A Balancing Act

Dear Families:

In my comments to students at last week’s Thanksgiving Assembly, I talked about how Thanksgiving is a time of year when my thoughts often turn to the idea of balance. Balanced between fall and winter, the bounty of the Thanksgiving harvest also reminds us of the end of a growing cycle. Thanksgiving brings us together in community and encourages us to reflect on our obligation to self and on our obligations to others. As we give thanks for all that we have, Thanksgiving is also a time to reach out to those whose sense of balance has been thrown off. In this spirit, Sheila and Marcus’s advisory group gave a presentation about the recent earthquake in Pakistan and invited the Middle School community to take action in support of those who have lost so much. Here is an excerpt from materials they put together for the presentation:

In a year of so many disasters worldwide, it can sometimes feel overwhelming to offer our support for each and every cause. However, in Pakistan, where people are still recovering from this fall’s devastating earthquake, for thousands of people just finding shelter is still a major challenge. Estimates place the total loss of life in the 80,000 range, a number that will increase with the harsh winter that lies ahead. The Middle School community at Little Red School House and Elisabeth Irwin High School (LREI) would like to do its part to educate ourselves and others about this issue and to support those in need. We are planning a Pakistan Relief Run. As part of this fundraising effort, the entire Middle School will participate by running laps to raise funds for school rebuilding efforts in Pakistan. Through our efforts, we would like to bridge the distance between our country and Pakistan. It is 6880 miles from NYC to Pakistan and, while we cannot actually cover that distance, we would like to make that journey symbolically. Each Middle School student will attempt to run 46 laps around either St. Anthony’s
gym; our goal as a community is to complete 6880 laps. We ask that you pledge a $ amount per lap or pledge a single donation to help in our efforts. The funds we raise will be used to rebuild schools in Pakistan. For more information about the school rebuilding effort, please read the following article:

Devastation in Asia – and What You Can Do About It
From the Working Assets website (http://www.workingforchange.com/action_center.cfm?itemid=19733)

The news and images from South Asia after the magnitude 7.6 earthquake are truly shocking — more than 35,000 dead, many more tens of thousands injured and made homeless. Entire villages have been flattened, and USA Today reports that the earthquake hit schools “especially hard.” Tragically, the quake hit with schools in session, so the death toll was very high among students. One of the most heart-wrenching stories emerging from this catastrophe is that of the girls’ school in the village of Ghari Habibibullah, Pakistan. There, 250 students were killed, more than 500 injured, and the school was completely demolished. Similar catastrophes happened in villages all over the region, such as Balakot. Girls’ schools were often beacons of hope and implicit progress in a region dominated by fundamentalist Islam, and rebuilding these schools is likely to be at the bottom of the political agenda. So the Working Assets Act for Change Foundation has launched a campaign to support rebuilding girls’ schools in Pakistan and India — and we’re asking for your help.

This week, advisory groups started off on our quest to run 6880 laps. Your child should have a pledge form. Please encourage him/her to seek out as much support as possible for this important cause.

This Week’s Attachments
(Click on the links below to open the attachments. If you are having trouble opening the links, go to http://www.lrei.org/weekly/ms/ to access the files.)

General:
Parent Rep Meeting Minutes – 11/15/05
School Store Hours
Literary Evening Flyer – 12/9/05
Visibility Photo Exhibit
PA Community Service Committee Calendar
Eighth Grade:
Seventh Grade:
Sixth Grade:
New Math Unit Letter
Fifth Grade:

1) It’s time again for the Middle School to participate in the National Geographic Geography Bee (http://www.nationalgeographic.com/geographybee/index.html). The first round of the Bee will take place the week of December 12th in the classroom. In this round, students respond orally to a series of geography-related questions. Participation in the Bee is voluntary and those who don’t want to participate will serve as the audience for their peers who do choose to participate. We will do the final and championship rounds at Middle School meeting on Wednesday, January 4th. The winner of the championship round will then take the state-qualifying test on Monday, January 9th. If you think your child may be interested in participating, some useful preparation resources can be found at:

http://geography.about.com/library/quiz/blpreviss.htm
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/geobee/ax/newquizstart.html
http://geography.about.com/od/testyourknowledge/
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/geographybee/resources.html

2) Middle School “Pajama Day” will take place next Friday. 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 Association on the occasion of the first Pajama Day (they had fun coming up with them):

  • A 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!

3) The school store will be open at the Sixth Avenue building location this Friday and next Thursday and Friday. See the attached flyer for more details.

4) As the holidays approach, the school photo process is coming to a close. At this point we ask that you contact Coffee Pond Photography directly (lifeguards@coffeepond.com, 800-632-2323 ext. 0) with any questions about photo proofs or your order. This ensures that orders are processed quickly.

