Dear Families:

While the eighth grade is away this week in Gettysburg and DC as part of their core curriculum (click here to view pictures and updates from the trip Twitter page), I thought I’d take the opportunity to share with you another important piece of their learning journey, which culminated on April 29th.

The eighth grade core curriculum explores a range of social justice themes connected to the study of US history and literature from the Civil War through the Civil Rights Era. Throughout the year, students look at a cross-section of individuals who have taken a stand on social justice issues and who have “chosen to participate.” In turn, we ask the same of our students as they explore a range of pressing social justice issues. As with last year’s class, this year’s eighth grade choose to focus it’s inquiry on issues related to sustainability. So for the past five months, the eighth graders have been researching these issues as part of their core curriculum.

Their research into sustainability led them to organizations and volunteer opportunities that have helped them to better understand this crucial issue. As leaders in the Middle School, the eighth graders then planned a Teach-In for the students in grades five through seven. This day included a series of assemblies and student-run workshops that framed their experiences over the past five months and suggested ways for their classmates to take action on this issue.

Here is a sampling of the workshops that were offered:

• Public Service Announcements: Giving Hope for Animals
  During this workshop, you will learn information about stray animals in New York City and animal cruelty. Participants will then use this information to make print PSA (public service announcements) about this issue and its impact on our city. If you are an animal lover and want to make a difference, join this workshop!
• Save a Cat; Don’t be Dog!
  We’ll learn about the not-always-positive experience that many animals have  in animal shelters, we’ll watch a short movie, and then see how much we’ve learned by playing a fast-pased game.
• Hunting for the Facts
  In our workshop, you will participate in a “hunt” for animal rights.  With a series of clues and some very valuable information, you and your group will learn about the importance of ethical treatment of animals as you race to answer questions about a certain animal-related issue.
• Wiggle
  In this workshop, you will learn about the wonders of red wiggle worms and how they help our planet sustain itself.  You will engage in a hands-on activity with the worms as we make our own composting bins.  You will feed the worms and make their home while learning how they help our planet.
• CATastrophic Crackers
  Participants will bake kitten cookies for the homeless cats at Ollie’s place (a non- profit cat shelter).  These cookies will be made with all organic flour and will be delivered to Ollie’s place after the workshop.  Learn about this important issue while you help feed animals that were not getting the proper nutrition!
• Reaching to Save the Screeching
  This workshop teaches you about Screech Owls in Central Park and the efforts people have made in sustaining and protecting their habitat.  You will learn about the owls’ living and eating habits as well as the projects that are in place to save them.  As part of the workshop, we will dissect owl pellets to learn more about the owls’ diet and how this is connected to the survival challenges that they face.
• You Can Taste a Sandwich, but Some People Can’t
  In this workshop, participants will learn impiortant facts about food pantires in NYC. You will also make sandwiches for the hungry and will designing a message for the recipient of your sandwich to be included in the bag. The sandwiches we make will be delivered to the Grand Central Food Station Wednesday night and you will have a direct and immediate impact on feeding the hungry!
• Wind Wizards
  In this workshop, you will learn the importance of wind-generated energy and alternative energy sources.  We will build wind turbines in groups and then we will try to power a light bulb with the turbines!
• Renewable Fuel & Green Technology
  In this workshop, you will learn about the incredible concepts connected to Green technologies and renewable fuels.  In an interactive set-up, you will explore different types of technology and how renewable fuels such as biodiesel work.  We will look at solar panels, wind turbines, wave turbine and a selction of  renewable fuel.  You will be able to experiment with and learn about the challenges associated with these different technologies.  We will also learn about which states are causing the most pollution and why this is the case. Participants will then take on the role of a government official and will draft a short bill to describe their plan of action to make their state go green!
• Little Green School House
  In this workshop, we will explore green architecture and a “greener” more sustainable way of living a modern life. We will do this by applying sustainable building practices to a construction of “green” gingerbread houses. This workshop will allow you to identify the most essential elements of green architecture, by using your knowledge and creativity to green an ideal “green” living space.
• Pin the Green on the Building
  Play a “green” version of the classic game. If you are interested in learning about green architecture and you enjoy fun and games, this is the workshop for you.
• Junk or Art?
  In this workshop, you will make your own musical instrument made out of recycled materials. Using bottles, buttons, and balloons, you will paint and paste your way toward the construction of a homemade instrument.  You will learn that there are many fun and creative ways to reuse, recycle and reduce what too often goes into our landfills.  Come and make ec0-friendly music with your peers!
• RESTYLED
  Have you ever had a shirt that just wasn’t right for you?  In RESTYLED you will give your clothes a second life.  We’ll teach you how to make something beautiful out of something that might otherwise end up in the garbage.  We’ll use recycled materials to decorate your clothing into something you’ll be sure to wear.

Click here and then on “Middle School Earth Day ‘Teach-Ins'” to view photos from the workshops.

The assemblies featured a number of student-created videos, original music and a presentation based on excerpts from the award-winning documentary Flow, which examines the powerful role of water in the sustainability conversation. It was an empowering day and one that profoundly put students at the center of a progressive learning experience. It taught them something about the complexities of organizing and leading an event. I think they also discovered some new found respect for their teachers after having to walk a mile in their shoes.

Throughout the project, students maintained a class blog that was used for recording thoughts and experiences and for collecting feedback from the rest of the Middle School students and teachers following the Teach-In. I encourage you to explore the blog to dig more deeply into the learning experience of our eighth graders.

I am already looking forward to next year’s Teach-In.

On other fronts . . . as most of you are aware, our hiring efforts this season were limited to one position. We met with a number of talented teachers and, as always, I am grateful for the focused and collaborative effort of the middle school team in helping to identify the most promising candidates.  I am pleased to inform you that Elizabeth Simmons will be joining us next year as a seventh grade core teacher. Elizabeth has worked in both public and independent schools and is currently teaching English and humanities in the New York City Public Schools. She made immediate connections with students in her demo lesson and faculty were impressed with her thoughtful reflection on the demo and on her approach to teaching. We look forward to what she will bring to the seventh grade program and to the LREI community.

Of General Interest . . .

1) Please come to the Coffeehouse scheduled for this Saturday, May 16th, at 7:00PM at the Charlton Street PAC. Join us for an evening of readings and musical performances to celebrate the newest issue of IE, the school literary magazine! Enjoy tasty treats, soulful stories, playful poems, moving memoirs and much more!

2) A reminder that the Spring Book Fair is scheduled for Thursday, May 21st. This is a great opportunity to buy titles from the summer reading lists. Click here to download a copy of the Parent Pre-Authorization form, which you can complete and send in so that your child can purchase books at the fair in lieu of bringing cash to school. Please take the time to look over the lists with your child(ren) to pick out which books they would like to have for the summer.   If you have questions as to which books are right for them, please ask their teachers and/or a librarian for help.  We will also have a selection of summer reading for adults.  Happy reading! Not all books on all lists will be available at the fair, but the Literary Committee will do its best to have a wide selection.  We hope that you shop at the fair first, instead of getting your books elsewhere, as the proceeds benefit the LREI Literary Initiative, which supports our libraries and librarians in order to enhance the reading experience for everyone at LREI. Please sign up in the Sixth Ave. lobby if you would like to volunteer to help out at the fair.  Thank you!

3) High School Tenth Grader named Playwriting Finalist! For a dramatic writing project in Meghan’s ninth and tenth drama classes, students were required to write a ten-minute play that they had to complete in five weeks and submit online to a new playwriting contest for teens put together by Elton John and Billy Eliot the Musical in conjunction with Fidelity Investments. All of the plays were quite remarkable, but special congratulations go to tenth grader Ayana who has been named a finalist in the Fidelity FutureStage Playwriting Contest! Ayana’s play entitled “Lucy” was selected as one of the top five plays from 500 submissions from high school students from NY and NJ. Ayana will be honored at the Gala Finale on June 15th at the Imperial Theatre on Broadway.

