Of Robots and Golden Gavels

Dear Families:

This past weekend was a busy one for LREI students. On Saturday, a group of fifth and sixth grade students participated in the Robo-Expo. The Robo-Expo is an event for middle school students, with a shared interest in Robotics, to come together to share work and ideas. The event consisted of exhibitions and a series of challenges for student-made robots. Exhibitors demonstrated their robots, explained how they worked, and talked about the programming code they used. This year’s challenges included a number of timed line-following problems. These tasks called on robots to follow patterns of lines on the floor. There was also the “Climb the Ramp” challenge, which required robots to climb a ramp, stop at the top, and then reverse direction and go back down the ramp backwards. A final task was the “Get Out of the Box” challenge, which required robots to maneuver out of a box with only a small opening for an exit. Under the guidance of teachers Sherezada Acosta and Steve Neiman, our students had a great time preparing for and participating in the event. This year’s participants included fifth graders Atlas, Isabella, and Liam C., and sixth graders Jimmy, Zaran, Tariye and Ella.

Also on Saturday, the group of students who have been working all year as part of the Model Congress team participated in their much-anticipated culminating Congress. Nearly 200 middle school students from 13 area independent schools, including LREI, sent delegations of model legislators to the event. For the past six months, teachers Sharyn Hahn and Sheila Kanchwala worked with the team members to write bills, which they then practiced debating and prepared possible amendments to the bills. When students arrived at the event, they broke off into one of 17 separate committees based upon the content of their bills. These committees are designed 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 passed committee were reviewed in one of four full sessions (House I, House II, Senate I, and Senate II). Three of our four LREI bills moved on to the full sessions for debate. At the end of the day, the “Golden Gavel” was awarded to those students (one from each committee) who were deemed to be the best prepared by their respective committee chairs. Eighth graders Harry and Nick were recognized for their efforts with Harry receiving a “Golden Gavel” and Nick receiving an honorable mention. The other members of the Model Congress team included fifth graders Rachel, Rene, Kymbia, and Diana, sixth grader Ama and seventh grader Annie.

Congratulations to all for their hard work and for representing LREI so well!

This Week’s Attachments
(Click on the links below to open the attachments. If you are having trouble opening the links, go to http://www.lrei.org/weekly/ms/ to access the files.)General:
LREI Summer Institute Flyer
2006 Arts Festival Workshops
Eighth Grade:
Seventh Grade:
Sixth Grade:
Fifth Grade:

Of General Interest . . .

1) Not to be missed! The Middle School Musical KISS ME, KATE. 3 performances only! Friday, May 5th, at 7PM and Saturday, May 6th, at 2PM and at 7PM. Tickets are available in the Sixth avenue lobby and are $8 in advance and $10 at the door. Come out and support our young Middle School thespians as they launch this hilarious classic musical comedy. A meeting of Cole Porter and William Shakespeare. For an added touch, director Julia Collura invites all audience to dress in 1940s or Shakespearean era attire.

2) Please join us for a reception to meet incoming High School Principal Ruth Geyer Jurgensen on Monday, May 8th from 6:00 PM to 7:30 PM at Charlton Street (see the attached invitation).

3) Coming May 13th, 7:00 PM at Charlton Street – the annual Human Rights Coffeehouse! There are still some slots available for members of the community to participate with music, poetry, or any other material with a human rights theme. This Coffeehouse is co-organized by mathematics/music teacher Micah Dov Gottlieb and the High School Human Rights Club. If you are interested, please contact Micah at mdgottlieb@lrei.org.

4) From High School Principal Tony Fisher: The 2006 LREI High School Arts Festival was last Friday. Students in grades eight through twelve took three-hour workshops taught by alumni, parents and friends of LREI, followed by an afternoon presentation assembly. Please see the attached attached’>list of workshops. Congratulations to the High School Arts Department for putting together a fantastic program!

5) May Book Fair – The Literary Committee will have a Spring into Summer Book Fair in the Auditorium on May 25th. A selection of the optional and all of the required reading titles will be sold from 8:00AM-6:30PM.

