• A letter from the Director
• Que pasa en espanol?
• Laptops in the Lower School
• Middle School Math Department Embraces Technology
• Afterschool goes wild!
• Middle School raises money for Pakistan Earthquake Relief
• Middle School Art teacher awarded Fulbright scholarship
• In Brief: LREI Athletics and LREI Art on your commute
• LREI sets a high standard at diversity conference
• 2006 Irwin Scholars
• High School students think big ideas
• Parents Association Notes
  
  
  

Instead of writing my usual letter for this edition of LREI News, I thought I would share a conversation that I had with Ruth Geyer Jurgensen, our incoming High School principal.

Q: Ruth, you started your teaching career here at LREI and have left and returned twice. What makes it so hard to stay away?
A: It really is the energy, the community, the diversity and commitment to learning and working towards resolving serious social issues that keeps me coming back. By the way the first time I left, it was to pursue a new career in producing fashion editorial and advertising. The second time, I was offered a job at Miss Porter’s School near to where my husband was a reporter for The Hartford Courant. Luckily, The Wall Street Journal offered him a job, and we moved back to the City in July. Once we decided to come back, I called LREI because there is no school like it in the city. Our faculty, our students and alumni are just inspiring. And I missed everyone. We have such a supportive community. I feel so close to the community, every time I came back, it felt like coming home. Only the food keeps getting better!

Q: Agreed ours is a unique high school. What made you want to change your role to that of the next leader of the high school?
A: The high school allows our students to take risks and pursue their goals, no matter how extraordinary. LREI is a place of possibility. When I returned to our nurturing, inspirational environment I was reminded to always try to challenge myself. The students, many of my colleagues, alumni and friends convinced me to apply for the job. Most importantly, I felt I could not ask my students to take risks if I could not demonstrate that I could as well. Finally, everyone knows my love for the school. Pursuing the job was a way of demonstrating my commitment.

Q: It sounds as if you really have a vision for the high school. Can you share some of it with us?
A: I see a school that is a leader, a community presence, downtown. I see students who continue to be challenged in every discipline, where they are educated to become visionary leaders in a complicated world, and I see supporting a place where intellect continues to be nurtured. For our faculty, I will work to make sure they have plenty of opportunities for teamwork, interdisciplinary collaboration, professional development and personal growth. LREI is lucky to have a peer leadership program going into its second year where select seniors mentor freshman, faculty advisors watching out for their few charges, and we look forward to spirit week and a variety of celebrations reminding us of the legacy of Elisabeth Irwin. Days will continue to be filled with high academic opportunity and informal education that create critical thinking and the desire to explore the world. As bell hooks has written about her own educational experience, “School was the place where I could forget that self and, through ideas, reinvent myself.” To me, she describes our high school.

Q: I often talk about the student body being the great strength of the high school. What do you think makes our students so special?
A: Our students are the most hopeful, extraordinarily thoughtful, sensitive and talented individuals. Many of them are already professionals in a variety of fields. Our students feel confident in who they are, experiment with who they will be, test one another while remaining supportive of each other. I have spoken with several alumni in the past few weeks, and I am absolutely struck by how many are pursuing their passions and getting paid for it, but also by how many are continuing in a subject or field found in high school! Students have the advantage of not only having solid preparation for college and the world after, but their passions are fostered and encouraged by our individualized program, and dedicated faculty and staff.

Q: Does the faculty add to this?
A: I have faith that this high school is the best place to go through the trials of adolescence. The adults in the community are interested in the challenges teenagers go through and are the best people to anticipate what the ups and downs could be for one’s child. We are forever working to be better educators and individuals. There is no better group of people. Dedicated and passionate, they work long hours to keep current in their field and affect all of our students in the most positive ways.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us, Ruth. I know I speak for the rest of the community when I say welcome back and we are thrilled that you will be leading the high school as it continues its growth and development.

Welcome Ruth!

by Phil Kassen
Director

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On January 24th, Julie Sterling, Lower School Spanish teacher, and Delia Hernandez, Lower School Assistant Principal, conducted a Spanish workshop for parents. Julie began the workshop with a hands-on demonstration of the instructional techniques that she uses in Spanish classes. Parents participated in a variety of activities that got them moving, listening, repeating, and, finally, using new Spanish words meaningfully and in context.

