What are you doing for others?
Dear Families,
On Wednesday, January 20th, we held our annual Martin Luther King Assembly that was organized and run by our eighth graders. The focus of this year’s assembly was on service and the ways small and large that LREI students are committing themselves to serving others. To frame the assembly, we listened to an excerpt from Dr. King’s “The Drum Major Instinct” speech. Prior to the assembly, the eighth graders had asked middle schoolers to respond to a set of questions about ways that they serve; these written responses were shared at the assembly in a slideshow set to James Taylor’s “Shed a Little Light.” This was followed by a series of student presentations on a range of service projects being pursued by LREI students.
Middle schoolers first heard from seventh grader Esme who talked about her experiences with the shoe4africa project. Sixth graders Leo and Emilio, seventh graders Mikayla and Katya and eighth grader Benno talked about their “Imagine” group that has supported humanitarian projects in Uganda, Tanzania, and Nepal. Middle Schoolers also heard from eleventh graders Jane and Marget who described transformative service-focused international experiences. All of these projects “shed a little light” on King’s call to service and his persistent and urgent question, “What are you doing for others?” The assembly also raised important questions that we will continue to explore about how we can make sure we ask others about the kind of service that is most helpful and not assume that we know what others need. That King’s vision was ultimately rooted in the understanding of the value and worth of each individual and that our perceptions of other’s needs must not be allowed to replace their essential character are ideas that we will continue to explore throughout the curriculum.
Our assembly also served as a kick-off event for the eighth graders multi-month service project “Choosing to Participate” that they are about to undertake in their core class. This project will culminate in April with a “Teach In” during which the eighth graders will lead workshops for the rest of the Middle School on a range of social justice topics connected to their volunteer experiences and their related research.
On other fronts, congratulations to the members of the Middle School Robotics Teams and coach Sherezada Acosta who continued their winning ways with excellent performances at this past weekend’s FIRST Lego League Manhattan borough competition. Both teams have now qualified for the citywide competition that will take place at the Javits Center in March. Both teams performed well in the challenge portion of the event, but really rose to the occasion in the research presentation phase of the competition with the Advanced Team coming in 2nd place and the Rookie Team coming in 3rd place. What looked to be a building year at the start of the season is turning out to be a year with both teams right in the thick of the competition. Congratulation on these most excellent achievements.
On the subject of achievement, I want to acknowledge our 2009-2010 Irwin Scholars. The Irwin Scholars program is a merit-based scholarship that recognizes eighth graders for their sustained commitment to academic excellence, active participation in the life of the Middle School, service to the community, demonstrated leadership, and the potential to serve as a community leader in the High School. This year we had a most excellent cohort of applicants, which made the selection process all the more difficult because the quality of applicants was so strong. I would like to extend my thanks on behalf of the faculty and administration to all of the applicants for their thoughtful essays and am pleased to share with you the 2009-2010 Irwin Scholars. They are Cheyenne, Danica, Jason, Josh and Samantha.
Be well,
Mark