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. Below are some photos from the competition.

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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.

Irwin Scholar 2010

Of General Interest . . .

1) It’s been a few weeks, but here are some recently uploaded photos from the fabulous Winter Concert:

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and the last week’s wonderful Karamu! celebration:

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2) School Spirit Game! This Friday, January 29th, 3:15PM at the Thompson Street Athletic Center (143 Thompson Street). All families invited. Show your school spirit and come out in our school colors – RED & WHITE! Middle and High School basketball teams play against faculty & staff. Come cheer on your teachers and teams. Shoot Off competition at half time for younger students. Fun for all!

2) Food Talk, a presentation sponsored by the LREI PA Food Committee, is scheduled for Wednesday, February 3rd at 8:45AM in the Sixth Ave. Cafeteria – Click here for flyer with details!

3) Coffeehouse – Open Mic Benefit Event, Saturday February 6th beginning at 6:30 p.m. in the Performing Arts Center (at 40 Charlton Street). All money raised during this event will support the relief efforts in Haiti. From MicahDov Gottlieb, High School Assistant Principal—This Coffee House will be an entertaining event in support of a worthy cause. We already have a great line-up of high school, middle school, faculty, and community members set to perform. If you are interested in performing or helping out in any way, please contact Micah at MDGottlieb@LREI.org.  Mark your calendar now!

4) Monday, March 1, 2010 — Project Cicero Book Drive (through March 4)
Project Cicero is an annual non-profit book drive designed to create — or supplement — school and classroom libraries for children in under-resourced New York City public schools. Now in its tenth year, Project Cicero has distributed nearly 1,000,000 new and gently used books to 5,500 New York City classrooms and libraries, reaching 180,000 students. Boos can be dropped off in the Sixth Avenue lobby.

5) Please read the attached letter from the Lesbian Gay Straight Alliance committee about the upcoming Visibility exhibit.

6) Grandparents and Special Friends Day will be held on Friday May 7th from 1:00-3:00PM. Please send your names for Grandparent and Special Friends to Liza Sacks, lsacks@lrei.org , (212) 477-5317 ext.291. Invitations will be mailed March. You can also contact Liza if you have questions about this important community event.

7) Red is Green Committee Announcements:

  • This Friday, Jan 29 is the last day to drop off holiday and other greeting cards. Cards are donated to St. Jude’s Ranch for Children, where they are recycled into new cards.
  • Starting Monday, February 1, we will begin collecting batteries and cell phones. Recycling cell phones saves energy and, as with recycling batteries, helps to keep toxic ewaste out of landfills. Our battery/cell phone drive will continue through March 19 (until Spring Break). Batteries and cell phones can be dropped off in the Red is Green recycle bins at the Sixth Ave. and Charlton St. lobbies.
  • For more details about our monthly recycling drives and Go Green to School dates, please click Red is Green PA Page.

    • 8) The LREI Cookbook Committee is working on creating a LREI community cookbook. The theme of the cookbook is potlucks. If you have any recipes that you would like to submit for consideration, please send them to cookbook@lrei.org. Also, if you are interested in participating in the creation of the cookbook, email Kathryn Kellinger at kksidedish@aol.com or Susie Marples at susiemarples@yahoo.com

    9) Click here to access the new LREI on-line photo gallery.

    10) For updates on faculty performances, openings, presentations, and publications visit the Faculty in the News page on the school web site.

    11) LREI is a member of NYC-Parents in Action (NYC-PIA – http://www.parentsinaction.org/). NYC-PIA provides parenting education, information and a communications network to help parents prepare their children and teenagers to cope with social pressures and to make sound choices towards a future free of alcohol and drug abuse. Click here to view upcoming events and/or to download their calendar.

    For All Grades . . .

    1) Just a reminder that the Middle School dance is scheduled for Friday, January 29th. The dance will start at 6:30PM for fifth graders and at 7:00PM for sixth through eighth graders. The dance will end at 8:30PM for fifth and sixth graders and at 9:00PM for seventh and eighth graders. Permission slips will go out the week of the dance.

    As part of our on-going community service initiatives, this year we are partnering with the organization GETTING TOOLS TO CITY SCHOOLS (http://www.gettingtoolstocityschools.org/home), which seeks to procure and deliver free basic school supplies to low-income public schools in New York City.