5) LREI’s Book Week is a series of events bringing students and faculty, parents and authors together in a celebration of literacy and community. Throughout the week age-appropriate authors will read to students in classrooms, a book fair and sale will be held in the Sixth Avenue Auditorium and the 9th Annual LREI Literary Evening will take place on Thursday, December 8th in the Charlton Street PAC from 7-9PM. The literary evening has become one of the LREI community’s most anticipated events and is organized by parent volunteers on the Literary Committee. This year the theme for the literary evening is “A Night of New Orleans in New York: Voices from the Gulf Coast”. Tickets are $20 and will be available at the door, or in advance in the lobby of the Sixth Avenue Campus.
Donations will be accepted for Gulf Coast Schools. All proceeds of ticket sales will benefit the LREI Literary Initiative. View the event flyer for additional information.

6) From Middle School play director Julia Collura: The Middle School is currently in production for “Arabian Nights”, which goes up January 20th and 21st. If you have any of the following items that you are able to lend or donate for the production, the cast and I would be very grateful. Thanks so much and hope to see you at the show! Needed: old cushions that can be re-covered, oriental rugs, two or three divans, sari tops, wide Turkish type pants, belly dancing outfits and/or accessories, pointed slippers, costume jewelry, and very wide leather belts.

7) From Middle School science teacher and Robotics Team coach Sherezada Acosta: This year’s Robotics Team challenge is called “Ocean Odyssey”. Students have the task of designing a robot capable of completing nine missions in 2.5 minutes. This year’s missions include releasing a dolphin from a net back into the “ocean”, deploying a submarine from an unstable boat, cleaning up a shipping cargo accident, among many other ocean related tasks. Students have already made several first drafts of their designs and are ready to begin programming their robots. In addition to the robotic competition, there is a research presentation which teams have a choice of participating in. This year’s research project challenges students to find a problem that is affecting our ocean’s and develop an innovative solution to that problem. A couple of our students have already begun working on this presentation. They began by doing some computer research to learn more about the problems affecting our oceans. After choosing oil spills as the area on which they wanted to focus, they then worked on experiments that will help them better understand how oil interacts with water. Their final goal will be to design a robot that can clean an oil spill. For more information about the competition and all its aspects go to: http://www.firstlegoleague.org/nobanner.aspx?pid=17940. Competition dates for the team are: Sunday, Dec 4, 2005, which is a practice tournament at Stuyvesant High School, and Sunday, Jan 29, 2006, which is the formal competition day.

8) Whether you are lesbian, gay, straight or none of the above, we invite you to recognize the lesbian and gay people in your life or your child’s life and to let them tell their stories. Invite them to join you in LREI’s photo exhibit, “VISIBILITY: Celebrating the Lesbian and Gay People We Love.” For more information, please read the attached letter.

9) For information about LREI’s other efforts to aid the victims of Hurricane Katrina please go to http://www.lrei.org/whoweare/katrina.html. For additional service opportunities, please see the attached calendar from the PA Community Service Committee.

10) LREI is a member of NYC-Parents in Action (NYC-PIA). 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. You can access their on-line calendar of events at www.parentsinaction.org. An upcoming seminar that may be of interest to Middle School families is: Wednesday, December 7th – Independence in Middle School: Safety, Self Reliance and Risk Taking.

For 8th Grade Families . . .
1) Each year LREI offers scholarships to incoming ninth graders who demonstrate exceptional accomplishment and promise in the areas of scholarship, citizenship, leadership and service in their time at LREI. Copies of the application are in the mail. Completed Irwin Scholar Applications are due no later than Friday, December 2, 2005. Notification letters will be mailed by Friday, January 13, 2005. If you have questions, please contact Samantha Caruth (scaruth@lrei.org).

For 7th Grade Families . . .
1) A reminder that the Seventh Grade DISC Dance is tomorrow at St. Luke’s (487 Hudson Street) at 7PM. The dance will end at 9PM. Please make sure your child has turned in his/her permission form and has brought in the $6 admission fee.

For 6th Grade Families . . .
1) Please read the attached letter from math teacher Jenny Cashin about the new math unit.

For 5th Grade Families . . .
No updates this week.

Middle School Sports
Schedules and general information about Middle School sports programs can be found at http://lrei.org/athletics/at_4b.html. Information is also available through the LREI Sports Hotline at 212.477.5316 x 494.

Looking Ahead . . .
On the LREI web site additional information about upcoming events can be found at http://www.lrei.org/caleven/index.html (the middle school events page can be found at http://www.lrei.org/midschool/Events.html)

  • Friday, December 2nd, 7:00PM-9:00PM — Seventh Grade DISC dance. The dance will be held at St. Luke’s School (487 Hudson Street).
  • Monday, December 5th — “Book Week” begins. The Book Fair will take place Wednesday-Friday.
  • Thursday, December 8th — Literary Evening
  • Tuesday, December 13th, 8:15 AM — MS Parent Rep Meeting
  • Thursday, December 15th — Winter Concert
  • Friday, December 16th — School closes at 12:00PM for Winter Break
  • Sunday, Dec 4, 2005 — Robotics Team Practice Tournament at Stuyvesant High School
  • Sunday, Jan 29, 2006 — Robotics Team Competition Day

Don’t forget to check the LREI website for updates and interesting information – http://www.lrei.org.

Be well,
Mark

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