The dominant group is damaged even as it receives huge benefits. You pay for the privilege and the cost is enormous.

Tim Wise, Director of the Association for White Anti-Racist Education (AWARE)

Dear Families,

Next Tuesday and Wednesday, anti-racism activist and writer, Tim Wise, will visit us. We are very fortunate to have the opportunity to dialogue and meet with the dynamic speaker. Most recently, he has visited University of Massachusetts, Amherst, University of Pennsylvania, dozens of independent schools, and is coming to us directly from speaking at Harvard Law. He works tirelessly in the quest to “challenge racism in an age of backlash.” Some of his most interesting work,in my opinion, comes from his commentary on such events as 9-11 and Hurricane Katrina. He successfully sheds a provocative light on media influence, the history of racism, and socio-economic equality. He is an expert in student activism, white privilege, and alliance building, and cares deeply about equality and civil rights, during a time when those things can seem old or out of touch to some people.

Tim Wise will be here Tuesday morning and be with us through Wednesday afternoon. During his time here, he will visit with students in classes such as “Human Rights,” and meet with Student Government. Students will also hear from him in a special assembly, and have the opportunity to continue the conversation on Wednesday afternoon. Parents will also have the unique opportunity to engage in the same subject matter with their child by attending the parent meeting at 7 PM, Tuesday night. The opportunity to continue that conversation will occur at 6th Avenue on Wednesday morning, 8:45 AM. I encourage you to attend both events and speak with your child about his or her experience with Tim. That dialogue would be well worth the time.

Click here to take a look at Tim Wise’s blog.

On another note, from Phil Kassen, Director:

On Monday, High School students participated in a daylong examination of American foreign policy since September 11, 2001called, Global War on Terror Day. This event grew out of an eleventh/twelfth grade history elective of the same name taught by History Department Chair Tom Murphy. Throughout the day, students participated in seminars such with topics such as, Middle East Geopolitics, The Bush Revolution, Islam and Terrorism, Human Rights, the Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and Human Rights. In addition to these student created and student run conversations, each student watched an advance copy of Operation: Homecoming and the day ended with the whole school coming together to hear a presentation by Martin Smith, dad of Sam in the 10th grade and producer for Frontline, who has spent a considerable amount of time in Iraq. When I congratulated Tom on the day, he told me that the whole idea came from his students and that they created the structure for the day, organized their schoolmates’ participation and spent considerable time preparing themselves to teach the seminars. As I stood in the hall outside of the first floor classrooms as students moved from one seminar to the next I was pleased to see clusters of kids moving out of the rooms while continuing the conversation. I was thrilled to hear one young woman turn to another and say, “I learned so much in there” and excitedly move off towards her next opportunity to learn from a colleague.

It really was a terrific day!

All the best,

Ruth

Calendar:

March 16, 2007- An Evening of One Acts, 6:30PM, PAC

This winter, seventeen juniors and seniors enrolled in Julia Heaton's new English elective - "Playwriting: From Page to Stage." In this writing workshop class, students studied the foundations of dramatic writing and took on the unique challenge of bringing human experience to life on the stage. Through exposure to a variety of dramatic texts, from classical to contemporary, students learned to identify and analyze various aspects of the playwriting form— dramatic structure, characterization, conflict, dialogue, plot and setting, stage directions, and design. Over the course of the trimester, each student wrote a ten-minute scene, a character monologue, and a one-act play. Each day, students took turns reading and performing each other's work, offering constructive feedback, and engaging in peer revision. Friday night's “Playwrights Showcase” is the culmination of three months of hard work by an incredibly talented group of writers, actors, and directors. We hope you will enjoy it! Admission is free.

March 20, 2007-Parent Rep meeting, 7:00 PM with Special Guest Speaker, Tim Wise, author of White Like Me: Reflections on Race from a Privileged Son and Affirmative Action: Racial Preference in Black and White.


March 22, 2007- Eleventh Grade College Trip to Columbia University

March 23, 2007- Founder's Day; Spring Break begins, 12:00 PM.

April 9, 2007- School reopens.


This Week's Attachments and Announcements:

1. An Invitation from Phil Kassen, Director: On March 20th Tim Wise will speak with the LREI community on the topic of privilege and class in America. Tim Wise is among the most prominent anti-racist writers and activists in the U.S. Many of our faculty members have heard Mr. Wise speak and found him to be engaging and insightful. He will spend a good part of the day here on March. 20th and 21st meeting with students, faculty and parents.

Parent Events featuring Tim Wise:

Tuesday, March 20th, 7:00PM, Performing Arts Center, 40 Charlton Street. (Child Care Available, please sign up at the Sixth Ave. Reception Desk.

Wednesday, March 21st, 8:45 AM, Sixth Avenue Cafeteria, Breakfast Discussion with Tim Wise.

There are several copies of Tim Wise’s book, White Like Me, in each library.

Click here for more information about Tim Wise.

Tim Wise’s visit to LREI is generously supported by the Wendling Foundation as part of an ongoing grant to support diversity efforts, including the visit by the Human Race Machine, earlier this year.

