LREI News - Summer 2016

Leading Progressive Education Since 1921

news SUMMER 2016

Little Red School House & Elisabeth Irwin High School | lrei.org

news SUMMER 2016

IN THIS ISSUE 3

THE LREI EXPERIENCE

Letter From the Director Dear LREI Community,

Revisiting founding principles 4

THE FOURS HOME VISITS PROGRAM

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BIG TIME IN THE MIDDLE SCHOOL

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THE ELEVENTH GRADE TRIP

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SUMMERS AT LREI

Basketball Intensive Program Carries School Mission Forward 10 ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Memorable moments from 2015-2016 12 GRADUATION 2016 14 MEET OUR NEW TRUSTEES 15 AWARDS | HONORS | PRESENTERS 16 REUNION WEEKEND 2016 18 STORYLAB

Alumni record oral histories 20 CLASS NOTES 22 LREI IN THE WORLD 23 THE SENIOR PROJECT EXPERIENCE 23 ALUMNI CALENDAR 24 SOCIAL MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS

COVER ART “The Faces of Us,” Allie and Alisa’s Kindergarten Classroom art project LREI NEWS DESIGN

By Jessica Sokol Monaco PHOTOGRAPHY Lexie Clinton, Briana Heard, L.J. Mitchell, Moises Morales, Steve Neiman, Violeta Picayo ’09, Ted Rodriguez, Mark Silberberg, and LREI faculty, staff, and students.

LREI NEWS welcomes reader submissions. Send your article suggestions and photos to Director of Communications Peter Martin at pmartin@lrei.org or by mail to the school’s address. We look forward to hearing from you!

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There is nothing that I do as director of LREI that is as inspiring as presiding over our annual commencement exercises. Sharing the stage with the 60 seniors this June, each young adult brimming with energy and promise, each one embodying the growth and achievement for which they worked so hard, and each one the vessel of their family’s—their community’s—hopes and dreams, is such an honor. On that stage with us, the students and I, with the high school faculty and administration, and with our committed board chair, hovering over all of us and cheering along with each one, were all of the people who supported and inspired these students throughout their time in school—dozens and dozens of dedicated teachers, each of whom had a hand in getting these students to this point. These teachers were all pointing ahead to a bright future for each member of the class of 2016. We are so excited for them. Of course, our presence on the stage was supported by the pillars that are our past—the school’s founder, our alumni, and their collective participation and achievement.

Each senior represents the best in all of us, and we, in turn, are represented by them, and will continue to be going forward.

In the pages of the 2016 edition of LREI News you will find a review of the past school year, featuring highlights and news from across our program, sharing just a small part of the year’s successes and achievements. What you won’t see as clearly, is all of the effort and energy that our faculty and students bring to their work in school each day. Just as with the members of the graduating class, their significant success is evidence of their dedication and proof of their daily attention to the tasks at hand.

Embedded in the stories in these pages, you will also find LREI’s progressive mission and the optimism that is present in what we do everyday. Enjoy!

Best wishes,

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THE LREI EXPERIENCE Revisiting Founding Principles

Since its founding, learning, growth, and a capacity for navigating change have been at the center of the LREI experience. For LREI founder Elisabeth Irwin, this forward-looking orientation was grounded both in a deep respect for children and for communities that learn together, and in a set of guiding progressive principles. As an experimental school, the goal was not simply to be different or to pursue change for change’s sake, but rather to engage thoughtfully with the world and with each other in the service of growth and progress. As Irwin observed:

“The school will not always be just what it is now, but we hope it will always be a place where ideas can grow, where heresy will be looked upon as possible truth, and where prejudice will dwindle from lack of room to grow. We hope it will be a place where freedom will lead to judgment—where ideals, year after year, are outgrown like last season’s coat for larger ones to take their places.”

We thought that it would be interesting to highlight three of these foundational principles and explore how students and teachers in our current program experience them. We will examine how a

deep understanding of the whole child and the value of the school-family partnership is at the center of the Lower School Home Visits program, which is an important part of the Fours curriculum. In the Middle School, we connect the school’s longstanding commitment to integrated curricula and project-based work to this year’s pilot of “Big Time,” which created extended half-day long blocks for learning. Finally, we report on the inaugural High School Eleventh Grade Trip, which focused on the challenges and opportunities faced by our nation’s cities and sent teams of students and faculty to six locations. This trip affirmed the value

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of the school’s original activity curriculum, which pioneered the use of field trips to narrow the distance between the classroom and the world, and the essential value of student-centered and student-led experience.

These three examples, along with most other aspects of the LREI program, are aligned with the foundational idea expressed by Agnes De Lima in the 1942 book The Little Red School House that: the general education aim . . . will be achieved, not through a routine process of instruction, but through a series of experiences, which will awaken the interest in the children and develop a facility for meeting individual and social situations…

We believed in the beginning as we still do that children can be happy in school, that education must be thought of in terms of growth and comes by experiencing rather than by mere learning, and that life does not begin when school ends but rather, as John Dewey says, that school is life.” (pp. 3 and 5)

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and what are the important aspects to their life at home (sometimes it’s a toothbrush, sometimes a stuffed animal, sometimes a book or toy). It’s very powerful to see a child in this light, and it’s equally powerful for the other students to see the host child in this way, even if they can’t fully articulate this insight.

While on the visit, students spend time drawing pictures of things they notice and gather information about elements common to each visit (mode of transportation, floor number, neighborhood in the city, etc.). This work continues back in the classroom as the children discuss observations, share pictures, analyze data and write about significant aspects of their visits.

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Part 1

THE FOURS HOME VISITS PROGRAM

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A 1913 New York Times article (The Public and the Schools, 3-1-13; The New York Times, January 27, 1913) about Elisabeth Irwin describes how she, “went to the homes of many children and, through her presence and counsel, brought about between parents and school authorities a better mutual understanding with regard to the needs and natures of individual pupils.”

And as Agnes De Lima writes: Our teachers often visit their children’s homes and thus establish a warm and intimate relationship with them. A feeling of trust and confidence grows up. Parents know not only how their own children are getting on in school but how other children of the same age progress. The teacher also becomes aware of the special conditions which are affecting the child at home; where there are problems she is often asked to lend a hand in solving them. (p. 9) The cultivation of these important relationships with families is still a hallmark of the LREI experience, but the concept of home visits has been expanded to include the students themselves in the process. In this way, the idea of building connections with families is married both to the practice of field

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trips, which was another learning method pioneered by Irwin and her colleagues, and a student-centered/led experience.

Beginning in November and continuing over the course of several weeks as part of the Family Study unit, each member of the Fours classes leads a field trip to visit their neighborhood and home. For these visits, small groups (five to six children) take trips to each other’s homes during the school day. These are not playdates, but rather a chance for children to learn about and appreciate the different families and home lives found in our community. While the home visits offer a unique opportunity for each child to feel valued, they also illustrate the commonalities in our families (they love and care for each other) and the differences (families can have different grown-ups and children, and eat different foods). With support and planning from their teacher, each child prepares to be a host and guide.

Children show their classmates special parts of their neighborhood and the meaningful aspects of their home. As Fours teacher Beth Binnard observes: The host child shows the other children how to get to the home (teachers know, of course)

These visits are meaningful to both children and adults. They affirm the idea that when children are able to share aspects of their home life with classmates, the experience itself generates opportunities for deeper learning and understanding. The Home Visits also play a huge role in connecting the children as a community of learners. A child with separated parents goes on a home visit to another child with separated parents.

Each student visits a home in a different borough at least once as well as different neighborhoods from their own. Children also compare and connect to the modes of transportation they use to get to school.

The visits also generate valuable insights for the teacher who is then able to draw on them to support the growth of each student. As Beth notes, the visits allow her: To see each host child in a totally different light. The Home Visits give the unique opportunity for the child who is quiet, shy, and reserved in school to really shine and be brave and take on a leadership role. I’ve had a few students who present as sort of “tough” or “aggressive” at school, and yet on the Home Visits, we see that they still sleep with their baby blankets, or have a special art table where they do watercolors, or sometimes have nightmares and need to sleep in their parents’ bed. It makes me realize even more than I already know, that all of my students don’t fit into just “one category.” I’ve found that having a deeper understanding of the students helps me to make stronger connections to school.