The activities were followed by an overview of the goals of the program. Julie explained that children in Early Childhood are exposed to the sounds and the rhythms of the language through games, fingerplays, songs, and simple stories that Spanish-speaking children learn in their schools and homes. Competency goals are necessarily minimal at this stage.

In the Second through Fourth Grades the complexity of the program increases, as children begin to spend more class time per week in Spanish, and to add reading and writing skills to what has been a focus on listening and speaking. They stressed that fluency in Spanish is not yet an expected outcome; rather, children are expected to be able to use the Spanish vocabulary they have acquired in accurate and meaningful ways.

Julie distributed handouts that highlighted the following strategies for supporting children’s Spanish learning:

• Start building a home collection of Spanish and bilingual books, including children’s picture dictionaries, storybooks that are simple and appealing, and bilingual anthologies. The market for children’s literature in Spanish is growing, and great new titles are always coming out. Most Barnes & Nobles stores have a selection of Spanish children’s books. Even better is the Lectorum bookstore on West 14th Street between Sixth and Seventh Avenues; they have a large selection and very helpful staff.

• Have your child share new words with a Spanish-speaking friend or neighbor.

• Try the public library, especially Donnell, on West 53rd Street. Use the NYPL website: you can search for, place a hold on, and pick up a book at the branch you choose, usually within a week or so. (Find copies of a suggested bibliography for Young Spanish Learners in the Sixth Avenue Library Diversity and Community Corner and on the web.)

• Check the weekly blog to find out the words that your child is learning. Then work these words into conversation at home.

• Peek into your child’s caja de palabras (Second, Third and Fourth Grades), and libro de palabras (Fours, EK, and Kindergartens) in your child’s classroom. When Second Graders study colors and fruits in the fall, for example, shop for them together, serve them at home, and talk about them.

• Take advantage of the list of resources in New York City, compiled by Marguerite Lukes and included each week in the blog. New York City has a lot to offer young Spanish learners: children’s theater, museum exhibits, readings, etc.

• Count! Count finders and toes, forks and spoons, buses and taxis. Numbers are among the first words Spanish learners master. Your child will remember the numbers if you don’t!

• Consider travel to a Spanish-speaking place during a vacation, and make it a point to venture beyond the tourist track. A little practice in an authentic environment goes a long way. Classroom work can only simulate this kind of real communication.
Julie and Delia also shared new additions to the Spanish curriculum this year, which include:

• New Spanish book collections in the classrooms and the Spanish office, and more coming soon to the library

• A faculty workshop conducted in the fall, focused on increasing the presence of spoken Spanish throughout the school day and the school building

• Trips for First through Fourth Graders, finding Spanish in the city, outside of school

• Renewed emphasis on asking the children to use Spanish to say something meaningful and true

• Cajas de palabras, cuadernos de español, and libros de palabras

• Additional instruction in Spanish literacy for the children who come to the Lower
School already speaking Spanish

Delia and Julie expressed a deep commitment to the Spanish program and to enriching our community by bringing Spanish to the forefront. ¡Hasta luego!

by Sharon DuPree
Director of Diversity & Community

and by Delia Hernandez
Lower School Assistant Principal

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The Lower School received a very special gift this year - a cart with 20 Mac G4 laptop computers. This gift came to our division through fund raising efforts of the Development Office, and is offering both students and teachers the opportunity to broaden their technology use and expertise.
Prior to receiving the cart, Lower School technology instruction was limited by the availability of the computers in the technology lab, a space that is shared with the Middle School and is often booked with classes. Now, in addition to their regularly scheduled lab times, our Third and Fourth Graders can work in their classrooms thanks to the movable cart. This is particularly important for our Third Grade students who are just now learning to touch type and need the reinforcement of added practice time.

Technology Coordinator Celeste Dorsey is excited by the many curricular opportunities that the computers make available. She is eager to introduce projects in our early grades, as well, integrating existing curriculum with technology in ways that are developmentally appropriate for our students. She envisions these projects as collaborative, with classroom teachers and specialists working in tandem.
Margaret Andrews, Math Coordinator, has already begun to use the cart in this way, and is broadening the math program with its use. Using Microsoft Excel, Fourth Grade students are learning to chart and graph the data they collect in social studies research. Margaret has found that using the computers in this way has opened up new areas in which our children are able to challenge themselves and explore numbers in new and more sophisticated ways.
In short, the more Lower School teachers and students experiment with in-class technology extensions, the broader and more creative these uses become.

Currently, Celeste is working on a project with the Fourth Grade that involves writing short biographies using the computers. She is finding that once the children sit down at their computers, they are often able to get their creative juices flowing in ways that they may find difficult with paper and pencil. The portraits that they have begun to paint are both striking and honest, in ways that are often unexpected. These are some samples from their work:
“This summer I am going to Michigan where we have our own house and I love to go swimming there because the water is so clear and there are a lot of sandbars and we find lots of Petroskey’s (it is a type of rock). I have a great and wonderful life filled with love.”
“I go to LREI which stands for Little Red Elisabeth Irwin. Elisabeth Irwin was the founder of my school and she was a lesbian, that’s why my school has Visibility. Visibility is when my school talks about lesbian and gay people and different types of families. .....I have awesome teachers...”
“In Third Grade (I) got braces and thought that (my) life was going to end, but it didn’t. (I) have had a good life so far.”

by Harriet Lieber
Lower School Learning Specialist & Lower School Newsletter Correspondent

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Due to the generosity of many in our community, LREI has been able to install a number of SMART boards and other technology tools. The Middle School math department has enthusiastically adopted these innovations. Michelle Boehm (Seventh & Eighth Grade math) Jenny Cashin (Sixth Grade math) and Ana Fox Cheney (Fifth & Eighth grade math) use a variety of high-tech software and hardware to teach tech savvy students how to think about problem solving in new and exciting ways. Among there favorite teaching tools are Geometer’s Sketchpad, graphing calculators, and a SMART board, Geometer’s Sketchpad is a computer program that allows students to construct an object and then explore its mathematical properties through manipulations of the object in the simulated workspace. As students make changes to the object, they can observe how the mathematical representations of the object are affected. They can also manipulate the mathematical formulas and observe the effects on the object. Sketchpad helps students to bridge the gap between the abstract and the concrete. Sketchpad can be used in the teaching of Euclidean and non-Euclidean geometries, algebra, trigonometry, pre-calculus, and calculus. The Middle School math faculty also use spreadsheet applications, like the Microsoft Excel program, to teach students about graphs and formulas. The use of Excel is connected to range of real-world problems that helps students to see the utility of these mathematical tools.

Students begin working with graphing calculators in the Seventh Grade. According to Michelle Boehm, “Graphing calculators help to eliminate the tedious chore of constructing graphs by hand (something students should master at this point) and enables students to ask the interesting question, ‘what if…?’ With one keystroke, students can explore how changing one or more variables of a given equation can affect a graph. As eighth graders study a range of mathematical concepts that define complex relationships, using graphing calculators helps them connect tables of data with their graphs and equations.”

Finally, the math faculty are pleased to have received a classroom SMART board this year have been eager learners along with their students in exploring all the different ways that this cutting edge piece of hardware can enhance the MS math program. A SMART board is a white board that is connected to a computer. Text and images from the computer are projected onto the SMART board; this content can then be manipulated by writing on the SMART board with a special pen. In addition to controlling the software from the SMART board, students and teachers can write notations on the SMART board, which can be saved to the computer for future use. Michelle comments, “It is a great tool to use in combination with students’ laptops. It allows teachers to demonstrate skills and applications more easily. For example, as I had students scaling a geometric figure using Geometer’s Sketchpad, another student demonstrated his ‘thinking’ at the SMART board. We wrote notes on the SMART board, saved them, and were able to print them out later to use as a reference.”

With all these interesting and thought provoking technological tools, the Middle School math faculty are able to dig deeper into the problem-solving process as they create an atmosphere of inquiry and curiosity. To learn more about Geometer’s Sketchpad and SMART board technology, check out these websites, or make an appointment to visit the Middle School Math room!