2. THE LREI STEP TEAM will be performing as part of FAMILY MATTERS this Saturday!

The body becomes a canvas on which colorful legends and rueful stories are painted. Strokes of genius are delivered by Merce Cunningham alum Glen Rumsey presenting a gender-bending ballet, the inspirational step dancing of the LREI STEP TEAM, and the Brazilian influenced free world music of The Nation Beat. The feast continues with Lawrence Goldhuber and his all-diva cast who serve-up a cautionary tale about what can happen if you eat too much. Flamenco fans will delight in the foot falls of the Ballet Hispanico School Ensemble, while the graceful Trinayan Collective execute a fable in the Odissi style of classical Indian dance.

Dance Theater Workshop 219 West 19th street
March 17th at 2:00pm
reservations 212 924 0077
TKTS $10.00 children $20.00 adults
Family Matters. This show is for ages 3 and up!

3. On Tuesday, March 20, a group of students and a few faculty are headed to Washington, DC for Climate Crisis Action Day. The trip is being organized by Kai Furbeck, '10 and Joe Sharp, '10. Click here for more information. There may be room on the bus for parents! Please let me know if you would like to attend. The bus is leaving from Charlton Street at 6:00 AM sharp, and the bus will return by 10:00 PM.

4. Upcoming Parent Events--Facebook, AIM, Club Penguin, BitTorents, YouTube, and countless other old, new and emerging web technologies are used by our children everyday. What do you know about them? How safe are they for your kids? Are there ways to make my child/tween/teen's computer environment safer and more productive? What can I do as a parent? What can the school do? The answers to these and other questions in a frank discussion on kids and technology moderated by the LREI tech coordinators. We will visit some sites, explore options that will make you child's cyber-environment safer and give you an overview of what we teach at LREI about internet safety. Additional resources will be given out for parents on paper and on www.lrei.org.

Two sessions:

Session One for parents of 7th - 12th graders on April 17th at 6:30 in the Sixth Avenue auditorium
Session Two for parents of 3rd - 6th graders on April 18th at 6:30 in the Sixth Avenue auditorium.

5. An open invitation to those in our community who would like to participate in creating this year's Afghan Quilt for the Big Auction: It is time to pick up your needles and yarn and knit or crochet a 6x6" square in colors and patterns of your choosing to be assembled into a beautiful, cozy, handmade creation. In celebration of this group effort, Claudia Baez will host a Champagne & Cheese Knitting Circle on Wednesday, March 14th for anyone who would like to participate. Beginners to seasoned knitters and crocheters are welcome. Please bring your children and encourage them to give it a try! All you need to start is some yarn and a pair of knitting needles or a crochet hook. We will meet at 260 West Broadway, #11B, from 4-6PM. If you can't join us on March 14th, you can drop completed squares off in the collection box in the Sixth Avenue lobby up until Thursday, April 12th. This us a perfect project for Spring Break that will also support the school.If you have any questions, please contact Jenna Torres at jennasdreamworld@hotmail.com.

6. Click here for the calendar for the 2007-2008 school year.

7. Remember...The Big Auction is on Wednesday, May 2nd, 2007.
All proceeds of the auction support Tuition Assistance.
Donations are tax deductible.

8. Attention Sports Fans---Friday, March 16th (not Friday, February 23 as originally announced) will be the annual LREI Spirit Game that will match up LREI's multi-talented faculty/staff against the up-and-coming stars of the Middle School and High School basketball teams. This will be a great opportunity to witness the athletic talents of our student athletes and to experience firsthand how exciting it has been to have a home court gym this year. At half time there will be a foul shooting contest for athletes sixth grade or younger. We have hosted some amazing games this season, where the roars for the home team were heard on Houston Street. So come out and see what all of the excitement is about -- March 16th at 3:30PM at the Thompson Street Athletic Center, 145 Thompson Street between Houston and Prince. We look forward to having a big crowd help to celebrate the end of our first year of having a "home court advantage."

9.Please do not schedule appointments, medical or otherwise, during the school day, between 8:30 AM and 3:50 PM. When a student must leave early for a non-emergency, it is very disruptive to the academic program and to a student's progress in any given class. Thank you.

10. As Spring Break approaches, please do not plan vacations that fall outside of scheduled school breaks. Each school day is important. Today's classroom experiences are building blocks for tomorrow's. Missing school on either end of a scheduled break, or at any time other than when school is closed, is disruptive to your child's education and to that of her/his classmates. Often, the days preceding our longer breaks include community events such as buddy activities and assemblies. These essential community events are important. We feel strongly that students should not miss these occasions. It is our policy that teachers not prepare work ahead of time, or help students to catch up, if your family will be vacationing at times when school is in session. If your family is presented with a singular opportunity to travel that offers significant educational advantages we encourage you to speak with the division's principal in advance.

As always, please browse the web site at www.lrei.org. Also, note the links to the Middle and Lower School weekly emails on the right. Please take a look at what the students in the other two divisions are up to!

All attachments are in .pdf format. To view these files, please download Adobe Reader, if you do not already have it. Click on this link or paste it into your browser: http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readermain.html.
If you are having trouble opening the attachments, go to http://www.lrei.org/weekly/ms/ to access.