4) I would again like to thank this year’s Middle School Parent Representatives for their hard work on your behalf in helping to make the Middle School the vibrant learning community that it is. If you are interested in continuing as a rep next year or would like to volunteer to serve as rep for the 2009-2010 school year, please let Fung Lee know. You can email Fung at lee.funglee@gmail.com. Also, each year the Parents Association asks its members to vote on a slate of officers and representatives for the following school year. Attached is the ballot for electing Parent Association Officers for the 2009-2010 school year. All parents/guardians of LREI students are members of the association and are encouraged to vote.  Ballots can also be mailed to the school, please address them to Parents Association Elections. You can print out the attachment or pick up a hard copy of the ballot from the Reception Desk at either the Sixth Avenue or Charlton Street buildings. Ballots need to be returned by Tuesday, June 9th.

5) Plan for a fantastic summer at the LREI Institute! This summer LREI Institute workshops include familiar topics such as Robotics, Rube Goldberg Machines, Moviemaking and Creative Writing, and exciting new ones, including Wilderness Skills with Charles Hassell (with an camping overnight trip), Contemporary Art-Making with Matt Mahler, and Drawing from Nature with Megan Dunphy Gottlieb. LREI Institute takes place at LREI’s Elizabeth Irwin High School for and is for students ages 10-14. The core of the program consists of major and minor workshops, led by teachers from LREI and other specialists. Registration is by two-week sessions. For each session you have the following registration options:

• Major only: 9am-1pm Monday-Thursday, and 9am-4pm on Friday
• Minor only: 1:30pm-4pm Monday-Thursday
• Full Day (including a Major and Minor): 9am-4pm Monday-Friday

Click the links below for a full listing of the workshops offered in each session:

• Session 1: June 22-July 3
• Session 2: July 6-July 17
• Session 3: July 20-July 31

You may register online by going to summers.lrei.org and following the “Register” tab on the right to “Register Now.” Click here for information on program fees. You may contact the Summers at LREI office at 212-477-5316 ext. 506 or by email at cfriesen@lrei.org.

6) From the LREI Lesbian, Gay and Straight Alliance (LGSA): America has struggled in the past with civil rights issues about the basic values of love, commitment, fairness, and freedom. Today’s civil rights conversation is about gay and lesbian families (and their children), who need and deserve the tangible and intangible rights and privileges that come with the ability to marry. The time has come to take action to help all families obtain equal marriage protection in New York State. Marriage equality legislation has been introduced in NY (A07732) and will be decided in the coming weeks. Freedom to marry would assure that everyone in the state, regardless of sexual orientation, is treated equally under the law, and that the American values of fairness, freedom, and choice are upheld. Do something today! Help your friends, family and community members in the fight for civil rights. Please write, phone and email your public officials. And please pass this on to everyone! Click here for additional information about how you can get involved.

7) Red is Green Committee Updates:

• May will be our last recycling drive for the LREI school year. During the month of May we are teaming up with the Community Service Committee. We will be collecting and recycling travel size toiletries. These items will be donated to the Outreach Program at St. Francis Xavier Church on West 15th Street. We need the following UNUSED travel size toiletries: soaps, shampoo, conditioner, moisturizer, toothbrushes, toothpaste, shaving cream and razors. These items will be given out free primarily to homeless individuals who come to the church where they are offered food, clothing and toiletries.
• Don’t forget to check out Lets Go Green’s website for eco-friendly water bottles, garbage bags, light bulbs, paper goods etc. LREI receives 25% of all sales as profit. Thanks for all your help. Start collecting and keep recycling!
• If you have any questions or suggestions, please email the Red is Green committee (lhommen@hotmail.com or kbeck2@nyc.rr.com).

