News
	Faculty in the News

updated 05.27.08

Meghan Farley Astrachan, High School Drama Teacher, was invited to be a guest critic at Harvard's Graduate School of Design for a final Drawing Review on Tuesday, May 13, 2008. Meghan was part of an impressive panel of professors and Arts professionals who reviewed and critiqued the students' work.

"The class is taught by drawing master, Anne McGhee, a great foundations teacher who stresses the fundamentals of line, light, form, and shadow. I really enjoyed critiquing and debating with the masters students in architecture, landscape architecture, and urban planning. They do most of their work on computers; Anne's class is a rare opportunity for them to discover and enhance their freehand drawing skills. The discussions during the review often revolved around the importance of the direct brain-hand-paper connection versus the computer and how one method can inform the other and vice versa.

Being a critic is exhausting and exhilarating. I remember fondly my portfolio reviews during my undergraduate studies. They can be ruthless. Critiques are an integral part of the learning process. They are rewarding and inspirational opportunities for both students and critics."

Vinay Chowdhry, High School Media Arts Teacher, received a screening of his film Personality at the DocuClub series in NYC. In the film, a Bollywood background dancer tries to make it in the film industry in India. The young man moves from his village in northern India to Mumbai to achieve his dreams of stardom, only to find out that although he is talented, he lacks what is known as "personality," a euphemism for being light-skinned and confident in a newly globalized India. The film is in Hindi, with subtitles.

DocuClub is a film screening series of works-in-progress documentaries. Each month, a filmmaker presents a rough cut of her film. Afterwards, a moderator facilitates a discussion between filmmaker and audience. Constructive feedback from these sessions informs the finished film. Past films that have been screened at DocuClub include Born Into Brothels, The Boys of Baraka, and Metallica: Some Kind of Monster.

Frank Portella, Sixth Grade Core Teacher, won the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Pan Am Championship "Master Blue Belt" division. He received his purple belt from Professors Fabio Clemente and Marcelo Garcia shortly thereafter at the Alliance NYC academy in the East Village. The wrestling team he coaches at the Baruch College Campus H.S. completed their first P.S.A.L. varsity season (2007 – 2008) and was rated as one of the top 10 programs in the five boroughs.

Ann Schaumburger, Lower School Art Teacher, for receiving 'Honorable Mention' at the 31st Annual Small Works Exhibition at 80 Washington Square East Galleries. The exhibition runs from February 2nd through March 14th, 2008. Opening reception: Saturday, February 2nd, 12:00-4:00PM.

Irene Baigorri, Lower School Literacy Coordinator, joined the planning team of a new charter school slated to open Fall 2008. The bilingual school will have a focus on immigrant families and will be located in Queens.

Ann Schaumburger, Lower School Art Teacher, has a summer residency at la Cities des internationales des Arts in Paris, France. She will be there working on the Versailles Project during July and August of 2007.

School Librarians Stacy Dillon, Karyn Silverman and Jennifer Hubert Swan, led a workshop at the recent NYSAIS diversity conference. It was titled "From Rumblefish to Gossip Girls: Class in Youth Literature", and presented teachers with books that they can use to highlight issues of class.

Suzanne Cohen, Fourth Grade teacher, will be singing in a concert with her choir, Lavender Light, at Symphony Space on June 9th at 8PM.

Dellia Hernandez, Lower School Assistant Principal, recently presented a workshop at the NYSAIS conference on socio-economic class. She is also working as an educational consultant with the Anti-Defamation league.

Tina Lane, Lower School Reading Specialist, will be presenting at the annual Teacher's College Professional Development workshop. The event offers a way for educators to gain professional development and share ideas and practices. The purpose of this workshop is to discuss successful models of collaboration as well as obstacles specialists face when trying to fit into a classroom's busy schedule. LREI has an interactive community with structures in place to support collaboration between specialists and head teachers. Tina will be discussing the various ways in which she collaborates her work as a reading specialist with classroom teachers in grades 1 - 4. The focus will be on curriculum mapping, flexible grouping, and assessments. Of the experience, Tina said "I feel fortunate to be representing a school that values an integrated curriculum and excited to share our current practices to others in the field."

Frank Portella, Sixth Grade Core Teacher, won the New York State Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Federation tournament in the "Master's Blue Belt" division. He fought up two full-weight classes and won despite being outweighed by at least 30 pounds. