May 8, 2008

Authentically Cool

Dear Families,

If you’ve walked up or down the Middle School staircase the this past week, you may have noticed a few students “hanging around” on the walls. They are the result of a project that’s was carried out in Heather, Sherezada and Sharyn’s Thursday advisory group. As Heather writes:

The fifth grade advisory has been exploring the effect the media has on what kids think of as “cool.” We discussed the difference between someone who is “media cool” (heavily influenced by the media) and “authentically cool” (someone who is an independent thinker). We decided that kids that are influenced a lot by the media feel they can only wear specific brands and tend to spend a lot of money on clothes. The “authentically cool” kids, on the other hand, tend to have more diverse interests and are also more accepting of all types of people. They don’t care about fitting in and tend to be an inspiration to other kids.

Their research led them to create profiles for a number of typical students who exemplified these two categories. The text that accompanies these portraits really gets gets at the heart of the matter:

Click on the pictures to view the full-size image

This is Johnny, our “media cool” kid. As you can see, Johnny is wearing “cool” and expensive clothes. Johnny isn’t actually “cool,” he just wears clothes that he thinks make him look “cool.”
This is an example of our “media cool” kid, which basically means that she is influenced by what he sees in ads and on TV programs and commercials. The brands she wears are glad to have her as a walking advertisement for their products.
This is Kate. She is “authentically cool.” She is a big fan of the Artemis Fowl books and lows to speak French. She does not care what other people think about her — especially her glasses and braces. She wears cargo pants, French shirt and a pair of cheap, comfortable shoes. She is courteous, adventurous and perky.
This is Michelle. Michelle is a “media cool” kid. She doesn’t have many of her own ideas about what is “cool.” She and her friends are not nice to other kids unless they wear “cool” clothes and have the “right” brands.
This is Jasmine. Jasmine is “authentically cool.” She is not influenced by the media or by her friend. She has her won ideas about what is cool and doesn’t feel any pressure from her friends to wear certain things. She and her friends are too busy having fun to care only about Shopping and clothes.
This is Michael. He is “media cool” and only cares about getting new and cool stuff that the media approves. He doesn’t have a lot of free time to do fun things because he’s always shopping. He is never satisfied with what he has because he always wants the next cool thing.
This is Raquel. She is “authentically cool.” This means she’s what she wants to be and doesn’t care what people think . She’s a little sporty, a little girly and lots of fun. She knows who she is and that won’t change even though the media influences a lot of people.

There thoughtful work in class has given us all a lot to think about as we maneuver through the Middle School halls. Well done!

Here are a few other “authentically cool” pieces of news:

A hearty congratulations to the LREI Middle School Robotics team who returned last week from their successful journey to Tokyo, Japan. They had an incredible experience as cultural ambassadors and performed well in the competition. They were also recognized by the tournament officials for their efforts to support the other US team from the Bronx so that they could also make the journey to Japan. Thank you for representing LREI so well!

Congratulations also to the members of the LREI Model Congress Delegation. The delegates for the Model Congress this year were fifth graders Marcelo, Odelia, Lola, Danielle, Michelle and Simmon and seventh grader Diana. The group has been working with faculty facilitator Sharyn Hahn since the end of January to write bills, prepare speeches, read other students’ bills from the other schools that participate, and learn about and practice parliamentary procedure. The team spent the entire day at Packer Collegiate High School on Saturday, April 26th for the annual culminating event.

Nearly 200 middle school students from 13 area independent schools, including LREI, sent delegations of model legislators to the event. When students arrive at the event, they break off into one of 17 separate committees based upon the content of their bill. These committees are meant to resemble actual congressional committees and include Judiciary, Education, Health, Housing & Urban Affairs, and Science Space & Technology. After a morning committee session filled with heated debate and criticism, the bills that pass committee are reviewed in one of four full sessions. (House I, House II, Senate I, and Senate II).

As Sharyn notes:

Our delegates had a great time and learned a lot; they all are looking forward to next year! This year, all of our bills all had to do with the environment and sustainability. Diana’s and Lola’s and Danielle’s bills passed and were debated in the full sessions. The others had a tough fight in their committees! In the plenary session in the afternoon several of the fifth graders spoke out on various topics. I was impressed by their thoughtfulness and their courage to speak out in these large groups sessions.

Since we’re in the mode for congratulations, kudos to the sixth-eighth grade French students participated in the National French Contest, which was given in March. The test was given all across the country in both independent and public schools. We had several students who did very well, and a few who have been invited to the formal awards ceremony on June 14th. At the ceremony, students from all over the Metropolitan area will be honored. The following students achieved scores that placed them in the top 10th percentile in the metropolitan area: Seventh grader Lily and eighth graders Gaia, Talia, Ella, Hannah S., and Sophia. Other students who received
There were other students who deserve recognition but did not meet the cut-off needed to be included in the list published by the National Association of Teachers of French. They are: sixth grader Katharine and eighth graders Michelangelo, Robbie, Henry, Brianna, and Emma in the 8th grade, and Katherine M. in the 6th grade. Felicitations!

Be well,
Mark