SMART Technologies:
http://www.smarttech.com/

Geometer’s Sketchpad:
http://www.keypress.com/sketchpad/

by Jennifer Hubert Swan
Middle School and Coordinating Librarian & Middle School Newsletter Correspondent

and by Mark Silberberg
Middle School Principal

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At the end of March, Adwaitta (meaning “the one and only”), the oldest tortoise ever to have lived in captivity, passed away at his zoo in Calcutta. He was believed to be 250 years old. Last week I visited the Afterschool Wild Life Enrichment class taught by Dave Edson, where he put this information into perspective for his students. “Do you know how old this country is?” he asked. There were a few guesses – one hundred years, one hundred-fifty. “Those are good guesses, but the answer is two hundred and thirty. This means that the tortoise was older than the United States!” Everyone gasped and looked at each other with wide eyes. Dave is just as amazed and fascinated by animals as the students are, and his excitement is contagious.

I visited the Wild Life group on their first class back after spring break, and the session began with a discussion about the animals everyone saw over break. After talking about what they saw, where they saw them, and what they knew about those animals, Dave began giving clues as to what the “secret animal of the day” was. Students then began to guess and after a few good ideas, one of the kids shouted, “crabs!” and they were all off to the rug for story time.

Everyone sat quietly while Dave read Crabs, by Donna Bailey. He often re-read parts that he found particularly fascinating to be sure that everyone understood exactly what was being said. (Did you know that the largest crab in the world has a leg span of 13 feet? That’s longer than the ceiling is tall!) According to Dave, the class focuses on all kinds of animals, from the extraordinary (giant squid) to the seemingly mundane (ants) and always manages to find something about them that is amazing.
After the story, it was time for an art project. The task? Using water colors, crayons and colored pencils to create any kind of crab they wanted. The class struck a wonderful balance between listening, sharing, and creating.

I was blown away by the bits of information these students shared with each other. As Dave said, “kids have this astonishing capacity for retaining accurate details and statistics.” Who knew that Kimodo Dragons are only found in Indonesia? Since when do kindergartners throw around words like ‘exoskeleton’ and ‘venomous?’ I certainly didn’t know such specifics when I was their age. Dave has a unique understanding of his students, as he remembers being wildly fascinated with animals when he was young as well.

“We learn through science, research, observation, and art to respect and protect all these creatures and that they all have a very important purpose. Sometimes we don’t have all the answers, but we think that’s fine because we get to keep on wondering and learning.”

by Naomi Finkelstein
Afterschool Administrative Assistant

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On March 15th, Middle School students presented a representative from Working Assets, a progressive organization dedicated to human rights, social justice, and the environment, a check for over $12,000 to rebuild girls’ schools in an area of Pakistan hardest hit by this fall’s earthquake.

This amazing feat of fund raising began in November when news of the devastating earthquake in Pakistan reached LREI’s Middle School. Students from Middle School Spanish and Math teacher Sheila Kanchwala and Middle School Physical Education Teacher Marcus Chang’s advisory group gave a presentation about the earthquake and invited the Middle School community to take action in support of those who have lost so much. Here is an excerpt from materials they put together for the presentation:

"In a year of so many disasters worldwide, it can sometimes feel overwhelming to offer our support for each and every cause. However, in Pakistan, where people are still recovering from this fall’s devastating earthquake, for thousands of people just finding shelter is still a major challenge. Estimates place the total loss of life in the 80,000 range, a number that will increase with the harsh winter that lies ahead. The Middle School community at Little Red School House and Elisabeth Irwin High School (LREI) would like to do its part to educate ourselves and others about this issue and to support those in need. "

After much debate, the students decided to symbolically bridge the 6880 miles between New York City and Pakistan by running 6880 laps around the Thompson Street Athletic Center. Each Middle school student ran 46 laps while community members gave their support by pledging either single donations or a dollar amount per lap.

Thanks to the generous support of the LREI community and the quick feet of the Middle School students, $12,200 were raised. In the progressive spirit of LREI, the Middle School advisory groups worked hard to generate awareness about the situation in Pakistan and to collect donations for the cause. The effort was a huge success.

For more information about Working Assets visit:
http://www.workingassets.com/
http://www.workingforchange.com

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LREI Middle School art teacher Melissa Rubin recently learned that she is the recipient of a prestigious Fulbright scholarship. The community is thrilled to have such an honor bestowed on one of our own, so I took this opportunity to sit down with Melissa and ask her to explain what she will be doing as part of the Fulbright program, and how her work will impact her teaching here at LREI.

