Dear LREI Community, 
Greetings. I write at the end of a long week filled with cold and Covid, balanced by lots going on in classrooms, and Zoom-rooms, in all three divisions, and on the cusp of the long Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday weekend.
First, a few reminders on upcoming King related events at LREI, followed by a few thoughts and resources for families this weekend.
Here are a few ways that you can join the LREI community and observe the holiday and celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. King:
“ENCOUNTERING DR. KING AT LREI” STUDENT AND TEACHER PANEL REFLECTING ON
MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.’S BIRTHDAY – Please join LREI students and teachers as they reflect on the ways they encounter the work of Dr. King at school and in their lives. Students and teachers from middle and high school will join Kalil in conversation about Dr. King’s speeches and writings, and about how those texts continue to affect their class discussions and their written work. Specifically, middle school students will share their reflections on Dr. King’s 1967 speech at Barratt Junior High School in Philadelphia, and high school students will discuss their encounter with Dr. King’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” written in 1963. This virtual panel discussion will take place on Wednesday, January 19, 6:00-7:00p.m. The Zoom link can be found on the Community Events Calendar.
THE PAJAMA PROGRAM DONATION DRIVE – Every year, the LREI Community Service Committee and students from the Middle School partner with the The Pajama Program to provide pajamas and books to children of all ages. While we cannot meet in person this year to assemble the packages, we invite everyone in the LREI community to participate in this 3-week donation drive.
The drive will go from Monday, January 10 – Monday, January 31. LREI community members can drop off donations of NEW pajamas (sizes range from newborn to Adult XXXL) and NEW books (age range 0-18 years) at the donation boxes in the lobbies of both 272 Sixth Ave or 40 Charlton St, or by utilizing the wishlists set up at Target and Amazon. (Please select Community Service Committee at the 6th Ave Campus for wishlist delivery) Guidelines for book and pajama donations can be found here. No used items please.
About the Pajama Program – The Pajama Program works with local organizations to ensure kids living in difficult situations have the comfort of a good nighttime routine. They offer children dealing with adversity the knowledge, support and tools they need to get a good night’s sleep, and by doing so aim to improve the children’s health as well as social and emotional well-being.
SHARE YOUR VOLUNTEER WORK WITH US! – If you are already doing community service work, use the hashtag #LREI100Acts to share your work with the LREI community. Or you can send a brief description and pictures to alumni@lrei.org and we will share them on our Service Committee webpage and on social media. This is an ongoing project that will be happening for the rest of the year.
SHARE A COMMUNITY SERVICE OPPORTUNITY WITH US! – Do you have a project that needs volunteers? Email us at alumni@lrei.org and we will post your project on our community resource list. This is an ongoing project that will be happening for the rest of the year. More information can be found on the LREI PA Community Service webpage.
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At LREI, communal service and study have become our Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday traditions. Once again this year, we will be together-apart as we engage in these activities. I am sure that we each have our own way of commemorating the life of Dr. King. Each year I find time during this weekend to read Dr. King’s “Letter From a Birmingham Jail.” If you have never read it, or if you have not done so recently, I encourage you to give it a look. Quite beautiful and moving.
Service and similar community events are common ways for families to meet the spirit of the weekend, to express their values, and for children to begin their life of involvement and action. This is hard in our current world – hard to find opportunities that welcome participation, hard to feel safe doing so. Not impossible, especially with older children, but a challenge.
For families who are going to be together on what looks like will be a wintery weekend, I share this booklist chosen by Karyn Silverman, our high school librarian, and this one that includes titles for older children or maybe overlapping narratives by the same author such as The 1619 Project and Born on the Water. There is nothing like reading a meaningful piece of literature together, even with our older students. I encourage you to look for a family read or to have the children and the adults at home read different books with similar themes, resulting in a dinner table book club!
For those in the mood to stream, there are many movies about Dr. King or that focus on the Civil Rights Movement. If you Google there are many lists of movies for all age levels. As we are avoiding playdates, for children and adults, maybe choose a movie and invite friends to join a Teleparty. Important conversations will follow.
As we – adults and children – learn about Dr. King and the Civil Rights Movement it is important to remember that we are still fighting for equal rights – equality in education, in housing, in healthcare, and, of course, for voting rights. The struggle for equality, for full participation in our democracy, is not just history, it is our present and it is our children’s future. Quoting from FairVote.org “Martin Luther King III said, ‘If we are to be a great democracy, we must all take an active role in our democracy.” His father, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., said, ‘Voting is the foundation stone for political action. If people don’t vote, or if our votes don’t count, we lose our democracy.’” This struggle continues and needs more participants. As we read and watch the stories of the Civil Rights Movement and Martin Luther King, these powerful narratives of brave and committed citizens fighting for their rights, for our rights, inspire us as we consider what we want the story to be of our participation in this monumental struggle?
I wish you a restful, healthy, and contemplative weekend. There is no more enjoyable nor more fulfilling task as a parent than the sharing and examination of your family’s values and the exploration of how they inform your lives together.
Peace,
