Phenomenal Students

Dear Families:

This week, we had our annual Black History Month assembly. It afforded us a chance to look forward and back as we considered important achievements made by Black Americans and, at the same time, reflected on the roles and responsibilities of White allies.

Our assembly began with a look to our own LREI past. When a number of our current eighth graders were in first grade with Suzanne, they read The Story of Ruby Bridges by Robert Coles. Their exploration of the story and its themes of courage and compassion set against a backdrop of hatred and fear (and the students’ own frustration that Ruby Bridges’ story had not been mentioned at a Lower School assembly) inspired two of the students to write a poem, which Suzanne set to music and the class recorded. The resulting The Bravest Girl (this file may take a few minutes to load) became a standard at many subsequent Lower School Assemblies. Suzanne thought it would be interesting to revisit this experience with her former students and to reflect on the ways in which that early experience has influenced them over the past seven years. In addition to listening to the song again, Calen, Cameron, Jack I. Lilly and Talia shared some of their reflections with the rest of the Middle School community as an introduction to our assembly. In their words, they remembered:

  • “that even first graders and young people really can make a difference,”
  • “that we saw something that was wrong and wanted to correct it,”
  • “what it felt like to try to walk a little bit in someone else’s shoes” and
  • “how much that we have to be grateful for when you think about the hardships that others have had to go through.”

Wise words! This presentation was followed by a powerful original poem, “I feel a scream coming on . . .,” by seventh grade core teacher Victor Diggs. In his poem, Victor highlighted some of the many important contributions that Black Americans have made to society. This overview provided an important backdrop for our viewing of the documentary, “Mighty Times: The Legacy of Rosa Parks.” While the documentary revisited the familiar story of Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott, it did so by offering a range of first person accounts and new stories that introduced new heroes.

As a complement to Victor’s poem and the stories of Ruby Bridges and Rosa Parks, the fifth grade offered a collective “I am from . . .” poem that offered insights into the stories and lives of a number of important contemporary Black American figures. Our assembly concluded with a moving reading of a revised version of Maya Angelou’s “Phenomenal Woman” by eighth graders Gaia, Jimmy, Maya PH and Quinn. They offered their reading to Cleo Banks a Civil Rights leader, an African-American woman, and a teacher they (and we) know and love who was in attendance. A community singing of the chorus from The Bravest Girl provided a fitting closing to the assembly. It was a wonderful assembly, both celebratory and thought provoking.

Click here to view the follow-up activity that students completed for their advisory group meetings that took place today.

Reminder: The homework blogs for every class can be accessed from the Digital Classroom link on the sidebar (you may want to bookmark this page for easy access). In addition to the links to the individual class blogs, I have created a “feed” for each grade. This feed aggregates all of the posts for the classes in a given grade. 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. Additional information relevant to an assignment may also be posted elsewhere on a teacher’s blog (i.e., a link, file, or page) so it may be necessary to access the actual blog to get all of the information. That said, the feeds are useful for giving you a general picture of the homework landscape. Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have questions about the blogs or ideas about how we might make them more useful.

This Week’s Attachments
General:
2008-2009 LREI Calendar
Eighth Grade:
Seventh Grade:
Sixth Grade:
Fifth Grade:

Of General Interest . . .
1) The High School play, An Evening with Tennesse Williams, a series of one-acts, which will head to the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland this summer, promises to be a memorable, enjoyable night of theater! Please join us on Thursday, Feb. 28, Friday, Feb. 29 and/or Saturday, March 1, at 7PM.

2) Monday, March 3, 2008 — Project Cicero Book Drive (through March 6)
We are an annual non-profit book drive designed to create — or supplement — school and classroom libraries for children in under-resourced New York City public schools. Now in its eighth year, Project Cicero has distributed nearly 1,000,000 new and gently used books to 5,500 New York City classrooms and libraries, reaching 180,000 students. We solicit donations from individuals and families from over 90 independent, public, and parochial schools each year, and have received generous contributions from many book publishers.

3) From Director of Diversity & Community Sandra Chapman: Remember that the LREI Community Photo Exhibit Visibility: Lesbian and Gay People We Love will be on display at 40 Charlton Street until February 29th. Beginning March 3rd, the exhibit will be on display for two weeks in the 6th Avenue building. Please join us for the Reception on Tuesday, March 4th, from 6-8PM. If you are unable to attend the reception, we invite you to view the photos with your child and family.