It can be as simple as a book, for example, “I saw you have all the Peter Rabbit books at home, and we have some of the same ones,” or something like that. A student may be having a hard time with separation, and I learn on the Home Visit that they love Oobleck, so we’ll have Oobleck in class. Things like that.

Most importantly, the visits are transformative for the students. Again from Beth: Home Visits are empowering for each student. Even if they’re not able to articulate it, each child on some level feels “Wow, I’m important enough to have a whole field trip just about me.” I think the visits really boost their confidence. They realize how lucky they are. They get to feel comfortable traveling around the city without their parents (this is a powerful learning opportunity for parents too!), they find meaningful (in the minds of 4- and 5-year olds) connections with each other, and they make new friendships that didn’t exist before the visits.

These journeys are integral to achieving our progressive mission and our diversity mission, allowing students to examine lives that they will never live through firsthand experience, our youngest students as participants in the most essential components of Elisabeth Irwin’s experiment.

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Part 2

BIG TIME IN THE MIDDLE SCHOOL

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In developing the school’s original pedagogical methods to support learning, Irwin and her colleagues saw immense value in work that connected ideas across subjects and that was framed by authentic inquiry in the service of meaningful projects undertaken by students. As Agnes De Limas notes:

world outside the classroom walls, then the notion of parsing the day into discrete units that are bounded by inquiry in one subject area may represent a certain degree of mission drift. For middle school teachers at LREI, this is a challenge imposed by the somewhat more departmentalized structure of the division. To address this challenge, the Middle School faculty engaged in a variety of design thinking exercises and purposeful conversations to explore ways to think differently about the structuring of time in the service of a mission-aligned schedule. Based on these conversations and on work carried out in our summer faculty Innovation Institute, the faculty prototyped a revision to the schedule called Big Time and piloted it over the course of the past year.

“loss” of regular class time is spread equally across all classes. However, many teachers discovered that this “loss” of time was offset by the gains that came with the extended time for projects (e.g. an activity that was normally spread over several classes that created learning disruptions could move into a single seamless Big Time session).

The implementation of Big Time required substantial planning by grade level teams, but created opportunities for teachers to collaborate, support each other in the classroom, learn from each other, and reflect on their practice.

Big Time is based on the premise that longer blocks are better aligned with how we actually learn, allow for greater opportunities for teachers to collaborate across disciplines, can better support a variety of long-standing grade level projects (e.g. 5th grade Egyptian Tomb, 6th Grade Medieval Guilds, 7th Grade Colonial Museum, and the 8th Grade Social Justice Project), and can create more opportunities for student-led inquiry. The time for this work was found by creating a 10-week rotating schedule that sits on top of the existing middle school schedule.

Each week, all of the classes scheduled for either the morning or afternoon are cancelled and the resulting 2 ½ to 3-hour block is available for the work of Big Time.

Since the schedule for Big Time rotates, the

Students: • I enjoyed having more time to work on things I needed more time on.

• Maybe have it for a full day activity once a month • I think that Big Time worked well when the whole grade had a big project that we all had to work on. It was really helpful because it gave us a lot more time to work on projects.

• I love Big Time! It’s really fun because now kids are leading them, and we always have fun. The only thing that could be better is

What follows are a collection of reflections from students and faculty on the value and challenges of the Big Time experiment:

We prefer to think of a curriculum not in terms of subject matter at all but rather in terms of experiences and activities. We assume the responsibility of seeing that before the child enters high school he shall have acquired the ordinary tools of learning and that we must help him to acquire them according to the best methods available. . . .

We are, then, concerned in our curriculum to make sure that it affords the kind of experiences and the kinds of activities which will help children to grow normally and naturally. The old-line pedagogue was continually asking, What must a child know, what knowledge is of most worth? We ask instead, What should a child be like, what ways of acting and what habits of response are most worth while?” (pps. 16-17) Time is an obstacle when engaging in this kind of deep and purposeful work.

Indeed, if school is to look more like the

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that maybe kids could always lead them.

• I like that we can be really creative and come up with really cool ideas. We can make interesting projects. Sometimes I don’t want to miss class though.

• Big Time can be hard because I can’t focus on one thing for that long.

• I like Big Time because it gives us time to learn more about the stuff we don’t know about. It’s also really cool when students run it because you get to watch your friends teach you!

• I like Big Time. It gives everyone a time to work hard for a long time and get a lot of work done.

Learning Specialist Robin Shepard: After a few months, students were better at self-organizing and less and less structure was imposed. It was great to see them also develop their own language to explain what they learned. We heard kids say to peers things like: “But we didn’t finish this part; We should do it this way; What if…” It was easier for some kids to say to a peer, “Wait, I don’t get it,” than it was to say that to a teacher. There were more opportunities for reflective questioning coming from the kids, not just the teachers, which led to more varied interpretations for kids to ponder.

Librarian Jennifer Hubert Swan: As a middle school librarian who has to meet the reading and research needs of students across four grade levels, Big Time has been a salvation and a delight. It creates a consistent, weekly opportunity for me to collaborate with colleagues and support student work with library resources. Each week I can join any grade level team that is using the time to work on a large project and either lend my assistance or co-teach a mini research lesson or refresher.

Math teacher Michelle Boehm: Having an extended period of time gave students the “brain space” to process and apply information. Students seem to feel more relaxed and curious about the work, and in feeling less pressed they were more inclined to ask the “what if ” questions which sometimes led to a deeper exploration of an idea. There was also room for additional trial and error and students were able to get feedback (from both peers and teachers) and make revisions in a timely manner. It was invaluable for students to see teachers from different disciplines working together to help them with their goals. Students also saw teachers as learners during Big Time and teachers were a bit more willing to take a risk and try a new activity

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knowing that colleagues were there to help execute and offer feedback.

Humanities Teacher Sara-Momii Roberts: For the Eighth Grade Social Justice Project, students could dig into their topics, make phone calls and conduct interviews, go out of the building without the complication of scheduling these visits during other classes.

Often, the creative process, the learning process, take stumbles and mental breaks and wrong turns and some wasted time. In the end, with longer periods dedicated to working on a particular project, students get to a better answer, a more creative result, and take a deeper dive into the learning. For many students doing this sustained work is hard.

Humanities teacher Sarah Barlow: It helped to make interdisciplinary projects work, as teachers have time available to collaborate. For kids, It gives them longer periods to allow their creative and critical brains to latch on and engage in something rather than having fractured periods where they have to switch gears for each one.

Humanities teacher Dave Edson: The extra time allows more wiggle room for differentiated learning, it allows for quieter students to get comfortable and step into leadership positions. Overall, the biggest benefit of extra time may be using the time to allow for more authentic student driven work, questions, and discoveries. This in turn allows for the work to be more creative and personal while working on their stamina and group work skills. I think it’s important to note that while Big Time is a longer than normal class period, what the students are being asked to do is often under a huge time constraint (in a positive way), it’s just that we’re tackling a bigger project. One Big Time approach has been to learn about something new or make a connection, make something with a new group of students, and share with the whole group. This means though that the clock is always ticking and students need to find agreement with each other and discover and implement smart, efficient ways of making their learning visible.

The middle school team is already at work thinking about what they learned from this year and iterating on the design of Big Time for next year. This focus on continually re-engaging the problem and taking smart risks is probably the most important aspect of this work and it is the one that aligns most closely with what students are asked to do each day in class. As Dave Edson observes, Doing this work is sophisticated and just

plain hard. This being said, nothing is perfect, nor does it need to be. There is some value in students planning for each other and then trying to figure out what to do when things don’t go according to plan, for good or bad. While teachers can provide a kind of template/outline for each other and for student led Big Time, ideally the whole experience still feels very worthwhile, even in its imperfections.

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Part 3

THE ELEVENTH GRADE TRIP EXPERIENCE

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In the spring of 2015, and stemming from LREI’s strategic plan, LREI Director Phil Kassen posed two important questions to the high school faculty: • How might we create a weeklong overnight trip for our eleventh graders that is mission aligned, open to all, and embedded in the curriculum?

• What if the entire junior class traveled to the city of Detroit and used the city as a lens to explore and learn about the challenges and opportunities of the modern urban city in transition?

While these were both questions of the moment, they were born out of LREI’s longstanding relationship with the field trip as an important tool for creating experience and opportunities for learning.

As articulated by Agnes De Lima in The Little Red School House: They need challenging tasks . . . . They are cramped by the four walls of the classroom and eager to explore the world beyond . . . .