    To support their on-going efforts, we are encouraging students who attend the dance on Friday to bring in one or more of the following school supply items: *1.5″-2″ three-ring binders (preferably black), *pocket dividers (sets of 5), *pencil pouch (three-hole to be used in binder), boxes of pens, boxes of pencils, lined paper packs; (*most needed).

    GETTING TOOLS TO CITY SCHOOLS was started by a former LREI parent. This Friday’s dance will be one of several opportunities that will take place over the course of the year in which LREI students will support the group’s work. This service relationship is also connected to our reading and on-going discussions about Three Cups of Tea; our work with GETTING TOOLS TO CITY SCHOOLS reinforces the value of education and the need for activism to ensure that all children have access to quality schools and materials.

    2) Middle School “Pajama Day” is scheduled for Friday, February 5th. Highlights will include hot chocolate and cookies at lunch and stories read by eighth graders during independent reading. Here are a few guidelines, which were developed by the Student Representatives on the occasion of the first Pajama Day:

    • Just because it’s Pajama Day doesn’t mean the dress code went to sleepA robe adds a nice touch
    • No lingerie or underwear
    • If you wear boxers, please wear some type of undergarment beneath
    • Slippers are fine, but you should bring a pair of shoes/sneakers (especially if you have PE)
    • Blankets and stuffed animals are welcomed, but should not be so big that they require their own desk
    • If you don’t wear pajamas, we do not want to know about it!
    • If you can imagine Mark wearing it, it is probably okay.

    3) ERBs are scheduled For February 9th-11th. The ERBs represent one piece of the assessment puzzle at LREI and it is important that they are seen in this light. They convey useful information, but not the full-picture of a child’s achievement. While the content of the ERBs is generally aligned to grade-level expectations, there are areas where this is not the case. For example, a math concept that appears on the sixth grade test, may not be addressed in our curriculum until the seventh grade and teaching this concept out of context may not always make sense. Your child’s teachers will make every attempt to identify these particular alignment areas. So while much of our ERB prep is focused on reviewing concepts that have been addressed in the curriculum, teaching general test prep skills, and helping students to feel comfortable with standardized testing conditions, our focus tends not to be on “cramming” new concepts. Please do not hesitate to speak with me if you have questions about the ERB process. Please also read the attached letter from the Middle School math teachers regarding prep for the upcoming ERBs.

    For Eighth Grade Families . . .

    1) A reminder that final payments for the DC trip are due on February 18th. If you have payment questions, please let me know. If you have not registered, please do so ASAP using the attached form.

    For Seventh Grade Families . . .

    No updates this week.

    For Fifth and Sixth Grade Families . . .

    1) From Athletic Director Peter Fisher: The Athletic Department would like to invite you and you kid(s) to our Middle School Home Games, on Feb 17th (MS Boys vs St. Luke’s – 4:15PM Start) and 18th (MS Girls vs VCS – 4:00PM Start).  The 7th/8th grade MS basketball teams have been playing very well and we would like to invite our future players to see the teams in action.  This will be a great way to support the teams and to see what MS traveling team experience is like.  Larry Kaplan will be available to walk the kids to the Thompson Street Athletic Center from Sixth Avenue at 3:30PM to watch our middle school teams play. There will be a half time shoot out contest for all kids in attendance with prizes available. Please contact me at pfisher@lrei.org if you would like Larry to walk your child over to the Athletic Center after school on these days.  We will expect all students to be picked up at Thompson Street by a parent/care giver around 5PM.

    2) Click here for the team rosters. Regular team practices will start on Wednesday and Thursday, December 16th and 17th. Players must have a completed permission slip to play. Forms can be downloaded from the Athletics section of the LREI website.

    For Sixth Grade Families . . .

    No updates this week.

    For Fifth Grade Families . . .

    No updates this week.

    ============= For additional information, follow these links: =============

    A reminder that the individual homework blog and the “feeds” for every class can be accessed from the Digital Classroom link on the sidebar (you may want to bookmark this page for easy access). These feeds provide an easy “one-click” solution to find out what has been assigned for homework. Keep in mind that a feed will only show what has been posted as of the time you check it.

    Don’t forget to check the LREI website for updates and other interesting school-related information.

    Be well,
    Mark

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