Jennifer Hubert Swan: What is the Fulbright scholarship?
Melissa Rubin: A Fulbright Scholarship, established in 1946 by Senator J. William Fulbright, is an award that is granted to an individual who proposes a special project in a foreign country. The mission, according to the Fulbright website, is “to increase mutual understanding between the peoples of the United States and other countries, through the exchange of persons, knowledge, and skills.” If the review board feels the project will benefit others then they consider it worthy and the scholarship is granted. This particular Fulbright is known as the ‘Japan Fulbright Memorial Fund (JFMF) Teacher Program’.

JHS: What was the application process like?
MR: The application process was hard, because not only did I have to propose a worthwhile project, but then I had to write an extensive outline. This entailed writing what is called a ‘Statement of Purpose’, which had two parts to it. The first part was the ‘Rationale’ which states what the project is, why it is important for me to do it, and what the final outcome will be. The second part of the Statement of Purpose is what the Fulbright people refer to as the ‘Follow On Plan’. In this section, I had to describe how I would implement the project after I returned to the States. I had to clearly outline what I will be doing while in Japan, and what my work will be when I return. I also had to create a ‘time line’ that described the smaller goals I set for myself as I worked toward the finished product.

JHS: When and where were you when you found out that you had won?
MR: The first Monday of Spring break, I came home and saw a light blue envelope in my mailbox. It was marked ‘Air Mail,’ and the return address was the Japan Fulbright Memorial Fund office, based in Tokyo. I was so nervous, I couldn’t open the envelope. I asked my husband to open the letter and read it to me. I almost fell over when he read the first line of letter, which said, “It is a pleasure to inform you that you have been selected as a participant in the Japan Fulbright Memorial Fund Teacher Program to Japan for November 2006”. I was so overjoyed and felt incredibly honored to have been chosen. We then went out for dinner to celebrate--at our favorite Japanese restaurant, of course!

JHS: Where will you be traveling and what will you do when you get there?
MR: My first stop will be San Francisco, for one day. I will participate in an orientation to Japan and the Fulbright program. Then, I will fly to Tokyo and stay there for four days. While there, I will visit schools, as well as cultural and historical sites. I will be traveling with a delegation of other American teachers, so I will not be totally on my own. After Tokyo, I will be assigned to a prefecture (which is like a state) and then I will continue to visit schools, for a couple of weeks, to see what the education system is like in Japan. One thing I am really excited about is part of my time in Japan will be a ‘home stay’. I am really looking forward to that because I feel it will give a true window into how people in Japan live on a daily basis. After my time traveling in the prefecture, I will go back to Tokyo for a few final days.

JHS: What kind of end project are you required to create as the culmination of your study?
MR: First, I have to say I have always dreamed of going to Japan. So when it came time to creating a project, it was hard to figure what I wanted to focus on, because there is so much about Japanese culture that interests me. But when I read the guidelines for the application the task became easier, because I had to develop a project that would benefit LREI when I return. I actually proposed two projects, because there are two things that interest me greatly and I am eager to share this with the school.

The first project is to create a curriculum for the Middle School art program that focuses on the arts and culture of Japan. This will mean I will be taking many photographs while I am in Japan, and writing extensively about all the wonderful aspects of the culture that relate to art and art making. I will be taking photos of the architecture, the various art forms that I see (visual art, performing art, theater, fashion), the natural environment and the Japanese approach to gardening. There will be much more that I can’t even say, because it will all be so new to me. When I return, I will create lesson plans that relate to the Sixth Grade study of Feudal Japan, and I will make a digital picture file of images. All the materials that I develop will be housed in a binder, which will be in the MS art room and also the library, so other teachers in the school can use it as well.

