January 15, 2009

Robots, Scholars and Bees! Oh, my!

Dear Families,

Congratulations again to the members of the Middle School Robotics Teams who continued their winning ways with excellent performances at this past weekend’s FIRST Lego League Manhattan borough competition. Both teams have now qualified for the citywide competition that will take place at the Javits Center in March. The Advanced Team won 1st place in the Champion’s Award category. It “is the most prestigious award that any team can win. It celebrates the ultimate success of the FIRST mission and FLL values”. When the scores from their Project Presentation, Technical Presentation, Robot Performance and Teamwork were added they received the highest score out of the whole event. The Rookie Team won 2nd place in the Robot Design Award category where “judges look for teams whose robot stands out for innovation and dependability”. This is an incredible achievement for a group of kids in their first competition. Click here for pictures of the event.

On the subject of achievement, I want to acknowledge our 2008-2009 Irwin Scholars. The Irwin Scholars program is a merit-based scholarship that recognizes eighth graders for their sustained commitment to academic excellence, active participation in the life of the Middle School, service to the community, demonstrated leadership, and the potential to serve as a community leader in the High School. This year we had a most excellent cohort of applicants; this made the selection process all the more difficult because the quality of applicants was so strong. I would like to extend my thanks on behalf of the faculty and administration to all of the applicants for their thoughtful essays and am pleased to share with you the 2008-2009 Irwin Scholars. They are Liam C., Thomas, Dominic, Edith, Anna, Isabella and David.

At this Wednesday’s Middle School Meeting, we had our annual National Geography Bee. To kick off the Bee competitions, last week at Middle School meeting we were joined be documentary filmmaker Celine Cousteau. Celine, the daughter of ocean explorer Jean-Michel Cousteau and granddaughter of legendary filmmaker Jacques Cousteau, spoke to us about her many projects and expeditions around the globe and her efforts to raise awareness about our relationship to the natural world and to each other. Her visit was truly inspirational.

Following Celine’s visit, students competed in their homerooms to identify our eight finalists. The first round was exciting and challenging. Students pondered a range of questions and supported each other as we worked through this preliminary competition. A number of these competitions were decided by tie breakers, which added to the excitement. So with a thank you first to all of those students who participated, the participants in the Final Round were as follows: Fifth Grade – Atticus and Ethan G., Sixth Grade – Andrew and Carlo., Seventh Grade – Julian and Logan, and Eighth Grade – Dominic and Edith. At the end of the Final Round, two students – Ethan G. and Julian – moved on to the Championship Round. The Championship Round was decided after 3 questions with Julian emerging as the champion. Next week, he will take the qualifying exam for the State Geography Bee competition. The state level competition will take place in the spring in Albany, NY. Congratulations to all of the finalists for a job well done!

In addition to the good fun that the National Geography Bee provides, it also points to the critical importance that a basic understanding of geography plays in being an informed citizen of the world. As technology makes the world smaller and increases our interconnectedness, we should not let ourselves be fooled into thinking that the boundaries, borders, and geographic features of our planet don’t matter any more. The geography of our planet provides a key to understanding important aspects of history and culture and provides a lens for focusing on issues that are “of the moment.” Knowing where something is by necessity establishes a relationship between places. With an understanding of place, we can gain a deeper insight into the people who inhabit that place while we simultaneously gain new insights about our own place in the world. It is these moments of insight that help to define us and our relationship to the larger world.

So much to be proud of in the middle school. With the third quarter just underway and second quarter reports about to go out, this is a great time to check in with your child about their developing strengths as scholars, technological innovators, and citizens of the world.

I hope that you will also make Monday, January 19th “A Day On and Not a Day Off” in honor of MLK and the historic inauguration of Barack Obama, which we will watch live as a Middle School community on Tuesday. Click here for a list of service opportunities for youth and families on the MLK holiday.

Of General Interest . . .
1) Important Dates:

January 15, 2009: Re-enrollment contracts will be mailed to all families no later than this date.
February 1, 2009: Re-enrollment contracts are due.

2) Save the Date for Karamu! Friday January 23rd… Karamu! is a multicultural celebration of music, dance, and food celebrating the diversity of our school and community.

