What’s for Advisory?

Dear LREI Families:

At our most recent Middle School Parent Rep meeting, we talked a bit about some of the projects taking place during our Thursday advisory meetings. Each Thursday afternoon, students and their advisor meet in a group with the advisor and advisees from another grade level group. These mixed grade groups of fifth and sixth graders and groups of seventh and eighth graders engage in community-building and goal-setting activities, have discussions about school issues and issues taking place outside of the school community, and develop and implement a range of service projects. Here are some highlights of the projects that are underway and in development. Advisory groups are:

  • responding to the lack of a crossing guard at the Sixth Avenue and Houston Street intersection with the a letter writing and signature collecting campaign. The letter and signatures will be sent to a number of local officials.
  • planning for field trips around the theme of sustainability
  • planning monthly visits to meet with seniors at the Fulton Senior Center of the Hudson Guild. At their first visit, students shared letters of introduction and then listened to some of the experiences recounted by their new senior “buddies.”
  • visiting first grade classes in the lower school school and using these meetings to think about what it means to be a mentor or role model
  • exploring a variety of games played by children around the world
  • learning about media literacy and how to be a more informed consumer in the digital age
  • planning a sustainability-themed art project
  • producing a movie about the school, which would be a complement to the movie that was made for the school’s seventy-fifth anniversary
  • engaging in a range of community-building activities to better understand what it means to be a seventh grader or an eighth grader

Quite a range of offerings. While these projects are varied in their focus, they all seek to provide opportunities for students and teachers to learn from each other, for students to learn important leadership skills, and for advisors to gain additional insights into the lives of their advisees. Each in their own way, helps to establish an important foundation for the LREI Middle School program.

MS Boy’s Basketball Team Wins Winter Holiday Tournament
The MS Boy’s basketball team played the first game of the the St. Hugh’s/LREI Holiday Invitational Tournament against St. Hugh’s last Thursday, December 6th. The game started out strong for the boys, who hit their first couple of shots and took an 8 point lead. St. Hugh’s three big men and defensive aggressiveness kept them in the game and started to disrupt the up-tempo style of the LREI Knights. As the game started to slip away, Quinn Hood hit a number of big shots to keep LREI in the game. Jack Irving and Cole Kitchen took turns defending the leading scorer from St. Hugh’s. LREI let a 6 point lead slip away in the last 2 minutes and the two teams headed to overtime to decide the outcome. Jimmy Hall had a big game for the Knights on both sides of the court and out muscled St. Hugh’s big men for most of the game. In overtime, he took control and scored the decisive basket. Malcolm Staso hit a huge free throw to clinch the game and send the team to the championship game. On Saturday, December 8th, the team took on Epiphany in the championship game. LREI got off to a great start and never looked back as they won 48-28. Quinn Hood was named Tournament MVP, and Cole Kitchen and Jimmy Hall were named to the All-Tournament team. LREI had contributions from all players who played very unselfish basketball. Congratulations!

Please check the home game schedule for the boys and for the girls and we hope to see you at the Thompson Street Athletic Center.

Also, please check out pictures from the recent robotics team competition, which can be accessed at http://lrei.org/photos/0708/ms/.

This Week’s Attachments
General:
Letter from Kitty Highstein
Visibility Exhibit Letter
Community Service Committee Calendar
Eighth Grade:
DC Trip Payment Letter
Seventh Grade:
Sixth Grade:
Intramural Basketball Schedule/Roster
Fifth Grade:
Intramural Basketball Schedule/Roster

Of General Interest . . .
1) From Middle School drama teacher Joanne Magee: The Middle School Play Treasure Island sets sail this Friday, December 14, at 7PM from Port 40 Charlton Street at the PAC Quay. Voyages will also depart on Saturday, December 15th at 2PM and 7PM. So hoist sail and prepare to cast off! The cast and crew of Treasure Island invite you attend a performance of this adaptation of one of the world’s best loved stories of all time. In this Middle School production, students tell the story of how Jim Hawkins leaves home for his first sea adventure on the good ship Hispaniola with the likes of Long John Silver, the ship’s cook. Our production is filled with energy and humor and a touch of poetic license. Tickets are on sale in the mornings (8:00-8:30AM) in the Sixth Avenue lobby and are $8 in advance and $10 at the door. However, it is advised you buy your ticket in advance to avoid disappointment with a possible sold out show. This show is appropriate for all ages!