My second project entails something a little different. Two years ago I started a group, with Ana Chaney, called ‘Critical Friends’. This is a group for teachers where we observe each other while we teach, and give each other feedback on concerns we have about our lessons and our teaching practice. It is very special because it allows teachers an opportunity to learn from their colleagues and it encourages people to take risks with their teaching practice; it is non-evaluative and all about promoting growth as an educator. In Japan there is a method of professional development called ‘Lesson Study’, which is very similar in structure to Critical Friends. My goal is to visit schools in Japan that use Lesson Study, observe how this model works, share the work that I have done at LREI with them, and then create an ‘electronic journal.’ This will provide interested teachers in Japan, and at LREI, with a forum to share ideas and experiences connected to issues surrounding teaching such as assessment, differentiated learning, skill transfer and anything else that may emerge.

JHS: How do you think this experience will influence your work as a teacher and as an artist?
MR: I believe that life experience is the most powerful teacher of them all. By going to a place where I truly have no frame of reference, I will be forced to use my intellect as well as my instincts in a very immediate and ‘on my feet’ kind of way. My art teaching is greatly enhanced by encounters with the arts in all its forms and I am looking to this experience to provide me with very rich and meaningful examples of the arts, both historical and contemporary. I am a very visual person. My sight is extremely important to me and I know I will be seeing amazing things when I am in Japan. The Japanese aesthetic has always been incredibly inspiring to me and has already greatly influenced my approach to my artwork. I am sure the time I spend in Japan will no doubt have an impact on my approach in the future.

We wish Melissa luck on her artistic journey, and look forward to the knowledge and new skills she will bring back to educate and enlighten the LREI community.

by Jennifer Hubert Swan
Middle School and Coordinating Librarian

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LREI Athletics
Spring sports are off and running, both literally and figuratively. The High School track, tennis, golf and softball teams have started. The Middle School softball and intramural softball league are recently underway as well. As always, the student-athletes love to see fans at their games, so come out and support the teams by watching them compete.
Check the athletics section of the website for game schedules, times and locations.
http://www.lrei.org/athletics/

LREI Art on your commute
Susan Leopold, Middle School Art Teacher, has an art installation, Alleyways, at the Franklin Street Subway Station (1 and 9 trains) on the downtown platform. The installation is sponsored by the Metropolitan Transit Authority Arts for Transit program. Alleyways is a mixed-media photographic construction capturing the back streets of Tribeca and viewed through two large windows on the subway platform.

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On Friday, April 7, the New York State Association of Independent Schools (NYSAIS) hosted a diversity conference entitled, “Class Undercover” with the stated goal of ”identifying and addressing issues of socio-economic class and the privilege embedded within school cultures”. So compelling is this topic today that over 300 educators were in attendance and many had to be turned away. With 19 faculty and administrators at the conference, LREI’s involvement exceeded that of all other schools.
The success, and challenge, of this precedent-setting event owes itself in large part to LREI Third Grade teacher Sandra (Chap) Chapman, 2006 Conference Chair. Chap dedicated over a year to the creation and implementation of this vision. Her introductions of speakers such as NYT writers Tamar Lewin and David Leonhardt, co-authors of the recent series “Class Matters” and Tim Wise author of White Like Me invited all participants to challenge themselves and engage meaningfully.
LREI participants were there both to learn and to teach. Director of Diversity and Community Sharon DuPree and Lower School Assistant Principal Delia Hernandez each led one of the day’s workshops. Sharon presented the following: The Game of Life: Helping Students Critically Analyze the Interrelationship between Race, Class and Economics. Taking examples from the course she teaches in our high school, she discussed techniques “to help students reflect upon their own economic legacies, to explore the attitudes/beliefs/research that connect socio-economic status to race and to understand the difficulties associated with underrepresented groups’ attempts to attain the American Dream.” Delia collaborated with Martha Haakmat from Packer Collegiate School to create An Activity-Based Approach to Dialogue about Class Issues. Here participants “engaged in an activity designed to promote self-reflection and honest dialogue about socio-economic status and privilege in independent school communities.”
Conference participants returned to their classrooms and offices eager to probe further the issues of class that manifest themselves within independent school communities. Our hope at LREI is that, alongside other initiatives, this spark will eventually lead to increased interest in and increasingly sensitive responses to these very personal and powerful dynamics.

by Elaine Winter
Lower School Principal

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Each year LREI offers scholarships to incoming Ninth Graders who demonstrate exceptional accomplishment and promise in the areas of scholarship, citizenship, leadership and service in their time at LREI. This year LREI awarded Irwin Scholarships to Molly Balsam, Andes Blitz-Torres, Woobens Celony, Gabe Cook, Gaby Segal and Emma Vasta-Kuby.