They enjoy the unexpected; it offers a test of their ability to deal with a situation. From our earliest days, trips have been an essential part of our school program; the curriculum is built around the children’s explorations of the world. We have referred also to the necessity on the teacher’s part of careful planning for these trips and the development of a technique which will insure safety, avoid strain and fatigue, and make certain that the children get all there is to be got from the excursion. No trip must be taken without long preparation. (pp. 95-96 & 153) And as LREI Teacher Norman Studer also in The Little Red School House observes:

The usual trips for [high school] pupils have been to libraries and museums, worthy enough places but nevertheless repositories of embalmed culture. They do not afford the intellectual and emotional stimulation that comes from contact with the living book of man’s everyday life. . . . The Little Red School House has attempted to tear down the walls of the classroom and bring the adolescent child into direct contact with the community. . . . The most important outcome of all comes in terms of personality growth directly traceable to these trips. Children notoriously lacking in serious interests suddenly become interested in social problems. A feeling of kinship with people totally different began to develop. Their trips not only caused them to have an understanding of people but gave them the stimulus to do something about it. (pp. 158-160) In response to Phil’s call to action, a planning team of interested high school faculty members was formed. The group enthusiastically jumped into the work of exploring Detroit as a destination, but also began to explore other possible cities. During this process, team members noted that the inquiry being carried out by the teachers would likely be work in which students could be productively engaged. That is, the adults should not debate the potential for learning by visiting various cities, reach consensus on a destination, prepare an itinerary and learning goals and then present this to the students as a fait accompli. This must be the work of the students, carried out with the support of their teachers. The group agreed, but also understood that going down this path invited a much higher degree of risk.

Would the students be up to the task? Would they be able to meet the very real deadlines to ensure that there would, in fact, be a trip?

High School Dean of Academics Allison Isbell was not fazed by these challenges. “This junior class is unbelievably strong, with many outstanding students and leaders...

We knew they would have compelling ideas,” Allison shared.

Pivoting towards this new idea of a student designed experience, the team devised a series of trip labs for the fall. These labs created time and space for the eleventh graders to give voice to the important social issues that they saw as impacting their world and our nation’s cities. Then through a process involving brainstorming, research, debate, presentation, and consensus building, the students were called on to arrive at a set of organizing issues around which trips to one or more cities would be designed.

Students from the class of ’56 on their class trip to the coal mines; our recent 11th grade students on their trips to Florida, Maine and Kentucky.

Underlying this process was a project mission statement developed by trip coordinators Allison Isbell and Chris Keimig that stated: Understanding one’s relationship to—and capacity to have an impact on—the most pressing challenges facing our society is a necessarily dynamic process. Thus, the best places to engage in this work are in places that are themselves dynamic—places that are in transition, that are working to change, adapt, and transform themselves for survival in a changing world. It is our purpose and mission at LREI to graduate citizens who are ready to engage in shaping their own communities, who believe in their capacity to affect change for the future, and who know that they can and should be a part of that process. We believe the time spent observing, learning about, and working alongside communities in transition is essential to cultivating these qualities in our students.

Later in the fall, the eleventh grade class gathered in the high school auditorium where eighteen pairs of students presented topics to their classmates. As the presentations unfolded, some students preferred their peers’ ideas and, in real time, dismissed their own. Then, employing flexible thinking, groups partnered with each other and created coalition-building opportunities

around common goals. Eighteen teams were narrowed to ten, and then, through a survey process, to a final six, each to become the core focus of a trip comprised of 10-12 students.

The six framing issues were: Refugee resettlement Sustainability and climate change Farm workers’ rights Educational equity Mass incarceration and criminal justice Urban revitalization The issues identified, each team was then tasked with the challenge of developing an essential question to guide their trip and with researching three cities where their issue and its associated opportunities and challenges might be productively explored.

Of their three cities, one had to be within driving distance and inquiry in all of their proposed destinations had to connect to both the school’s mission and the trip’s mission.

Each team then presented their ideas to a panel of administrators who after weighing a variety of factors determined the destination city for each group. The final destinations were:

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Chicago, Illinois: Issues in Criminal Justice Essential Question: In what ways has our criminal justice system served as a conduit for mass incarceration in Chicago and beyond? How are governmental and community organizations successfully disrupting this pipeline?

Detroit, Michigan: Equity in Education Essential Question: How can we reimagine schools and teaching in order to ensure that the needs of all learners are being met, and all learners have the tools they need to succeed?

Detroit, Michigan: Urban Revitalization Essential Question: What role are cultural institutions, urban agriculture, and new businesses playing in renewing and developing the urban fiber of Detroit?

Hurricane Island, Maine: Sustainability Essential Question: How is scallop and lobster sustainability in the Bay of Maine affected by climate change?

Immokalee, Florida: Justice for Farm Workers Essential Question: How can we reimagine modern agriculture in order to protect the rights, dignity, and access to opportunity for the workers growing our food?

Louisville, Kentucky: Refugee Resettlement Essential Question: What role can the U.S. play in relieving and aiding humanitarian

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crises across the globe? How can U.S. cities most effectively absorb and support refugee communities?

connecting the material we were learning with the experiences that we had. It was really able to integrate itself into our curriculum.

Students and teachers then began the complex task of reaching out to potential partners in their destination cities and developing an itinerary for the trip. In addition, each student took a history elective seminar that addressed in some way the larger themes connected to the trip.

Tyrell (Equity in Education): I’ve been going to LREI for 13 years and the trip definitely fulfilled the mission of the school—what we talk about and what we try to do. After the trip, I started an X-Block class called “Let’s Do Something for Social Justice.”

The trip really motivated me to want to do something—to help make a change in the educational system. It was the best trip that I’ve been on and the most educational. Going into the trip I was like, “I’m going to change somebody’s life.” And then they told me that it was place-based learning and I said, “I don’t really know what that means.” But I realized after the first day that I had learned so much.

I didn’t use Google once. I learned so much from just being there—experiencing it first hand. It was so great.

Finally, in the early hours of April 25, students and their teacher-mentors left via planes and vans for their various destinations and a week filled with learning.

While each group explored different issues connected to different experiences, upon their return, students discovered a number of shared themes that emerged from these diverse experiences: Stephanie (Justice for Farm Workers): On the Monday when we got back from the trips, everyone was talking about the trips and even the people who weren’t really excited about the trips before we left were super excited. They were sharing a bunch of different stories and anecdotes about things that they learned, things that they saw and things that were unjust. I think that it really brought out hidden things for people. It made our classroom experiences so much richer because we weren’t just talking about English; we were making connections to the trips. We were

This LREI experiment in place-based studies could turn into a progressive education model for other secondary schools as well as colleges and universities. Allison remarks, “This process confirms that progressive pedagogy is alive and thriving in the hands of our students.” Chris continues, “This is the most progressive thing I’ve ever done as a teacher, and that our students have ever done. We took a real risk, and the payoff is going to be life-changing.”

WHAT MAKES THESE EXPERIENCES SO POWERFUL

While each of these projects provides a valuable window into the driving principles behind the LREI experience, one thing stands out across all three: these projects and their associated student learning and growth would not be possible without the dedicated time, energy and effort of LREI’s incredible faculty. Progressive teaching is complicated and demanding, but it is also joyful; and, as Elisabeth Irwin and her colleagues recognized almost one hundred years ago: Our school, we feel is primarily made up of people, not of, instructors and pupils…. Our teachers are warm and vital human beings primarily concerned with human values and eager to discover with children how best these values may be fostered…. For this reason, we feel that progressive education lives not because of its theories or

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even its practices but because of the quality and caliber of its teachers. Primarily, of course, such teachers must understand children and be sensitive and responsive to their needs. They must be creative and inventive and resourceful; they must be stimulating, flexible, and fond of adventure…. Each teacher should look forward to the work that lies ahead and backward to what has gone before…. To be sure, each year a given ground should be covered in the academic subjects— adapted to the capacities and maturity of each group.

But the program as a whole is constantly changing and emerging, growing out of experiences of the past, adapting to the present needs, and projecting into the future. (pp. 198-199 & 239) True then and still true today.

For videos and more photos Visit the online version of this story at: experience. lrei.org/foundingprinciples.

REFERENCES 1 The Public and the Schools, 3-1-13; The New York Times, January 27, 1913 2 Lima, Agnes De. The Little Red School House. New York: Macmillan, 1942. Print.