4) Our Annual School Spirit Game, in which our Middle School and High School basketball teams play against the faculty has been rescheduled for Wednesday, March 5th at 3:30PM in the Thompson Street Athletic Center at 145 Thompson Street. This is a fun event for young and old. You are all invited to attend. See you at the gym.

5) Also on the subject of basketball, our boys and girls teams have had excellent seasons and both teams have made it to the playoffs. While the girls lost a hard fought contest against St. Hilda, they demonstrated true team play throughout the season and their level of play improved with each game. The boys won their semi-final and will play in the finals tomorrow. The boys finals are at Trevor Day on Friday, February 29th at 3:30 PM. I hope that many of you can attend to support the team.

6) March 8th Community Service Coffee House: One Night for New York’s Children: A Coffee House Benefit for the High School Community Service Roundtable. The High School Community Service Roundtable is a unique service learning program in which students work on behalf of New York City’s children, their families and their communities both through direct volunteer service and grants of financial assistance. Since 2002, the Roundtable’s Student Action for Children project has devoted hundreds of hours of volunteer service and distributed grants totaling more than $60,000 dollars to over twenty-five literacy, leadership, cultural and arts programs for children from communities throughout New York City and, when special circumstances arise, beyond. You can be part of this worthy cause by attending the March 8th Community Service Coffee House (7PM in the Charlton Street PAC). Enjoy performances by student musicians and performers, as well as hear from special guest Stephen Shames whose foundation that provides education for AIDS orphans and child soldiers in Uganda the Community Service Roundtable has supported over the past two years.

7) We are very pleased to announce that six of our high school photography students were selected among High School and University student submissions for an upcoming exhibition at Synchronicity Fine Arts, 106 West 13th Street. The opening reception is on February 9 from 2-5 PM; the show runs from February 5 through March 1.

8) The NY INTERNATIONAL CHILDREN’S FILM FESTIVAL runs from February 29 through March 16. Check out the best new film and video for ages 3-18 featuring animated, live action and experimental shorts and features. For info and to purchase tickets click here and use the LREI discount code (DCT2007)

9) As a class fundraiser, the ninth graders are collecting used ink jet cartridges and old/broken cell phones. They will send the collected items to an organization that recycles them and the class will receive cash for these items. Please note that the collection is limited to used ink jet cartridges and old/broken cell phones. For additional information go to www.fundingfactory.com. They will begin collecting used cartridges and cell phones on Wednesday, February 6th and will continue until Thursday, May 22nd. A collection box will be located in the Sixth Avenue lobby. Tell your friends and family about this opportunity so that these items can be recycled and don’t end up in landfills.

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

11) 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 . . . .
1) Please make sure that your child is registered for the DC trip and that all balances are due by 3/4/08. Click here to access the registration form.

2) On Thursday, March 6, the eighth grade Spanish classes will go to the Hispanic Society in the afternoon.

For Seventh Grade Families . . .
1) Monday, April 14th from 6:30PM to 8:00PM: Adolescent Issues Parent Evening

For Sixth Grade Families . . .
1) On Wednesday, March 12, at 6PM your presence is requested at our annual Medieval Pageant. The evening will afford you the opportunity to view your child’s work as it relates to their on-going studies of the Middle Ages. Following the viewing of this work, we will convene in the auditorium for a dramatic and musical telling of tales connected to this study. The evening will conclude with a potluck supper in the cafeteria. Your class reps will be contacting you about preparations. In the spirit of the event, you are encouraged to bring in medieval inspired dishes. Below are a number of useful resources for potential recipes:

2) A related Medieval Pageant request: Students are enthusiastically learning their music, making props and rehearsing their parts to get ready for the big event. Joanne has requested that all sixth grade students bring in a basic black outfit for the week of March 10th. The black bottoms and tops need to be comfortable and practical with regards to movement and will likely have other items of costume layered on top. Sneakers and shoes do not need to be black. If you have questions, you can contact Joanne directly at jmagee@lrei.org.

3) Monday, April 14th from 6:30PM to 8:00PM: Adolescent Issues Parent Evening

For Fifth Grade Families . . .
1) We will have two fifth grade parent-only discussion groups to address adolescent issues. The first one on Thursday, March 6th at 6:15PM will be lead by a Parents In Action facilitator. The second one on Monday, April 7th at 6:30PM will be lead by Mark Silberberg and Middle School psychologist Andrew Weiss. All parents/guardians are encouraged to attend. Childcare will be available for these events. Please email Mary Shea directly at mshea@lrei.org to confirm that you will need childcare.

For additional information, follow these links:

  • Calendar of Events
  • 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.

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

Be well,
Mark

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