Director’s blog, December 2010
LREI in the Community
Not surprisingly, the weeks between Thanksgiving and Winter Break are busy ones at LREI. So much to do, so little time. In this week’s blog you will find announcements of, and invitations to, many events including the Book Week events (the Literary Evening, classroom visits, assemblies and the annual book fair), to a number of other Parents Association events and to a long list of students events including the Winter Concert, the Afterschool Share/Instrumental Concert and a variety of grade specific opportunities. In the coming weeks, I encourage you to read the blog and other announcements carefully – I wouldn’t want you to miss a moment of all that is being offered.
Less well know, but very important to our progressive program, are the many ways in which our students and teachers are out and involved in the wider community. These endeavors include:
• Second graders are leading the Lower School’s participation in LREI’s support of the St. John’s Food Pantry. LREI has a long relationship with St. John’s. We send a significant amount of foodstuff to this program, helping to provide nutrition to many thousands of clients. In fact, we will share half of the profits from the sales of our upcoming community potluck cookbook with St. John’s. Thank you, second graders. Also at St. John’s, middle school advisory groups regularly assist with the packaging and distribution of foodstuffs to pantry clients.
• Fifth and Sixth graders participated in the VT MIDI Project. “The purpose of the Vermont MIDI Project is to encourage and support students in composing and arranging music. A community of professional composers, teachers, pre-service educators, and students engage in mentoring and online discussion of student work.” Students worked on original compositions, were mentored on-line and submitted their final projects. Three LREI students were among the 19 chosen to have their pieces performed in concert in Burlington next week. Congratulations to middle school music teacher Matt McLean and to his students. On December 16th, Dr. Sean Reed, director of Brass Studies at NYU, will lead an ensemble of NYU faculty and student musicians (along with other professional musicians) in performances of student compositions.
• High School English teacher Ileana Jimenez writes on her blog, Feminist Teacher, “After much planning and rehearsing, half of the students in my Fierce and Fabulous: Feminist Women Writers, Artists, and Activists class and I finally got up on stage at TEDxYouth Day held at the Hewitt School in New York. The theme of this year’s TEDxYouth was “Be the Change,” and all talks were live-streamed globally. During our 16 minute talk, each of my students and I spoke about how we came to our feminist voice.” Congratulations to the members of this class who truly connected learning and life, classroom and their community. Congratulations to junior Grace Tobin who, in addition to her participation in TEDx, also spoke before a City Council hearing.
• Lower School Librarian Stacy Dillon was a presenter at the 92nd St. Y’s Wonderplay Conference where she spoke on the topic of using wordless picture books in the classroom to foster imagination and support literacy.
• Jennifer Hubert Swan, Library department chair, led a seminar hosted by the Ocean County (NJ) Library to teach librarians and educators how to write and deliver book talks that keeps kids hyped and hungering to read the book. Swan will also discuss the “Best of the Best” teen books from 2010.
• Junior Lucia Zerner received a Gold Award from Families with Children from China for performing over 250 hours of community service.
• LREI high school students participated in the City Year NY Service Day at PS 112/206, sponsored by Students for Service and Joint Schools Activities, Inc. Working alongside City Year corps members, the participants were able to transform a school where City Year has been serving since 2008. In just four hours, the students painted 25 murals, a large welcome sign, and 20 pairs of memory tiles; built and painted 10 bookshelves and three cubbies; and shellacked three existing mural benches.
We are so proud of the ways in which LREI’s students and faculty are involved in the wider community—harnessing their expertise and all that they have learned in the classroom and giving of themselves in the service of others. Well done!
Best,
Phil
Updates and Announcements:
Exam week begins on Monday with Reading Day and ends with Community Service day on Friday. Please see last week’s blog post for details.
LREI Winter Concert: Join us on Tuesday, December 14th, to see LREI students at their musical best. The concert will start at 6:30PM in the Eisner & Lubin Auditorium, which is located on the 4th floor of NYU’s Kimmel Center located at 60 Washington Square South. This wonderful annual event features performances by all three divisional choruses, the middle and high school jazz bands and the high school brass ensemble.
1. The Middle School is proud to present William Shakespeare’s much-loved, A Midsummer Night’s Dream. This vibrant and colorful production, which features thirty middle school students, is ideal for the whole family. Join us as we enter a world in which fairies are mischievous and interfere with mortals lives and where love, revenge, jealousy and magic entangle the human world with the fairy kingdom. This is a “must see” production, with many strong performances from our cast of sixth through eighth graders. Tickets are on sale in the Sixth Avenue lobby starting on Friday, December 3rd and on the days leading up to the shows. Performances are scheduled for Friday Dec 10th at 7:00PM, and Saturday, Dec 11th at 2:00PM and 7:00pPM. Tickets are $12 adults and $10 students, children and senior citizens.
2. Our brand-new community cookbook, Downtown Potluck, a wonderful compilation of recipes from our talented parents and teachers, makes its debut next week at Literary Evening, Tuesday, December 7th. The cookbook will be on sale at the event and then the next day, Wednesday, December 8th, at the Book Fair, through Friday, December 10th. The book costs $25 for those in our community and supplies are limited. Think of it for your holiday gift-giving. If you pre-ordered a cookbook, please pick it up at the book fair, or email cookbook@LREI.org.
3. High School Presentation on Renewable Energy: Please come out and hear our dynamic High School students speak about various renewable energy options. Whether it is wind, solar or geothermal energy that you are interested in, you will be impressed by the next generation’s understanding of the issues. The presentation is being held on Wednesday, December 8th at 8:45AM in the Sixth Avenue cafeteria. Bring a cup of coffee and learn something new.
4. The Literary Committee invites you to its annual Literary Evening on Tuesday, December 7, 7-9:30 PM, at the Charlton St. PAC. This year’s evening, entitled Prime Cuts, will feature writers who focus on food (and drink!) in their work: Josh Kilmer-Purcell (The Bucolic Plague), Garrett Oliver (The Brewmaster’s Table), Monique Truong (The Book of Salt), Brett Martin (Top Chef: The Cookbook), and Zarela Martinez (Food from My Heart). Our MC is Daphne Rubin-Vega. Please join us for an appetizing evening. Tickets will go on sale after Thanksgiving; click here for more information.
5. WINTER CONCERT: CAROLS AND CARMINA. The Glass Menagerie Chorus, LREI’s resident adult chorus, conducted by Susan Glass, will perform its winter concert on Saturday, December 11th, at 8pm, at St. Joseph’s Church, 6th Ave. and Washington Place. See attached for more details.
6. There is still time to sign up for the second two terms of Adult r(ED). Don’t miss out! Click here for details!