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“You’ll find a very organic process in which there’s a natural interaction of caring, just as you do at LREI.” —James Samuels, Head Coach

SUMMERS AT LREI

Basketball Intensive Program Carries School Mission Forward “Basketball is hard work,” Associate Camp Director Luis Hernandez says passionately. “The game is a vehicle to overcome obstacles. When you’re faced with pushing limits in improving your own abilities, that’s when you find out who you truly are as a person. There’s a growth that occurs in this process.”

A twenty-one year veteran of the LREI summer program, Luis focuses on building fundamental

skill, sportsmanship and team spirit. “When the school year is over, all kids receive a summer reading list to improve their vocabulary and strengthen their skills,” Hernandez explains; “basketball isn’t any different.

If you continue to work on your game in the summer, you’ll see the efforts come to fruition in the fall.”

The program (ages 10-14) runs three consecutive two-week

sessions, commencing the final week of June, and concluding the first week of August.

Under the supervision of Hernandez, along with co-head coaches Dan Bobrowski and James Samuels, the camp provides junior counselors the opportunity to take a leadership role in mentoring, teaching, and coaching younger students.

“Older kids look after younger kids,” Head Coach James Samuels explains. “You’ll find a very organic process in which there’s a natural interaction of caring, just as you do at LREI.” Samuels, a former collegiate player and coach, is proud of the life-lessons that are nurtured through the teaching process, “You’ll find that this program is more than just a basketball camp.”

Each day’s schedule is tailored as a mini-camp with

six comprehensive featured “bursts” of activity consisting of set plays, skills and conditioning, drills, media, daily electives, and scrimmages.

Bobrowski, a middle school science teacher, dean of programs, and basketball coach at LREI believes the program is vital to the development of each child. “It’s important to find a skill or hobby to which you can devote yourself. To do so consistently for several weeks teaches what it means to work hard, and that’s valuable.”

“The concept of being a lifelong learner is highly applicable,” Coach Hernandez concluded. “Even though all of our kids participate at a different level of competition, everyone has a successful experience because there’s a common focus and pride in self-improvement through our clinic.”

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With much to celebrate and much work still to be done, LREI participated in the NYC Pride Parade, as we have for the better part of a decade. More than 100 students, parents, faculty and friends from Bank Street, Calhoun and Friends Seminary joined us as together we marched in support of LGBTQ rights.

IE, LREI’s literary magazine was awarded the rank of “Excellent” by the National Council of Teachers of English in the 2015 NCTE Program to Recognize Excellence in Student Literary Magazines.

To read and view the 2015 edition of IE, visit: www.lrei.org/news The biennial LREI Art Auction included close to 250 works of art generously donated by our community. The event grossed $199,000, making it our most successful art auction ever!

Sixth, seventh, and eighth-grade students from LREI participated in Model Congress. Graham (8th grade) and Sylvie (7th grade) both won Honorable Mentions for their debating skills and comportment. Layne (8th grade), was awarded the coveted Golden Gavel for exhibiting the skills and knowledge that would be present in a Congressperson. Sharyn Hahn has run this team for 13 years at LREI.

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ACCOM

The LREI middle school softball team won the first ever DISC League Tournament Championship.

Go Knights! Read more at www.lrei.org/news Both middle school robotics teams won awards at the Manhattan FIRST Lego League Qualifier!

7th/8th grade team: Research Award 6th grade team: Judges Award

The LREI Track and Field team finished as the victors of the Girls’ League Championship and the Overall Team Championship, which combines the scores of the boys’ and girls’ teams, at the ISAL League Track Championships!

For highlights and photos, visit: www.lrei.org/news

PLISHMENTS 2015-2016 For the second year in a row, LREI has been a finalist in the Design for Change 2016 Challenge! Read more and view the LREI 2016 video submission here: www.lrei.org/news

Naomi Picayo ’16 set an LREI Athletics record on Friday, February 5, becoming the first female player to score 1,000 points during her basketball career at the school. Read more about this, including how Naomi led her team to an undefeated 20-0 season as a junior, here: www.lrei.org/news

In March, LREI was recognized on the cover of design magazine “Contract” for excellence in urban and educational design and architecture. Read more and see images published in the featured article, here: www.lrei.org/news

LREI NEWS | Summer 2016 11

When something mattered to us we took a stand. Whether it was by making art, writing, singing or shouting to the man so long as we made a difference. I think that's the most important thing we could have gotten out of LREI, and I can't wait to see the differences we make in this world.” —Mirwat Majumder

I would suggest that we follow the advice of author Kurt Vonnegut who wrote (as I learned from rising ninth grader Jaquie Adler), “Enjoy the little things in life because one day you’ll look back and realize they were the big things.”

—Phil Kassen, Director

2016 GRADUATION

I hope you’re treating yourself well, like a baby. If you don’t care enough about yourself, then pretend you’re pregnant with all the people who love you…Please take care of yourself as if you’re pregnant with me, with all of us.”

—E Jeremijenko-Conley

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Music may be the best metaphor for the class of 2016...

Like a good concerto, moments of tension and dissonance develop into beautiful harmonies. Themes are repeated, and adapted, and in the finale we find resolution.”

—Micah Dov Gottlieb, High School Principal

Change is the only constant there is. It is powerful. And so are you. You have the power to change… it’s so important that you take the power and privileges afforded to you to change other people’s lives for the better.” —Manjula Nair

Work nonstop for the things you believe in.

Throw yourself headlong into the challenges that come your way. But then, be patient, most especially with yourselves.”

—Amy Zimmerman, Board Chair

View the 2016 College List at lrei.org/collegelist

LREI NEWS | Summer 2016 13

2016-2017

NEW TRUSTEES I am so proud of our Board of Trustees — a group of 35 men and women with vastly varied experiences and talents, but united in our common passion for LREI’s mission. Please join me in welcoming our newest trustees.” — Amy Zimmerman, Chair, LREI Board of Trustees KOBI WU PASMORE is a 20-year marketing executive with expertise in brand marketing, experiential strategy, and consumer facing media.

She received her MBA, from the Leonard N. Stern School of Business at NYU, her MS in Construction Management from Georgia Tech, and her BA in Architecture from UC Berkeley. Kobi is the founder and CEO of VisuWall, a B2B marketplace where real estate and advertising converge. She is also an Adjunct Professor at The Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music at NYU where she teaches and mentors students with creative backgrounds to be proficient in business and management. The former lead on business strategy for entities such as Combs Enterprises, Superfly, Spotify, and Cornerstone, Kobi has always been a conduit for aligning brands to consumers, typically through the conduit of music and other forms of lifestyle marketing.

Kobi is completing her term as co-chair of the Multicultural Committee and is the incoming co-president of the Parents Association. Grayden, better known as “Gray,” is in the third grade and is her one and only. John is the husband — also her one and only. The three live in the Financial District.

“The mission statement that is so clearly woven throughout every single aspect of LREI is exactly what we want for our children.”

—Purvi Padia

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DIANE KIDDER teaches the Fours at LREI. She is originally from Virginia and moved to New York in the late 90’s. Diane has worked at LREI since 2001, teaching both Kindergarten and the Fours. Diane has been active in the LREI community throughout the years as a member of the Lower School Social Committee, the Divisional Advisory Committee, a UFT Representative, and a participant on the Lower School Principal Search Committees.

When not working, she loves spending time with her family in Prospect Park, near their home in Brooklyn.

Diane and her husband have two young boys: Wes, a Kindergartener at LREI and Vince, three years old.

MARGARET ANDREWS began teaching at LREI 15 years ago after 16 years of teaching, learning, and leadership in the New Haven Public Schools.

She began her career at LREI as the lower school math coordinator and is currently a middle school math teacher, advisor, and dean.

Margaret is a Yale Peabody Museum fellow, a Connecticut Teacher of the Year, and a Milken Foundation National Educator. She regularly consults with Yale programs for community youth. She has lead math and science workshops for pre-service and in-service teachers, parents, and students across the country.

Margaret received a BS in Biochemistry from the University of Connecticut, a BFA and an MFA in Media Art and Photography from Pratt Institute, and a CAS in Education from Wesleyan University. She lives in Connecticut where she has completed three terms as a board member of The Eli Whitney Museum and is currently working on the Delta Research and Education Foundation as a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated. Margaret can be seen learning and playing saxophone with the middle and high school bands.

