LREI Alum Faith Holsaert visits the 4th Grade!

img_9207 On Friday September 17th, former LREI student Faith Holsaert came to visit our class. Faith attended LREI from the fours until 6th grade. During her time here, she invited the music teacher, Charity Bailey, to live with her family when she was in the fours. Charity lived with her family for many years. Charity had trouble finding an apartment in the neighborhood because landlords would not rent to African American people. Faith told us about living through the landmark Civil Rights legislation cases of our time and how deeply her time at LREI impacted her view of the world.

We learned so much about what it means to fight for equal rights. During our Q and A, our class asked lots of great questions about her life. Below are some examples of questions we asked.

Sophie: Did you know Martin Luther King?

Faith: I did meet him, in planning for the march on Washington. I was living in Georgia registering voters.

Luca: How was LREI different then and now?

Faith: The rooms are confusing to me even! When you’re on Bleecker, there’s Little Red and then two houses. It was very narrow building, but we did have the roof.

Samuel: What happened to your music teacher? Does she still live with you?

Faith: She died when I was in my 30s. She ended up moving to a different part of NYC, she had taken a job teaching in Scarsdale.

Samuel: Who was the president when you went to Little Red?

Faith: Harry Truman and Dwight Eisenhower.

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The next school day, we wrote Faith some thank you notes. Enjoy reading a small sampling of the thoughtful letters the students wrote.

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Our Thoughts on the First Week of School

Welcome to Dan and Tara’s 4th Grade class! Our first week of school was an exciting one, filled with new experiences, community building and getting to know each other again after a long summer. Read on to find out some of the things that surprised, confused and delighted us at the end of our first week.

jasiri

Jasiri: “I was surprised that we had math as a half group activity and had it at the same time before. Also, I didn’t know that we would have those desks with pockets in them. I like them!”

samuel

Samuel: “I was surprised when we had math twice, and I wasn’t expecting to have Lower School Gathering on the first Friday. When I first heard we would be having it I was worried about who would be the MC.”

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Leo: “I was surprised that on the first day of school we had these big posters all over the room! Shouldn’t we start with nothing on the walls? I’m surprised that we had all these big things on the third day of school.”

dash

Dash: “I was surprised that we had math and tech mixed in half groups. I did enjoy how things just like, things went straight on continuing from third grade math.”

imogen

Imogen: “On the second day of school it felt like the middle of the year. Last year it took a long time to get where it feels like we are.”

wyeth

Wyeth: “I’m glad that some of my friends are in the class.”

mia

Mia: “I’m happy that a lot of my friends are in the class. And I was kind of freaked out that there weren’t any MC’s for Lower School Gathering and I was really surprised about that.”

luc

Luc: “I’m surprised that math is kind of like a little harder but kind of more interesting than third grade math and I feel like everyone’s being a lot more steady now. Last year our class were the last being called for recess and now we are all getting called at the same time. We are more steady.”

lily

Lily: “I kind of feel like when I think of school, I usually think of this classroom, and sometimes I get mixed up because we were in third grade for so long. I’m kind of already used to this being our classroom.”

sophie

Sophie: “My favorite thing about 4th Grade so far is that we get to talk about the presidential election. And it’s weird because like Lily I got used to this classroom really fast. I thought that we would have desks but that’s not until middle school but I like the pockets.”

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Freya: “I really like that we have great teachers, and it was nice to give people hugs after the summer.”

chase

Chase: “I was surprised that doing the [greeting] handshake was really hard because it’s really hard not to mess it up.”

oliver

Oliver: “I’m really happy that we have such great teachers and I’m happy with all the independent reading we are getting and that math is a lot more challenging.”

harlan

Harlan: “I agree with Chase!”

milla

Milla: “I’m glad we get to read a lot, it’s fun and I agree with Oliver.”

beckett

Beckett: “At first I was scared to go into Fourth Grade but now I’m really happy that I have such great teachers.”

luca

Luca: “I’m really happy to have a teacher that likes the Mets!”

mayers

Mayer: “I feel the same as Luca. And I really like the math we’re doing so far.”

cecilia

CC: “I’m shocked that we’re talking so much about the election. And I’m happy we have great teachers, I was happy we got 10 minutes on the roof and I like independent reading.”

gray

Gray: I’m kinda surprised that we weren’t the MC’s for Lower School Gathering today and I enjoyed poetry and I’m glad to see my friends.”

zach

Zach: “On the first day of school I felt like I was in kindergarten again because I was in third grade on the fourth floor and then I went back down to the second.”

That’s all for now! We can’t wait to have a wonderful year.