6) Summers at LREI announces the LREI Institute. Please read the attached flyer for information about this exciting summer opportunity for students.

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

8) 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. You can access their on-line calendar of events at www.parentsinaction.org.

For Eighth Grade Families . . .
1) If you have not done so already, please make sure that you have returned the DC trip permission form.

2) Please note the following change to the Seventh and Eighth Grade Softball Team practice schedule: Practices will be held on Thursday and Friday mornings at Houston Field from 7:15-8:15AM. The previously scheduled Thursday afternoon practices will not take place as they conflict with a number of scheduled game dates.

For Seventh Grade Families . . .
1) Please note the following change to the Seventh and Eighth Grade Softball Team practice schedule: Practices will be held on Thursday and Friday mornings at Houston Field from 7:15-8:15AM. The previously scheduled Thursday afternoon practices will not take place as they conflict with a number of scheduled game dates.

For Sixth Grade Families . . .
1) The intramural softball schedule can be found at http://lrei.org/athletics/mssoftball.html.

For Fifth Grade Families . . .
1) The intramural softball schedule can be found at http://lrei.org/athletics/mssoftball.html.

Middle School Sports
Schedules and general information about Middle School sports programs can be found at http://lrei.org/athletics/at_4b.html. Information is also available through the LREI Sports Hotline at 212.477.5316 x 494.

Looking Ahead . . .
On the LREI web site additional information about upcoming events can be found at http://www.lrei.org/caleven/index.html (the middle school events page can be found at http://www.lrei.org/midschool/Events.html)

  • Friday, April 28th, 12:10PM – 3:00PM – School closes at noon for Family Conferences
  • Thursday, May 4th, 8:00AM– Lesbian/Gay/ Straight Alliance Meeting in the Sixth Avenue cafeteria.
  • Friday, May 5th — Middle School Musical @ 7PM
  • Saturday, May 6th — Middle School Musical @ 2PM and 7PM
  • Tuesday, May 9th – Friday, May 12th — Eighth Grade trip to Gettysburg/DC
  • Saturday, May 13th — It’s My Park Day
  • Tuesday, May 16th, 8:15AM — Parent Rep Meeting
  • Tuesday, May 16th, 6:30PM – MS Sports/Extracurricular Awards Night
  • Thursday, May 18th, 6:30PM – Spring Concert
  • Sunday, May 21st — AIDS Walk
  • Wednesday, May 24th, 6:30PM – HS New Families Reception
  • Thursday, May 25th, 8:00AM-6:30PM — May Book Fair
  • Thursday, May 25th, 10:15AM — Sixth grade to Carnegie Hall for a LinkUp! concert
  • Thursday, May 25th, 6:00PM — Middle School Parents of Children of Color meeting
  • Thursday, May 25th, 6:30PM — Eighth Grade Forensics Trial
  • Thursday, May 25th – Book Fair in auditorium
  • Friday, May 26th – Field Day – School Closes at noon for Memorial Day Weekend
  • Monday, June 5th, 3:30PM – HS Placement Exams
  • Tuesday, June 6th, 8:00AM – Sixth Grade Potluck and Poetry Breakfast
  • Wednesday, June 7th, 3:30PM – HS Placement Exams
  • Wednesday, June 7th, 6:30PM – Fifth Grade Grecian Festival and Potluck
  • Thursday, June 8th, 8:15AM – Seventh Grade Potluck Breakfast and Constitution Works!
  • Friday, June 9th – High School Graduation – School closes at noon.
  • Friday, June 9th, 6:00PM – Eighth Grade Pre-Moving Up Party
  • Monday, June 12th, 6:00PM – MS Dance
  • Tuesday, June 13th, 9:00AM – MS Moving Up Ceremony – School closes at noon for Summer Break

Don’t forget to check the LREI website for updates and interesting information – http://www.lrei.org.

Be well,
Mark

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