JULIA HEATON became the 11th Head of Miss Hall’s School in July 2014. Prior to joining Miss Hall’s, Julia served as a member of LREI’s faculty and administration. During her 10 years at LREI, Julia was a high school English teacher, advisor, Academic Dean, and, most recently, Director of Admissions.

While at LREI, she helped lead the high school through a significant expansion of the facilities, student body, and curriculum offerings. Julia previously held faculty positions at The Chapin School, Manhattan Country School, and Prep for Prep, also in New York.

Julia holds a B.A. in American Studies, with a concentration in African-American History, from Yale University. She also holds an M.A. in Educational Leadership from Columbia University Teachers College.

She was selected as a member of the inaugural cohort of the New York State Association of Independent Schools (NYSAIS) Emerging Leadership Institute, a two-year leadership development program that she completed in August 2013. She is excited to be leading Miss Hall’s through the next exciting phase in the School’s history.

Julia is the mother of three daughters, ages 3, 7 and 10, and lives with her family in Pittsfield, Massachusetts.

CHARLIE HOMET moved to New York City in 1982 after majoring in English at Connecticut College. He has been married to his wife Meredith for 17 years.

Their daughter Alden, now in the third grade, entered LREI as a FoursK student.

During Alden’s first year, Charlie served on the Halloween Fair Committee and also the Faculty/Staff Appreciation committee. The next year he was a parent rep. Starting when Alden entered first grade, Charlie has volunteered each year for the Annual Fund and this year was appointed co-chair of The Fund for LREI. In this capacity, he has also participated on the Board’s Development Committee. This involvement in the school springs from a deep appreciation of the culture and philosophy of the school, and of the environment that has allowed Alden to flourish and develop a love of learning.

Charlie is an associate broker focused on residential sales and new development for Halstead property.

Meredith is an Executive Director of Retail and Fashion at Conde Nast with GQ magazine. They have lived in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Dumbo for the last ten years.

PURVI PADIA is a first generation IndianAmerican who graduated with honors from the University of Michigan where she played Division I tennis. She also met her husband, Harsh, while studying at Michigan.

Upon graduating, she moved to NYC and worked in design in the beauty and fashion industry for over 10 years. She then went on to get a Masters Degree in Interior Design at Parsons. She opened her namesake interior design firm in 2008 — Purvi Padia Design.

In addition to design and her family, her biggest passion is philanthropy with a focus on education. She feels education is power and the best way to empower those in need is to educate them. She sits on the NY Board of UNICEF, serves as a member of the Student Sponsor Partners, is a founding member of a girls-only college in India and has also sat on the board of Girls Inc NYC. At LREI, Purvi has been part of both the Auction Committee and the Faculty/Staff Appreciation Committee and was a member of the Lower School Principal Search committee, as well as being a parent rep.

Purvi lives in Tribeca with her husband and their two children, third-grader Rehan and Reven in the Fours.

Faculty & Staff

AWARDS | HONORS | PRESENTERS Sarah Barlow and Sara-Momii Roberts

EIGHTH-GRADE HUMANITIES TEACHERS Social justice work and activism have always been core values of the LREI experience. Together, Sarah and Sara-Momii presented on the Eighth Grade Social Justice Project at the NYSAIS Diversity Conference.

Elaine Chu and Jessie Kirk

THIRD-GRADE TEACHERS

Mark Silberberg

DIRECTOR OF LEARNING & INNOVATION Elaine, Jessie, and Mark presented on how design, making and imaginative inquiry support the third-grade curriculum at the Design and Maker Class Colloquium conference in Los Angeles. They also wrote a soon-tobe-published chapter on this work.

Cari Kosins

DIRECTOR OF AFTERSCHOOL AND SUMMER PROGRAMS

Seth Eastman

AFTERSCHOOL PROGRAM COORDINATOR Cari Kosins served as the Chair of the Planning Committee for the NYSAIS Afterschool Directors Conference.

Seth Eastman served on the same committee, and together they presented a workshop on Supporting the Gender Spectrum in Afterschool.

Suzanne Cohen and Matthew Rosen

SEVENTH-GRADE HUMANITIES TEACHERS Suzanne and Matthew presented at the NYSAIS Teaching with Technology Conference. They shared their learning about the process of adding a wiki-based digital museum to the physical seventh-grade Colonial Museum project.

Beth Binnard and Diane Kidder

FOURS TEACHERS Beth and Diane also presented at the NYSAIS Teaching with Technology Conference. They presented on their pilot of a digital portfolio program in the fours classes.

Moises Morales

INTERIM COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER Moises Morales graduated with a degree in Integrated Marketing Communications from Baruch College.

He earned the distinction of receiving

the symbolic degree given by the Dean of his school for being the highestranking undergraduate (4.0 GPA) and was seated on stage throughout the commencement ceremony as part of the platform party for the Class of 2016.

Matthew Rosen

SEVENTH-GRADE HUMANITIES TEACHER Matthew Rosen was awarded the Gallatin MA Prize, which is awarded by the faculty to one member of the graduating MA class for outstanding academic achievement, from the Gallatin School of Individualized Study within NYU. The thesis was titled: V. S. Naipaul, Postmodern Postcolonial: A Critical Look at Shame and Derangement in The Mimic Men (1967) and The Enigma of Arrival (1989).

Michel de Konkoly Thege

SPECIAL ASSISTANT TO ADMINISTRATION AND HIGH SCHOOL HUMANITIES TEACHER Michel de Konkoly Thege’s thesis was awarded Wesleyan University’s Samuel Hugh Brockunier prize for the best writing and reflection on a social studies topic. The thesis was titled: Paul Reynaud and the Reform of France’s Economic, Military and Diplomatic Policies of the 1930s.

Shauna Finn

HIGH SCHOOL 3-D ARTS TEACHER Shauna Finn was awarded a 3-week artist residency by the Cill Rialaig Project in County Kerry Ireland. Cill Rialaig artists focus entirely on their artistic practice in the restored ruins of a 1790s pre-famine village situated on the very edge of the Atlantic.

Ileana Jiménez

HIGH SCHOOL ENGLISH TEACHER Ileana Jiménez was invited to speak on the opening plenary of the inaugural International Girls Studies Association (IGSA) conference held at the University of East Anglia in Norwich, UK, the first time a full panel of high school feminism scholars was featured at an international girls studies conference.

Kelly O’Shea

HIGH SCHOOL PHYSICS TEACHERS Kelly O’Shea presented two workshops at the New York State Master Teacher Program in Buffalo: Developing Metacognitive Skills Through Reflective Journaling in Science and Math Classes and Graphical Solutions: Kinematics.

LREI NEWS | Summer 2016 15

There is a common thread that binds all of us together and that is the values, and principles, and the lifelong love of learning that an LREI education grants us.”

—Tamar Gargle-Krakowiak ‘88

REUNION WEEKEND 2016

The 31st Annual Alumni Reunion Weekend took place June 3-4, celebrating classes ending in "1" and "6." The weekend began with a Friday cocktail party, welcoming back alumni as well as current and former faculty and staff. Though the rain moved the party inside, it couldn’t dampen our spirits!

The class of 2006 was the last to leave after Micah Dov Gottlieb (their former teacher and now our high school principal) led them on a tour of the expanded facilities. Before leaving the building, Micah and the class of 2006 sang songs together in the PAC, like they had for so many years together at LREI. Saturday’s celebration began with a walking tour of historic Greenwich Village, led by this year’s Honorary Alumnus Nick O’Han. With the help of Celi

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Khanyile-Lynch ’09 (who works in Mayor de Blasio’s office and credits Nick with having fostered her passion for NYC history and politics), Nick led a group of 50 community members through the neighborhood. The group learned about Elisabeth Irwin’s Greenwich Village, discussed the neighborhood’s role in LREI’s development, and vice versa.

Next, alumni were invited to play current students and coaches in our first ever alumni volleyball game before Ambassador James I. Gadsden ’66, this year’s Distinguished Alumnus, led a discussion titled “Diplomacy, Foreign Affairs, and How to Effect Change.” Ana De La Cruz ’10 moderated the discussion with her long-time mentor Ambassador Gadsden.

Director Phil Kassen led a tour of the expanded high school

facilities. Alumni were excited to see how the building has changed, and hear about new classes and opportunities that reflect the same spirit of the school that they remember from their time as students.

The final event of Reunion Weekend was the All Alumni Reception. Alumni recorded their memories in StoryLab sessions, took photos in the photo booth, and caught up with friends, some old and some new.

