^st, 4:00PM—JV Boys vs. Trevor Day School

There are many other home games on the schedule.  Come out and cheer for our student athletes!!! 

Karamu! —On Friday, January 25^th from 6:00PM to 9:00PM the PA Multicultural Committee will host Karamu!, a celebration of food and the arts and community. Tickets will go on sale soon. This is one of the high points of each school year. 

 Finally, I encourage all families who are able to do so to make this year’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Day—Monday, January 21^st—a day on rather than a day off.  As stated by the Mayor’s Volunteer Center, “The mission of the MLK Day of Service is to realize Martin Luther King’s dream and legacy by breaking down barriers amongst people and establishing volunteer service as a means for social change.”  Among the service opportunities available on this day are: “Share the Dream, Live the Reality” will be held on Monday, January 21, 2008, from 9:00AM-3:30PM. The event will take place in Queens at Long Island City High School, 14-30 Broadway, Long Island City, NY.  Please register now to join hundreds of volunteers and help revitalize the community by painting murals, cleaning schools, and giving back to the community. Register online as an individual or group For additional questions, please call Shante Smith at 212-542-0798 or visit www.cityyear.org/newyork  5th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Anti-Hunger Serve-A-Thon On January 19th-21st, 2008, celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday by partaking in the New York City Coalition Against Hunger (NYCCAH) 5th Annual Anti-Hunger Serve-A-Thon. The Anti-Hunger Serve-A-Thon is similar to a walk-a-thon but instead of walking you’re performing a service to help pantries and kitchens meet their immediate needs. Individuals and groups can sign-up through the Coalition’s Volunteer Matching System to serve at selected food pantries and/or soup kitchens on Saturday, Jan. 19, Sunday, Jan. 20, and/or Monday, Jan. 21. The time commitment is flexible and is meant to fit within a busy schedule. Service opportunities will be available in all five boroughs. For questions, contact Andrea Dispenza 212-825-0028 ext 202, adispenza@nyccah.org 

Children for Children (www.childrenforchildren.org) hosts an annual event on this day. Last year, more than 2,000 volunteers came together for this event and we look forward to another momentous day this year. Participants will have the chance to complete a wide variety of hands-on projects, benefiting many different New York City-based and international causes. See their website for more details. http://childrenforchildren.org/index.php?q=node/36

If you have suggestions of service opportunities available on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, please send me the information so that I can make it available to all.

“Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or the darkness of destructive selfishness.  This is the judgment.  Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, What are you doing for others?”

-Martin Luther King, Jr.

As you can see, there are many opportunities to get involved in LREI events and events sponsored by other communities in the coming weeks.  I hope that all LREI families find them enjoyable and enriching. 

Best,

Phil