Justice-Oriented Citizens

Dear Families,

As Chap mentioned in last week’s blog,

Justice-oriented citizens look at the root of a problem and the layers of complexity involved in understanding unjust situations before attempting to join others in exploring strategies and finding resolutions. There are various curricular opportunities at LREI where students’ awareness of social justice issues in history and in the present are raised. Students learn of the actions of justice-oriented citizens and the impact their work has in creating necessary change.

Each year, our eighth grade students embark on a project to better understand and personalize the social justice issues that emerge from their study of post-Civil War US history. This project connects them to individuals and organizations that are making a difference in the community and beyond. Through this process, our eighth graders come to better understand the rewards and challenges of active citizenship and the need for all individuals to choose to participate. One benchmark point on what we hope will be a life-long journey is our annual spring Social Justice Teach-In during which the eighth graders plan and run a set of workshops and assemblies for the rest of the middle school.

This year-long journey begins in the summer as students read the novel Warriors Don’t Cry by Melba Pattillo Beals, which chronicles the experiences of the Little Rock Nine and the efforts of many others to desegregate Little Rock’s public schools. This reading serves as frame for our students’ critical examination of our nation’s history from the Civil War through the Civil Rights era.

Inspired buy the Little Rock Nine and the Civil Rights Movement and their investigation of the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights, each eighth grader created an action art project and a supporting artist’s statement about their work as it related to a current civil or human rights issue. Their art work and writing ask us to stop, think and, ultimately, to act. The following are a view representative excerpts from their work:

  • The biggest thing that threatens world peace is a mental war because it is a mental conflict within that causes controversy and the disagreement over ideas and beliefs.
  • The message of my artwork is that people need to speak up against the loss of freedom. When people lose their freedom holes are created within our society and this allows other people to fall into them and do or suffer bad things.
  • In my art piece the bold words are direct and confront the viewer with the shocking realities of torture practices around the world. By being faced with these truths, I hope people will think about what is happening globally and do their part in making change.
  • I imagine a world where all kids are guaranteed a full education from grades K-12 (boys and girls).
  • The right to vote is one of the most important civil rights. If you do not have the right to vote for your leaders, you cannot truly be a free person. People struggle for the right to vote all over the world. Democracy, with voting rights for all adults, is the form of government that is most fair because it gives everyone a say in how they are governed.
  • I chose to make my art work the way I did because I felt that by showing the silhouette of a displaced person rather than a straight forward picture would make the viewer have to decide what the face or gender of the person will be, making it different for each observer and more personal. I chose to use paint for the color of the flags and plain black paper and pencil for the figure in order to contrast between a vibrant community and flat isolation.

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This work is on display outside of the eighth grade classrooms. Please stop by for a look and read.

Of General Interest . . .
1) Click here to access the new LREI on-line photo gallery.

2) Red is Green Committee Announcements:

  • Climate Quilt Campaign: If your child brought home a quilt square to decorate and write his or her pledge, please return it by Friday, November 20. You can leave it at the reception desk. The Climate Quilt is being created by children from all over the world and will be displayed at the UN Climate Conference in Copenhagen next month. It was featured on Good Morning America this past Monday. For more information, click here for our flyer or visit www.climatequilt.org.
  • Ink Cartridges: Next week will be the last week to turn in your empty ink cartridges to be recycled. Every year in the US we throw away over 375 million cartridges. Bins are located by the reception desks at both the high school and 6th Ave.
  • For more details about our monthly recycling drives and Go Green to School dates, please click Red is Green PA Page.

3) Visit the Afterschool Photo Blog at http://blog.lrei.org/afterschoolphotos/ to get a glimpse of what students have been up to in Afterschool. Photos will continue to be posted, so please return throughout the year (you may visit any time by clicking “Afterschool Photos Blog” on the left side of this page, under “LREI Links”).

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

5) 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) A reminder that you can access teachers’ blogs by following the “Digital Classroom” link on the sidebar.

2) All families are invited to attend our annual Judo Club Fall Classic in-house tournament this Friday at 3:30PM at the Thompson Street Athletic Center. In addition, club members who are participating in Saturday’s Tech-Judo tournament in New Jersey should be at the school by 1:30PM so that he group can leave on time.

3) Family Conferences and Subject Area Meetings: I trust that you all had productive and insightful conferences. As we are always in the process of refining the conference process, don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any feedback that you think would be useful for us to know as we reflect on the past conferences and plan for the spring. As always, please do not hesitate to contact your child’s teachers if you have questions about her/his performance and/or the curriculum.

4) Save the Date: Afterschool Open Enrichment Class Week 12/7-12/11 — An opportunity for a parent or caregiver to come and observe your child’s Afterschool Enrichment class. More information to follow.  Please contact the Afterschool Office at x239 if you have questions.

For Eighth Grade Families . . .
No updates this week.

For Seventh Grade Families . . .
1) A reminder that the Seventh Grade DISC Dance is this Friday from 7:00-9:00PM at the Charlton Street PAC. Please make sure that your child has submitted a permission form and brought in the $5 admission fee. As part of our on-going community service initiatives, this year we will be 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, *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).

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For Fifth and Sixth Grade Families . . .
1) The LREI Intramural Basketball season is almost here. The first practice for all interested players will be held on Wednesday, December 2nd, from 7:00-8:00AM at the Thompson Street Athletic Center. This practice will be followed by a second open practice on Thursday, December 10th, also at 7:00AM at Thompson Street. Coaches will use these practices to select players for each team. Students are welcome to attend both practices, but it is important that they attend at least one. Regular team practices will start on Wednesday and Thursday, December 16th and 17th. Students will be informed as to which morning practice is for their team. The full practice and game schedule will be forthcoming. Players should bring a completed permission slip to either the December 2nd or 10th practice. Forms can be downloaded from the Athletics section of the LREI website.

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

  • View all events with the LREI On-line Calendar
  • Click here to see the 2009-2010 calendar.
  • LREI Athletics. For general LREI Athletics news go to this link . This page will provide general announcements, game summaries, league standings and season recaps.
  • Click here to view the Middle School Photo Gallery.

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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