Our Distinguished and Honorary Alumni were presented with their awards, and spoke beautifully about the role LREI has played in their lives. Read excerpts from the weekend’s speeches here and access full remarks at lrei.org/reunion.

I always thought of teaching as an act of love in that it was given freely, with no need for requital or reimbursement, other than the pure and very unique joy experienced when students are eager to learn. Giving me their trust, respect, and the privilege as well as the responsibility to be their teacher; and with this, giving me a great gift of happiness and meaning in my life.” —Nick O’Han

His teaching is so much a part of how we learned to learn at LREI...Nick holds an incredible power in the way that he has taught hundreds to engage in the world. Progressive education would not exist without individuals like Nick.” —Celi Khanyile-Lynch ‘09

Here let me pause to say thank you to EI...If I were to sum it up, mine was the ceiling-breaking generation.

Our challenge was to break America’s glass ceilings sealed by prejudice and custom, ceilings labeled class, gender and race.” —Karl E. Meyer ‘46 You have as much right as anyone else in our country to have a say in American foreign policy, and in the conduct of our foreign relations.

Become informed and get engaged.

Do not rely solely on newscasts and politicians’ sound bites to form your views on US foreign relations.”

Whether it was being present when I first interviewed with the fellowship, editing my statements when I was applying to Department of State internships, or leading some of the workshops I attended while interning in DC, Ambassador Gadsden has been a guiding light throughout the process.”—Ana De La Cruz ‘10

—Ambassador James I. Gadsden ‘66

View these pictures and more from reunion weekend at lrei.org/reunion

LREI NEWS | Summer 2016 17

with the Class of 1949

This June, seven members of the class of 1949 celebrated their 85th birthday! They had lunch at LREI and shared memories from their time as students. Stephen Diamond came prepared to lead his classmates in a sing-a-long; he brought old Little Red songbooks and various instruments to share with the group. Victor Berman adapted Lewis Carroll’s “Jabberwocky” to discuss the current presidential race. He read this aloud for his classmates and added it to our StoryLab archive.

StoryLab is LREI’s ongoing oral history project, modeled after the popular NPR-supported StoryCorps. It is a popup radio booth where alumni can record memories of their time at LREI. Inspired by 11th-grade social justice trips, alumni were asked to share memories of favorite trips taken as students at LREI. 18

BOB WEINBERG ’49 remembers field trips at LREI, and how teachers encouraged students to bring those experiences back to their community and their classroom.

“In the sixes, although we couldn’t read, we could go all over Manhattan. And one of the trips was in the New York Harbor, and riding around the harbor we certainly heard the bell boys ringing.” Following their field trip, Bob and his classmates were given the assignment to tell their families about the trip. He composed and recited a poem to his parents that he still remembers today: Bellboys on the river, Bellboys on the bay, Bellboys, bellboys, ring all day.

Bob remembers conversations at LREI of social justice and injustice, and that this environment helped him find his own path in continued education after LREI.

BOB BELENKY ’49 remembers LREI trips and how they shaped his way of interacting with the world.

Bob is grateful to one teacher in particular, Norman Studer, “He did some very interesting things with us including trips to visit people and places that we ordinarily wouldn’t have visited…We went to Pennsylvania and visited Amish farms, met a number of farmers. We also looked at, we not only looked at but went down into the [coal] mines and we talked with union leaders, miners, and so on.” Bob remembers that Norman Studer helped many LREI students get involved with a progressive summer camp he worked at in the Catskills. “We’d go out and collect folk songs from the people who had memories of the days when the Catskill Mountains were a huge venue for the lumber industry.” Of his work as a community mental health psychologist, Bob Belenky says, “I took great delight in going into sometimes very difficult, very odd neighborhoods and

just talking with people, getting to know people, feeling more like an anthropologist than a psychologist…And I really feel indebted to Norman Studer for that whole scene, that orientation which sort of fit my personality as well as my eventual career.”

STEPHEN DIAMOND ’49 “What stayed with me is LREI’s influence on what I did later. I keep remembering things about how I operate in this world that must have been influenced by how I went to school, what happened to me when I went to school here.

I continued to be interested in social issues even though I became an architect. One of the reasons I became an architect was that I thought it was a wonderful field because it blended three areas of study and thinking that I had been aware of, and was very much interested in. It blended art and science and social needs all into one field, and that’s why I became an architect, and that’s something I think I got from LREI.

While VICTOR BERMAN ’49 only spent three years as a student at LREI, he describes them as the most engaging years of his education. “I learned during those three years at Little Red a few things that stood me favorably for the rest of my life. And the main thing I learned was you don’t have to be an expert in order to do an expert job, that if you put your mind to it you can do almost anything.”

ZOE AKSELROD SALEM ’49 was happy to share memories of being different and accepted at LREI. Unlike many other schools, Little Red waited until the sevens (second grade) to teach reading, believing that students were more ready to read at that age. Zoe shared her struggle learning to read and the support she felt from teachers and classmates throughout. “I will always be thankful that I was never made to feel slow or stupid and eventually I did learn to read. So I am grateful to Little Red for their being patient with me.”

Do you have an LREI story to share?

Contact Alumni Relations Associate Violeta Picayo ‘09 at 212-477-5316, ext 291, or at vpicayo@lrei.org.

LREI NEWS | Summer 2016 19

CLASS NOTES Leila Blum Alexandra ’44 is living happily on

Ilsa Gilbert ’51 is happily living in Westbeth

the Upper West Side. “Thanks to LREI and Bill Marvin, I fell in love with Irish literature and expect to be in Dublin to celebrate Blooms Day on June 16th, where else?!”

as part of their artist community. A writer and poet for many years, Ilsa is happy to keep branching out and discovering new mediums. You can see some of Ilsa’s collages on display at Theater for the New City.

Lyn Campbell Macfarlane ’46 is still writing, attending a critique group, reading to seniors, volunteering at Edmond’s Historical Museum, and meeting with the Garden Club. She spent time calling alt. delegates for Hillary Clinton at local and district caucuses.

Lyn plans to attend Pacific Northwest Writers Conference in late July.

Rozanne Goodell Weiss ’47 writes, “I have 7 children, 12 grandchildren, and a great grandchild, scattered between CA and NY. I loved my years at Elisabeth Irwin and have remained in touch with Kathy Gould Leeds, Mary Woods (until she passed away), and Olga Karlovna Heisler.”

Anne Epstein McWilliams ’49 sings with

two choruses: Berkeley Community Chorus, and Vukani Mawethu (“people arise” in Zulu). The latter sings freedom songs and spirituals, often from South Africa. Anne also participates in a ceramics class twice a week. Her husband Jim is a mental health advocate.

Peter Knobler ’64 writes about returning to his alma mater Middlebury College last year for the 50th anniversary of Middlebury’s participation in the Selma-to-Montgomery march with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He writes, “Four other alumni and I got a standing ovation from a gathering of students and faculty…I don’t think we did anything heroic, we just acted on our best instincts. I encouraged the students around the table to do the same, and told them this story: Peter Knobler in his senior photo from the 1964 high school yearbook.

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Max Gottesman ’52 is a geneticist working

at Columbia University, principally on the non-pathogenic lambda virus. He is the author of “Bacteriophage Lambda, the Untold Story” and “Little Lambda, Who Made Thee?” In addition to his science, Max writes poetry and has been published in various obscure and short-lived journals, such as Portfolio and Reflections. He has read his poems at the Bowery Poets Club and the Nuyorican Poets Cafe. Finally, he placed third in a major slam near Princeton, just outside the money.

Astrid Beigel ’54 writes, “I think of EI (now LREI) often and talk with friends about our experiences, such as getting approval for girls to wear pants once a week as long as they covered the knees, and many other things.

I always enjoy the reunions and getting together with a few classmates. I continue to live in the great city of Los Angeles, and continue my work with the County of Los Angeles in the Department of Mental Health.

I am around and would be happy to meet with anyone from the LREI world.”

Yvonne Korshak ’54 writes, “I found my own original copy of our 8th grade class photo with everyone’s signature. To me, that’s quite a treasure! It’s touching to see not only the photograph but also the signatures—I find that even the handwritings are still familiar to me.”

Hugh Lifson ’55 writes, “Although

my wife died three years ago I’m still functioning. Mostly painting and drawing out here in Iowa. I’m getting ready for a show for my gallery in Iowa City. The work is primarily based on my travels to Italy and France these past two summers.”

