A Day ON!
Dear Families,
As you know, Monday’s holiday commemorates the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. In honor of his service, we are encouraged to participate in a “day on” of service instead of taking a typical day off. I personally am inspired by the work of Generation On, which is offering a service opportunities for teenagers and their families on Monday, as is New York Cares.
At LREI, our students never seem to take a day off from service work, and more and more, service is integrated into the curriculum. From the service projects the Ninth Graders participate together, to the community opportunities that students are offered (such as volunteering to help with the cultural celebration event, Karamu, which is next Friday, January 21, here at Charlton Street–students can sign up to volunteer on my office door) to the important work of the community service roundtable and events like the coffeehouse (this Friday, tomorrow night from 7-9PM, the Eleventh Grade is sponsoring a coffeehouse to benefit Kids Walk for Kids with Cancer), students go beyond the 25 hour yearly requirement.
For inspiration for your own commitment to service, I hope that you will take a few minutes to watch two films made in our first trimester Media 11 class: Advocacy Films. The first, produced and directed by Simon Staples-Vangel ’12, Tiffany Ramos ’12, and Leon Sukrham ’12 of the critical need to fund research for treatment and cure possibilities for pediatric cancer can be seen here. The second film, “The Public Issue,” produced and directed by Sam Irwin ’12 and Aaron Naves ’12 is about “the current housing problems faced by those that cannot afford to live in middle to upper class housing developments [in New York City]. We saw this issue as relevant and pressing an issue that cannot be ignored. After hearing about the trillion dollars recently spent overseas on the Iraq and Afghanistan war and seized the opportunity to help spread awareness of the growing issue of homelessness and poor housing conditions that people suffer through.” Their film can be seen here. Powerful work from students making an impact. I hope you will consider taking the time to determine as a family something that you can do to make a difference in a cause that is important to you. Enjoy your day ON!
All the best,
Ruth
Updates and Announcements:
1. 1/21 Save the Date for Karamu! Friday, January 21st… Karamu! is LREI’s annual multicultural event of music, dance, and food celebrating the diversity of our school and community. Tickets go on sale Tuesday, January 18th… Karamu! always sells out; get your tickets early (discounted tickets available – contact multiculturalcommittee@lrei.org). We need food and volunteers! …Sign up boards will be in the 6th Avenue Lobby – please volunteer and join this wonderful community building event!
2. If your contact information—address, phone numbers, email addresses—has changed since we distributed the directory in September, please contact Mary Shea, mshea@lrei.org, as she is preparing an updated directory for distribution in the coming weeks. Thanks.
3. Knights home game schedule for next week:
Tuesday 1/18 4pm Varsity Girls vs York Prep
Thursday 1/20 4pm Varsity Girls vs Brooklyn Friends
Friday 1/21 5th/6th Grade Intramurals 3:30 Green/Black 4:15 Tiedye/Blue
Also, save the date for our annual Spirit Game, Friday January 28th.
All are welcome to come and cheer as our 7th-12th grade basketball teams take on the LREI Faculty!!