8) Save The Dates: The 2009 LREI Camping Trip will take place the weekend of June 5-7 this year at the Riverbend Group Campground along the Delaware River, about 15 miles North of the Delaware Water Gap. Students and their families may camp Friday and/or Saturday night. Sign-up tables will be in front of the Sixth Avenue entrance on the mornings of Monday, May 11 , Friday, May 22, and Wednesday, May 27. The cost is $30 per adult and $20 per child. Payment can be by cash, check, credit card or PayPal. For more information, click here.

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

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. Please read the attached flyer to view their 2008-2009 calendar. You can also access their website at http://www.parentsinaction.org/.

For All Grades . . .
1) It’s My Park Day: We’ll do some more work on the flower beds in Little Red Square on the morning of Saturday, May 16th. Students and families are welcome to joins us. You are more than welcome to just show up, but if you know you will attend, please email Gabrielle Keller at gkeller@lrei.org.

2) AIDS Walk 2009: The AIDS Walk is an important LREI community service event and is scheduled this year for Sunday, May 17th. We’re hoping for strong representation from all Middle School grades this year. Please remember that students in grades six and below must be accompanied by an adult. Registering for AIDS Walk New York has never been easier. Just click on this link below and choose your registration type (“Join a Team” — we are team #1222). If you prefer, you can always register by phone. Simply call (212) 807-WALK (9255) and they will be happy to register you. If you are not able to walk, please make every effort to support the team by making a donation. You can do this by searching registered teams and enter “Gabrielle Keller” or the name of another LREI team member in the “name” field.

3) Our annual Middle School Awards Night will take place on Tuesday, May 19th, at 6:00PM in the Sixth Avenue auditorium (please note this venue change). This is a wonderful night in which all students in grades five through eight who participated on sports teams and/or in extracurricular activities are recognized for their effort and participation. Students will be recognized for their participation in the following activities: Model Congress, Little Red Singers, Band, Play, Musical, Robotics Team, Rube Goldberg Team, Intramural Soccer, MS Soccer, MS Cross Country, MS Volleyball, Intramural Basketball, MS Boys Basketball, MS Girls Basketball, Intramural Softball, and MS Softball.

4) From chorus director Ledell Mulvaney: The Spring Concert featuring the Little Red Chorus (LS), The Little Red Singers (MS), the Elisabeth Irwin Singers (HS) and the MS and HS jazz bands will perform at our annual Spring Concert on Thursday, May 21st at 6:30 in the PAC. All singers please meet me at 6:00 in the PAC wearing black and white.

5) On Friday, May 22rd, we will hold our annual Field Day and Senior Appreciation at Pier 40. We’re looking forward to an exciting day! School will close at 1:00PM on this day. Click here for buddy t-shirt colors and additional information.

6) A message from librarian Jennifer Hubert Swan: Please keep in mind that as in years past, circulation in the Sixth Avenue library will end on Monday, June 1. This means that we will no longer check books out so that we can prepare the library for our annual inventory of the collection. Please do your very best to return any and all library materials during this week so the librarians can shelve them before starting inventory. This inventory is crucial to maintaining the integrity of our holdings and making sure that what is on our shelves matches what is in our computer catalog. Students and parents can continue to use the library space, computers and materials for independent reading or small group work during this time. If you have any questions or concerns about these procedures, please do not hesitate to speak to me.

7) On Friday, June 5th, the Middle School students will attend our High School Graduation Ceremony held at New York University. Please note that this is not an early dismissal day for Middle School students. Students will leave the Sixth Avenue building at about 12:45PM. At the graduation, Middle School students will be recognized for their hard work, completion of their current grade and their movement to the next and will join in the celebration of the accomplishments of the seniors as they move on to the next phase in their education. As this is a very special occasion, we ask that students dress appropriately—no jeans, no printed T-shirts, shirts with collars and shoes are preferable. After graduation, the students will return to the Sixth Avenue buildings by 3:15PM.