Carol Levine Paasche ’55 writes “Our news is that we have moved back to the states after living in Toronto, Canada for 50 years. We have had a wonderful living experience in Toronto. It has been really hard to leave, but the time has come. Our youngest grandchild is now about to turn 15 years old, the oldest is 26. We want to be able spend more time with family. This will also make it easier for us to get into NYC!” Bill Rothman ’55 worked as a volunteer on the Bernie Sanders Campaign.

In March 1965 when I was a college freshman, as Dr. King was completing his march from Selma to Montgomery, a bunch of us decided we should march with him. Of the approximately 2000 members of the Middlebury community on campus, 23 faculty and students made the drive from Vermont to Alabama. At the time there was a Middlebury academic regulation that if you cut three classes in one semester you automatically flunked the course. I had introductory Spanish on Wednesday and Friday, and when I called my professor to tell her I would be missing those classes because I was marching with Dr. King she told me, “I really think you should think of yourself first.” It was at that moment, if I hadn’t known it before, it became clear to me that there was more to education than was taught in the classroom, certainly more than I was being taught at Middlebury. EI, in fact, had taught me a lot more about the value of activism. I went, I marched, I cut the classes, I came back and talked about the experience with everyone who would listen. More than not failing, I succeeded in having a much greater effect than two hours of freshman Spanish would have on my life, on the campus, and on the world. For its part, Middlebury did learn. By October 1967 when it was time to levitate the Pentagon and mobilize to end the war in Vietnam, the Middlebury administration didn’t protest our attendance.”

Adria Fisher Price ’56 writes “In June, the Class of ’56 enjoyed a delightful 60th reunion. Seven classmates attended: Gretchen Walther Dumler, Alfred Kaplan, Jonathan Katz, Steve Kunitz, Robert Lewis, Martin Tekulsky, and myself. It was wonderful to spend an evening together; sharing memories of our LREI years and catching up on each other’s lives since. Sadly, we had just learned that one classmate, Stefan Grotz, had died shortly before the reunion. He was an enthusiastic alum and will be missed. In 2021, our class will celebrate our 65th reunion. It will coincide with the 100th anniversary celebration of the founding of Little Red. “Save the date!”

Steve Wandner ’58 just got back from two weeks in Norway. His two older daughters and two grandsons live in California. Steve’s son lives in D.C., as does his youngest daughter who recently finished her post doc at Yale-West Haven VA Hospital and is now a clinical psychologist at Walter Reed Hospital in Bethesda. His wife is an attorney for the Justice Department’s Civil Division. Steve is a visiting fellow at the Urban Institute and a visiting scholar at the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.

Steve Salzman ’60 writes, “I’m a six year cancer survivor and had a major successful back surgery last summer. My wife and I travel as much as we can, and we just returned from Washington State where her youngest son got married. This brings our grandchild total to 20 including 2 stepgrandchildren. We are heading for Southeast Asia in November, and then will spend much of the winter as Snowbirds in Alabama.

If anyone is interested I can be contacted at salzman42@gmail.com. I hope the class of 1960 is doing well.”

Bunny Harvey ’63 just retired after 39 years of teaching at Wellesley, had a major retrospective exhibition at the Davis Museum, and received the Alumni Professional Achievement Award from Rhode Island School of Design at their 2016 graduation. See website: bunnyharvey.com Dr. Peter Orris ‘63 is starting an exciting

new project through which he will be consulting with four communities and academic institutions in India. Together they will conduct local environmental epidemiologic studies about chemical and coal energy generated pollution, and the human health impacts.

Betty Slatko ’64 writes “My husband and I are vacationing (& working) in Australia for one month. We are now on Lord Howe

In Memoriam Lillian Arnesen ’36

Alan S. Rosenthal ’44 Roger Boxill ’46 Judy Shor Fields ’48 Larry C. Osius ’48 Jerome Klein ’49

put out my own music. I recently released my sixth CD Funny Money. One of the songs on this album will appear in the film Imperium, which stars Daniel Radcliffe and Toni Collette.”

Gene Eaddy ’80 writes, “I’m currently living near Atlanta, working on my IT career at the CDC. I’m a Web Software Developer here.”

David Novogrodsky ’51

Rabbi Brian Zimmerman ’83 and his wife

Jan A. Uretsky ’78

Mimi just celebrated 23 years of marriage.

He is the new Senior Rabbi of Beth El Congregation in Fort Worth, TX and continues to use many of the great ideas he learned in English and film classes at Elisabeth Irwin in his weekly teaching. He has two amazing children, Saul, age 15 and Molly, age 13.

Eric Dorris ’12 Alan Macfarlane, Husband of Lyn Campbell Macfarlane ’46 Evelyn Soloway, Mother of Alan Soloway ’73 Michael Ratner, Father of Ana Ratner ’08 Victoria Maldonado, Mother of Nemo Allen ‘08 and Kerabania Maldonado ’17 David Jones, Father of Alexandria Jones

Island in the Tasman Sea; a remarkably pristine eco system and healthy coral reef.”

David R. Jones ’66 was recently confirmed to

serve on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Board of Directors. David is President and CEO of the Community Service Society. He intends to use his position on the MTA Board to voice concerns about transit affordability in New York, and to argue that making transportation costs more affordable enhances the competitive advantage the city gains from a large accessible labor force.

Marcia B. Cohen ’68 retired in May 2016

and moved with her husband David from Portland, Maine to Long Beach, California. “No more job and no more snow!”

Linda J. Spector ’68 writes, “My daughter,

Hannah, was married this past March in Washington, DC at the National Museum of Women in the Arts. I travel frequently to NYC to see my mom, Lee Spector, and to DC to see my daughter and her husband Steven.

For now, we continue to live in Ann Arbor, MI as my husband completes his last year of teaching at the University of Michigan.

August of 2017 he will join me in retirement and then let the traveling really begin!”

Oliver Fultz ’73 has started participating in Chicago’s growing urban farm movement, volunteering to help at the Chicago Lights farm near Chicago’s Carbini-Green projects. He has been traveling for work, and is heading to South Africa this summer.

Charis Conn ’77 writes, “I am currently a

freelance editor of books and other writing projects, as well as a teacher of writing, reading, and drawing skills for students ages 5 to 105.”

Eytan Mirsky ’79 writes, “I work at HBO as a remastering specialist and also continue to

Saideh Page-Browne ’89 was recently

named President of the National Council of Women at the United Nations.

Emma Smith-Stevens ’00 writes, “My first novel, The Australian, will be published

by Dzanc Books. It will be available in bookstores (hooray for supporting wonderful-and vital—independent booksellers!) and online at Amazon, etc. in June 2017.”

Jenna Samotin ’02 writes, “As an early

childhood art educator, many thanks to the wonderful LREI community for fostering my passion for art!”

Nat Towsen ’03 was a finalist in Cozi TV’s

Comedy Search. “I started doing comedy at Little Red. The first standup I ever did was at the end-of-year assembly in 8th grade (in 1999).”

In June, Analisa Cipriano ’05 married Peter Heinz (LREI high school history teacher and track coach). It was a beautiful ceremony with many guests from the LREI community.

Adriane Alicea ’07 is currently the Government Relations Manager at MENTOR: The National Mentoring Partnership. She lives in Washington, DC. Celi Khanyile-Lynch ’09 is currently

working with the de Blasio Administration as Special Assistant to the Director of the Mayor’s Office of Appointments. Celi recently assumed the position of Briefing Director for the Mayor and Special Assistant to the Mayor’s Chief of Staff.

In May, Ana De La Cruz ’10 received her Master’s degree from Columbia University’s SIPA (School of International and Public Affairs), where she obtained a concentration in International Security Policy and a specialization in International Conflict Resolution and Middle Eastern Studies.

Ana is excited to begin her work as a Foreign Service Officer for the U.S. State Department in Amman, Jordan.

LREI NEWS | Summer 2016 21

LREI IN THE WORLD Stefan Holt ’05 We (Violeta Picayo ’09, Alumni Relations Associate and Peter Martin, Director of Communications) walked into “30 Rock” and told the receptionist that we were there to meet with Stefan Holt. You can imagine that in a 2.5-million square foot tower, the front desk can’t direct you to an employee with only a name to reference.

