LREI News Blog

Karamu is one way we celebrate the many cultures and life experiences of the members of our school community as well as the experiences of people around the world. Each year your children share wonderful information about their families and friends on Karamu cards posted throughout the sixth avenue building. This year children were asked to choose a family member or special friend and write something they found interesting about that person’s heritage, cultural background or hometown. Below are some of the things your children shared:

“This is my dad. He grew up in Queens. His family lived in New York since 1840. Before that they lived in Germany and Russia.”

“Grandpa grew up on a farm. There were lots of animals there like ducks and cows…When he was born he was little. He had to wake up very early to milk the cows.”

“My cousin was born in Hawaii two years ago. She is currently living in Hawaii, but in February she will be moving to Virginia. Her Dad is a navy officer. It’s interesting to know she will grow up in different parts of the country and maybe overseas.”

“My sister and I are African American, Irish, Cherokee and Cape Verdian. My sister was born in New York. I was born in Atlanta, Georgia.”

“This is my Baba. Baba means grandma in Japanese. My Baba is Japanese. She is special to me because she is nice and has two cats. She always has presents for me.”

“My Papa comes from Florence, Italy. I like Florence because it has very narrow streets and lots of Vespa’s and motor scooters. There is very good gelato.”

“My grandma is from Somalia. It is in East Africa. I love the costumes and jewelry. It is very colorful – pink, blue, green, yellow and purple with gold trimming with lots of gold jewelry. It is very beautiful.”

“These are my Chinese cousins. I love them!!! We were adopted on the same day and are from the same province. That is why they are affectionately called “my cousins.” My Chinese name is Ling Cai and that means ‘Rise High Emerald’.”

This is just a sampling of the rich culture and heritage of LREI families. Please stop by and read more Karamu cards as you walk the halls these next couple of weeks. You’ll be amazed by how much there is to learn about each other and about the assets you all bring to our school community.

We are very pleased to announce that six of our high school photography students were selected among High School and University student submissions for an upcoming exhibition at Synchronicity Fine Arts, 106 West 13th Street. The opening reception is on February 9 from 2-5 PM; the show runs from February 5 through March 1.

Congratulations to all of the members of the Middle School Robotics team and their coaches for their most excellent work at this past weekend’s FIRST Lego League competition. The following summary comes to us courtesy of Middle School science teacher and Robotics Team coach Sherezada Acosta:

Our robotics season has come to an end. This weekend’s tournament was a great end to the months of hard work. I am happy to report that out of the 82 schools at the event, which represented the top performing teams in the New York City area, the LREI Robotics Advance Team received a 5th Place Award in the Robot Design category. This is an incredible achievement! For this award, the judges “look for teams whose work stands out for innovation and dependability. To assess innovation, the judges watch the robots work, looking for things that make them say ‘Wow!’ They interview team members to reveal the less obvious unique and inventive ideas. To assess dependability, the judges interview the teams to learn what solid principles and best practices were used to reduce variability and errors. Preference is given to robots that are best able to ‘back it up’ throughout the matches.”

As for the Rookie Team, just the fact that they did so well in the last competition and qualified to be in this one, which was mainly filled with veteran teams with more experience, was pretty amazing as well.

Both teams also got very positive feedback on the presentations and interviews with the judges. Below are some of the comments they wrote:

• Advance Team:
  “Excellent team and energy displayed”
  “Innovative Presentation! … Thinking out of the Box”
  “Amazing integration of individual goals with benefits to the community; creative idea to combine health and energy issues”

• Rookie Team:
  “Excellent teamwork and Robot Presentation”
  “High enthusiasm; engaged with activities designed to improve school life”
  “Excellent movie!!”

I was very proud of both teams’ performance at the event. It was a VERY long day (almost 10 hours!), but they did an incredible job of representing our school. Their enthusiasm and support of not only each other but other teams as well, was recognized by the announcers any time LREI was in the competing area, other parents and other team coaches. I was approached several times by different people to compliment our group. Even the photographers and video crew seemed to love them. When our kids were competing they spent most of the time covering them!

Well done!