8) Just a heads up that the annual End-of-Year Middle School dance will take place on Friday, June 5th (not the 15th as indicated on the Art calendar). The dance will start at 6:00PM and pizza and ice cream will be provided.

For Eighth Grade Families . . .
1) The eighth graders are scheduled to return from DC around 5:30PM. You can call into the reception desk for updates on their arrival.

2) Please join is on Tuesday, June 9th, at 6:00PM in the Sixth Avenue auditorium for the Science Exploratorium.  This culminating event will afford students an opportunity to share with you the fruits of their independent research on key science concepts that were explored throughout the year.

3) Mark your calendar: Eighth Grade Pre-Moving Up Party, Friday, June 12, 2009. Please arrive by 6:00PM for the Potluck Dinner and Recognition Program, which will be followed by dancing until 9:00PM. The event will take place in the Sixth Avenue auditorium. Please note that due to space consideration, we ask that attendance at this event be limited to parents/guardians and their eighth grader. Additional details from your parent reps will follow.

4) The Moving Up Assembly/Ceremony will take place on Tuesday, June 16th, in the Sixth Avenue auditorium. The assembly will start promptly at 9:00AM and will run until about 10:30AM. Given space constraints we ask that only immediate family members attend (that being said, if there are extenuating circumstances please contact me directly). Immediately following the assembly, the eighth graders will return to their classroom and parents will exit out the Bleecker Street doors and gather by the steps in front of Sarah’s classroom. The rest of the Middle School community will exit the building from the Sixth Avenue side and then join families by the steps. When all are assembled, the eighth graders will receive their certificates and process one-by-one down the steps.

For Seventh Grade Families . . .
1) Building on their Arts Festival experience, all seventh grades will spend tomorrow morning visiting classes at the high school and learning more about the high school program.

2) The seventh grade potluck breakfast and Constitution Works has been rescheduled for Friday, June 12th. The breakfast will begin at 8:00AM in the seventh grade classrooms. Following the potluck, we will leave for Constitution Works program at 9:15AM, which will be conducted at the federal courthouse in Brooklyn. Parents are encouraged to attend this exciting event. Your parent reps will be in touch with you about the potluck breakfast.

For Sixth Grade Families . . .
1 ) On Thursday, May 21st, the sixth grade will have the unique opportunity to participate in a Korean tea ceremony with a tea master who comes from a long lineage of tea masters dating back to the 14th century. Students are currently in the process of making ceramic tea cups in art to use for his event. In addition to its obvious connection to the social studies curriculum, the tea ceremony should be a very meditative and relaxing experience for students.

2) The annual sixth grade poetry and potluck breakfast will take place on Tuesday, June 9th at 8:00AM in the cafeteria. Your parent reps will be in touch with you about the potluck breakfast.

For Fifth and Sixth Grade Families . . .
1) Intramural Softball: If inclement weather necessitates practice having to be canceled, please consult the LREI online calendar, which will indicate that practice has been canceled (please make sure that you have selected and applied the filter for “Sports-MS Intramural Softball;” to do this click on the “Filter Events” link on the left sidebar). This information will be posted by 6AM on the day of the practice. If your child has a glove, s/he should bring it with her/him to the practice/game. If your child does not have a glove, s/he will likely be able to borrow one from another player. Click here to download a permission form. If you have any questions, please contact Larry Kaplan at lkaplan@lrei.org.

For Fifth Grade Families . . .
1) Our annual Grecian Festival will take place on the evening of Wednesday, June 10th at 6:00PM. From 6:00-6:30PM, you are invited to view students’ robotics projects in the computer lab and in the science lab. At 6:30PM, we will convene in the Sixth Avenue auditorium for a dramatic presentation, which will be followed by the fifth grade potluck in the Sixth Avenue cafeteria. Your class reps will be contacting you about the potluck.

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

• View important middle school dates here.
• 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