Tickets go on sale Tuesday, January 22nd.… Karamu! always sells out; get your tickets early (discounted tickets available – contact Juliet Burrows: julietburrows@mac.com)
We need food and volunteers!.. Sign up boards are in the 6th Ave. lobby – please volunteer and join this wonderful community building event.
If you would like to solicit a donation of food or wine from a restaurant or business please use this letter and forward information to Juliet

3) A message from Chap, Director of Diversity and Community:

Bring The Conversation Home:
Strategies for addressing challenging diversity topics your child brings home:
Socioeconomic Class Part II

We invite you to attend Bring the Conversation Home, Part 2 during which Dr. Patricia Romney, President and Founder of Romney Associates, will return to LREI to facilitate a second parent diversity discussion addressing issues of class. The focus of Dr. Romney’s work is change. Using her finely honed assessment skills as a starting point for change efforts, she has assisted organizations in the areas of diversity, community building, and leadership development. Join us for one or both of the following events:

Wednesday, January 28, 6:00 PM– 8:00 PM in the Charlton Street Library
(Please RSVP to the receptionist if you will need childcare for this event.)
Thursday, January 29, 8:30AM-10:30 AM in the Sixth Avenue Cafeteria

4) Red is Green Committee’s January Holiday Card Recycling Drive

January is recycle your greeting cards month! Save all your cards this holiday season and we’ll be collecting them in January. St. Jude’s Ranch accepts recycled cards which they use to make “green” holiday cards. The proceeds go towards helping abused, abandoned and neglected children.
Last chance: You can drop off your old sneakers in the collection boxes located in the lobbies of the Sixth Avenue and Charlton Street campuses through January 15. This drive is part of the Nike Re-Use A Shoe program. Shoes will be ground up and recycled into outdoor basketball courts, volleyball courts, tennis courts, soccer fields and playgrounds.

5) The first Coffeehouse for 2009 will be on February 7th at 7:00PM in the Charlton Street PAC. The High School Community Service Roundtable will be sponsoring this event. If you would like to participate or your child would like to participate, please contact Micah at 212-477-5316, x 304. The coffeehouse on the calendar for Janunary 24th is canceled.

6) Calling All Embroidery Buffs! Embroider a square for the 2009 Big Auction Community Quilt. All squares must be completed by February 1, 2009. Please see the PDF for details.

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 2008-2009 calendar. You can also access their website at http://www.parentsinaction.org/.

February 9, 2009
Teen Scene XXIII
Park East Day School, 164 East 68th Street (between Third and Lexington Avenues)
6:00-8:00 pm
Co-sponsored with Parents League. Panelists: Independent School Teenagers. Moderator: Lucy Martin Gianino. Space is limited.RSVP Required. For reservations, click here.

This Week’s Attachments
General:
Eighth Grade:
DC Trip Registration Form
Seventh Grade:
Fifth Grade:
Sixth Grade:

For All Grades . . .
1) Just a reminder that the Middle School dance originally scheduled for Friday, January 9th, has been rescheduled for Friday, January 30th. The dance will start at 6:30PM for fifth graders and at 7:00PM for sixth through eighth graders. The dance will end at 8:30PM for fifth and sixth graders and at 9:00PM for seventh and eighth graders. Permission slips will go out the week of the dance.

2) Middle School “Pajama Day” is scheduled for tomorrow. Highlights will include hot chocolate and cookies at lunch and stories read by eighth graders during independent reading. Here are a few guidelines, which were developed by the Student Representatives on the occasion of the first Pajama Day:

Just because it’s Pajama Day doesn’t mean the dress code went to sleep
A robe adds a nice touch
No lingerie or underwear
If you wear boxers, please wear some type of undergarment beneath
Slippers are fine, but you should bring a pair of shoes/sneakers (especially if you have PE)
Blankets and stuffed animals are welcomed, but should not be so big that they require their own desk
If you don’t wear pajamas, we do not want to know about it!
If you can imagine Mark wearing it, it is probably okay.

For Eighth and Seventh Grade Families . . .
1) Boys and girls practice and basketball schedules are online:

For Eighth Grade Families . . .
1) There student-parent meeting for the spring Spanish class trip will take place on Thursday, January 28th, at 8:00AM. This is in lieu of the meeting that appears on the Art Calendar for March 4th. If you have questions, please contact Gabrielle Keller.

2) A reminder that final payments are due on February 18th. If you have payment questions, please let me know. If you have not registered, please do so ASAP using the attached form.

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

For Fifth and Sixth Grade Families . . .
1) Click here to view the full practice and game schedule for the intramural basketball program.

For Sixth Grade Families . . .
1) On Friday, January 23rd, the sixth grade will visit St. John the Divine.

For Fifth Grade Families . . .
1) On Wednesday, January 28th, the fifth grade will travel to the Brooklyn Museum to view their Egyptian artifact collection.

============= For additional information, follow these links: =============

View important middle school dates here.
View all events with the LREI On-line Calendar
LREI Athletics. For general LREI Athletics news go to this link . This page will provide general announcements, game summaries, league standings and season recaps.
Click here to view the Middle School Photo Gallery.

A reminder that the individual homework blog and the “feeds” for every class can be accessed from the Digital Classroom link on the sidebar (you may want to bookmark this page for easy access). These feeds provide an easy “one-click” solution to find out what has been assigned for homework. Keep in mind that a feed will only show what has been posted as of the time you check it.

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

Be well,
Mark