2) Please join us for the annual Winter Concert, which is scheduled for Tuesday, December 18th, 6:30 – 7:30PM, at the PAC. This is wonderful event that features the three divisional choruses and the high school jazz band.

3) From the LREI Family Handbook….Gifts to Teachers: If your child wants to give his or her teacher a gift at winter break, the end of the year, or any other time during the year, a homemade gift or drawing is welcome and appreciated. A group gift from parents and children in the class may be given at the end of the school year. It has been our experience that individual gifts, though thoughtfully intended, may be misinterpreted by the children and, consequently, we discourage this. Thank you for your awareness and cooperation.

4) From School Nurse Kitty Highstein: As we head into the winter months when all of us become more susceptible to the illnesses this season brings, we need to be especially careful about when children who have been out sick are sent back to school. Please read the attached letter for some guidelines we would like you to follow.

5) From the Community Service Committee: Please view the calendar of events, a few highlights are below:

  • The Hudson Guild has need of volunteers on Tuesday, December 25, from 9:30AM  to 1:30PM. Please contact Joseph Barretto at 212.760.9803 phone or email jbarretto@hudsonguild.org to sign up before attending. This is a popular volunteer event so call early!
  • An important note from Sarah and Victor’s advisees: Last Wednesday, December 5th, our eighth graders helped hand out food at St. John’s Food Pantry, after the seventh graders in our advisory bagged up the food the day before. After finishing Wednesday afternoon, we were lucky enough to be given a tour of their facilities by Joe Spicketts, the director of the Food Pantry. During this tour we were shown the stock of food for the up-coming holiday season. Joe informed us that he was unable to receive the necessary amount of canned pink salmon and canned ham they need to feed the number of families coming to them over the holidays. We decided that we are going to have a salmon (canned, 15-16 oz.) and ham (canned) drive to supply St. John’s Food Pantry with what they need. This is a great organization that feeds families from 14th Street to 60th Streets, river to river, with no questions asked, other than a proof of address. Many of us have been volunteering here for all of Middle School years, and we are very strongly committed to getting them, and the families they serve, what they need during the holidays. We urgently request that everyone in the Middle School community please bring in as many cans of pink salmon and ham as you can, before our winter break, as a lot of New York families need to be fed this holiday season! Thank you, Ava and Cellie (Sarah’s eighth grade advisees)

6) Please read the attached letter from the LREI Lesbian Gay Straight alliance (LGSA) announcing the upcoming Visibility show.

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. Please read the attached flyer to view their 2007-2008 calendar. You can also access their website at http://www.parentsinaction.org/.

For Eighth Grade Families . . . .
No updates this week.

For Seventh Grade Families . . .
Thank you all for your active participation in yesterday’s wonderful Colonial Museum and for the fine food for our celebratory potluck.

For Sixth Grade Families . . .
1) Please read the attached schedule/team roster for the fifth and sixth grade intramural basketball program. Please note the following change to the schedule: Practices will start on January 8th and 9th. All players must bring a completed permission form to the first practice. Click here to download a permission form.

For Fifth Grade Families . . .
1) From music teacher Henry Chapin: The entire fifth grade will be singing at this year’s Winter Concert, which is scheduled for Tuesday, December 18th, 6:30 – 7:30PM, in the PAC. Students must wear chorus dress: a solid color shirt, and black pants or skirt. Please no t-shirts, or sweat pants. Students may bring chorus dress to school, and they will have time to change. The fifth grade chorus members should arrive for warm-ups and seating at 6:00PM. Parents will be asked by ushers to remain outside the PAC until doors open at 6:15PM. The concert will last approximately one hour, and the grand finale will involve all choruses. We ask that you do not leave the concert after the fifth grade chorus sings, and remain until the completion of the program. Singing in the Winter Concert is the culmination of much of the fifth grade music curriculum this Fall, was announced at curriculum night, has been announced to classes, and the concert is on all LREI calendars and schedules. It is important that your child experience this process of making art. If there are extenuating circumstances that will result in your child not being able to attend, please let me know directly. My email is hchapin@lrei.org.

2) Please read the attached schedule/team roster for the fifth and sixth grade intramural basketball program. Please note the following change to the schedule: Practices will start on January 8th and 9th. All players must bring a completed permission form to the first practice. Click here to download a permission form.

For additional information, follow these links:

Don’t forget to check the LREI website for updates and other interesting school-related information.

Be well,
Mark

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