LREI is an exciting place to go to high school. LREI challenges students to be their best selves - academically, socially and personally. Irwin Scholars are expected to be exemplary members of the community. Students are considered for Irwin Scholarships on the basis of:
• Commitment to academic excellence;
• Meaningful contributions to the governance & social life of the School;
• Contributions to the school’s Community Service Program.

During their time at the High School, Irwin Scholars are expected to be leaders in the classroom, in extracurricular activities and in service both inside and outside the LREI community. Irwin Scholars are often class reps and/or members of the Community Service Roundtable. In addition, they are often asked to participate in the Fall Open Houses, lead tours and/or host visiting students, talk in both formal and informal settings to current Eighth Graders about the High School, and perform other ambassadorial duties as they arise.

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March 9th marked the inauguration of what will hopefully become another wonderful High School tradition - Big Ideas Day. The concept grew out of a discussion concerning faculty release time to focus on grades, but once the idea was broached it became something else entirely. The result was something that fit perfectly with the tradition of learning outside the box and the concept of global awareness - even if the awareness in this case was truly tiny. Because Big Ideas Day 2006 focused on String Theory.

String Theory is science, but it is also the theory of everything, and provides an excellent vehicle for discussing scientific theory and raising awareness of the ways in which the world is constantly expanding and changing. Moreover, we have a long tradition of celebrating the arts and humanities, but in-depth exploration of scientific theory has been harder to achieve. Much of this is because science grows and changes so rapidly. String Theory is one of the most controversial and exciting ideas in science today. It was the perfect launching point for this experiment in thought. Because String Theory incorporates concepts of math and music, and branches out to touch upon topics not often considered part of science, it provides an interdisciplinary approach to science that truly embraces the LREI mission and curriculum. Possibilities for future topics include Artificial Intelligence, another growing area of science that incorporates many disciplines and has the possibility to change how the world is viewed.

On the actual day, students were divided into mixed-grade groups of 14-20. Each group met in a separate room after a general introduction, where one or more faculty members led the group in watching a PBS video (Brian Greene’s Elegant Universe), working with computer simulations, or in discussions that ranged far and wide. In one group, talk turned to whether the quantum theory embodied by Schrodinger’s Cat encourages cruelty to animals. Parallel universes, the existence of which String Theory indicates as likely, were another fascinating topic of conversation, and students who had previously dismissed such ideas as science fiction were startled to learn that they might be possible. The mixed grade groups meant that students were also interacting with new faces and ideas, and provided them with a chance to interact intellectually with a very different group than their every day classmates. Intergrade activities are frequent, and—as with Arts Fest or Minimester—enhance the learning opportunities both intellectually and socially.

The Elegant Universe video series was a perfect entry point to the concept of String Theory. Short video segments provided multiple views designed for the lay audience, using multimedia simulations, history and background, numerous interviews with experts in the field, and humor—a key ingredient in making such heady material accessible. Ideas are already percolating for future subjects and ways to make the day even more rewarding. Future incarnations of Big Ideas Day will hopefully have smaller student groups, to encourage even more discussion, and a larger hands-on component. The high school students wanted to try the ideas out as much as possible, and the computer simulation only whetted their appetite for hands-on experimentation.

The day concluded with a “brain dump”. The entire school met in the PAC for a debriefing session, and the students were asked to post comments on the ideas of the day—either positive or negative. Many of the comments revealed increased understanding and new questions, and Tim Cooper, conceiver of Big Ideas Day 2006, has all of those comments available for anyone who would like to see them (contact Tim at tcooper@lrei.org). Comments ranged from entertaining, plaintive declarations of brain pain, as students grappled with an overwhelming barrage of new ideas, to thrilled declarations of belief, from those for whom String Theory seemed like the first logical explanation of the world.

All in all, Big Ideas day was a success. As one student happily said, “I thought so hard my brain actually hurt.” Hopefully, future iterations of the day will have similarly exciting results!

by Karyn Silverman
High School Librarian & High School Newsletter Correspondent

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