What he did was direct us to guest services where we waited for Stefan. Turns out he was stuck underground on a 6 train.

Stefan texted to let us know that, and later shared that social media allows him to stay in touch with his audience, no matter where his travels take him.

Stefan, proud member of LREI’s graduating class of 2005, led us through security and off to a tour of his workplace. We visited a live taping, the main newsroom, and a control room.

No matter the department we

visited or which hallway we walked down, Stefan greeted each coworker warmly and by name. He effortlessly engaged them in conversation, always seeming to pick up middiscussion. Stefan’s interactions gave the feeling that he has known his colleagues for years, even though he only recently (late March) moved back to New York from Chicago, where he was a morning news anchor on NBC-owned WMAQ-Channel 5.

Stefan is currently the co-anchor of WNBC’s 4 p.m. newscast.

The building itself is full of history, and the people who work at 30 Rockefeller Center are clearly the keepers of that history. Stefan knows these people and history as if he’s been there for years, sharing stories and facts about each room, department, studio as we looked for an empty conference room. Once found, we took a

seat and it was the journalist’s turn to answer questions.

How has your role as a journalist changed from college to the present?

Coming out of journalism school, we were the first generation to have Facebook as a resource.

Social media has changed the game. We are connected 24/7.

We can generate story ideas to start a dialogue with the public.

The days of a news presenter reading the news are over; it’s a two-way street now, there is a constant conversation.

How do you balance personal views with being an objective reporter?

As a news organization, there are social media guidelines. I feel comfortable posting stories I find interesting, and that isn’t a reflection of NBC News...social media gives our viewers an opportunity to see behind the scenes. There’s a relationship that extends beyond our TV screen. You don’t have to call the assignment desk anymore to contact a reporter, you can tweet instantaneously.

How else do you engage with viewers?

I often post a story that teases towards coverage. But today, I had a New York moment with the subway breaking down, so I tweeted about that. I got replies of “I feel your pain, been there, done that.” It allows our audience to know we’re human.

I try to be sensitive and humble when approaching each story.

I’ve never heard journalism described in those words.

What else describes the type of journalist you want to be?

That’s a great question. One of my mentors emphasized that we’re storytellers. There are

22

WNBC control room

millions of stories to be told.

We can’t tell every single one, but when we do tell stories, we have to be sensitive to the people involved. I like to come from an area of compassion.

This is something that affects people. Sharing a story may stir something within you to take action. Whether it’s a peaceful protest or giving a police officer a hug, all of these stories serve to elicit a connection; and now is an important time to feel that connection. We’re able to make that connection more easily now because there are so many ways to engage with viewers.

How much do you get to express your own interests, either on the air or via social media?

The issue of opinion: The election, for example, I don’t like to project my opinion of what’s going on. I’d rather the story tell itself, or the players speak for themselves. But it is my job to hold those players accountable.

We must ask tough questions and make sure the audience is clear about what the interviewee is saying…This is a big moment for our country, a big moment in journalism and a big moment for politics...We have to make sure we share as many sides and angles of a story as possible.

Given the volume of information that you receive, what is the fact checking process like?

When we interview someone, we do our homework and

background check. We need to have credible people. We must be clear with the audience when a story is still developing i.e. breaking news, then we’re clear that information is changing, for example: a death toll, number of suspects, or change of suspect.

Transparency is important, especially when we’re rapidly learning new information and the details are evolving.

Did you go to college knowing you wanted to be a journalist?

I really wanted to study political science…but I caught the journalism bug at Pepperdine University. They have a great Communications program and it all began flipping through the TV; I got to channel 26 and there were two news anchors who were both classmates of mine...I auditioned during my second semester and declared a second major in Communications/ Broadcast Journalism (first: Political Science)...I ran the teleprompter, camera, audio, was a floor director, I wrote. I was a meteorologist...I was terrible on the green screen! Weather wasn’t my strong point, but I loved the news...I also learned to shoot video...I had a head start because when I was at LREI we had media arts, so I already knew how to edit, basic lighting and all those things...I was steps ahead of my college classmates because of that training and background. I didn’t know then that I wanted to do it for the rest of my life, and here I am using Final Cut on many late nights to put a piece together.

You grew up with a certain awareness of this job because of your dad (Lester Holt). How does this affect how you see your job?

I’ve had a very unique and special opportunity to have my father as a fatherly mentor and as a professional mentor...When I told him I was thinking of doing this as a vocation, he gave it to me straight: this is what’s changed, this is what will be expected of you, but make your own way. I can give you advice,

I can critique your work, but you have to do the work and make the phone calls, pound the pavement; write and shoot and edit...I’ve been fortunate to have him as a mentor…I was also acutely aware of the tough parts of being a journalist: the long hours, the travel, being away from your family, the constant deadlines and pressures...and the huge responsibility of being a story-teller...I was very lucky in that sense, I had a good idea of what I was getting myself into; but that understanding has evolved even in the past couple years...It’s been an interesting ride. I’ve worked in great places with great people, I’ve pulled exciting stories, but also been there for tragic stories.

Can you tell us about a time you were surprised while on air? Or when something didn’t quite go as planned?

It happens quite often, you just have to play it off...Breaking news can be challenging because you’re on the fly, there’s no teleprompter or script….

Sometimes it’s hard, I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve had to ask people on their darkest day, how do you feel? Our ability to not just have an informational medium, but a visual medium can really shine light where there’s darkness, and expose injustice that may be just a few miles from where we live. When there’s some sort of trauma, we’re reminding our audience that these are people not a statistic, this is real life playing out. It’s a sobering reminder and it puts everything into perspective.

And with this, with what felt like the perfect final thoughts, Stefan’s colleague knocked, signaling that time was up.

Stefan walked us back to the lobby where, before saying goodbye, we exchanged memories of his role as King Lear in his LREI 8th grade play. He remembers forgetting a few lines and covering when things went unexpectedly, a skill that he’s since developed and employed frequently as a news anchor.

THE SENIOR PROJECT EXPERIENCE The Senior project is the culmination of each student’s LREI experience. Senior Project takes the values and academics of LREI and allows students to explore these areas in the real world.

Watch videos, listen to music, and read about all of the senior projects at experience.lrei.org/senior-project.

2016-2017

Alumni Calendar SAVE THE DATE!

9/12

Alumni Council Meeting 6:30 p.m.

Alumni Room at 40 Charlton St.

10/24

Alumni Happy Hour Location: TBD

11/21

Alumni Council Meeting 6:30 p.m.

Alumni Room at 40 Charlton St.

12/16

5/1

Alumni Basketball Game 6 p.m.

Thompson St. Gym

Alumni Council Meeting 6:30 p.m.

Alumni Room at 40 Charlton St.

1/9

6/2-6/3

3/13

6/19

Alumni Council Meeting 6:30 p.m.

Alumni Room at 40 Charlton St. Alumni Council Meeting 6:30 p.m.

Alumni Room at 40 Charlton St.

Reunion Weekend 2017 40 Charlton St. Celebrating classes ending in “7” and “2” Alumni Council Meeting 6:30 p.m.

Alumni Room at 40 Charlton St.

LREI NEWS | Summer 2016 23

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These were our most engaging social media posts this year.

“Follow” us on Instagram and Twitter (@LREI), “Like” us on Facebook (LREInyc), and enjoy.

117 likes on Instagram #LREI has #pride all year round, and yesterday we marched with Calhoun, Friends, and Bank Street for #Pride2016. Did you see the Little Red School House float? #NYCpride

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309 Reactions, Comments Middle School Pi Day & Shares on Facebook 309 Reactions, Comments & Shares on Facebook

89 likes on Instagram #LREI Director Philip Kassen addressing the Class of 2016! #Graduation #LREI16

City Hall tweeted our Instagram post!

If you want to change the world, start young. At #LREI we lead by example, so everyday is #TransformationTuesday.

92 likes on Instagram Girls Varsity Basketball wins 38-19 over FASNY and are league playoff champions for the third year in a row! Sadie led scoring with 19 points. Go Knights!

Last week our 4th graders were front and center at the #NewYorkCity street vendors’ protest. They even made it onto #DailyNews.com—find the link to the article on our Facebook page.

High School Faculty Lip Sync 122 Reactions, Reactions,Comments Comments 122 & Shares Shareson onFacebook Facebook &

2016 LREI Field Day Reactions,Comments Comments 112 Reactions, Shareson onFacebook Facebook & Shares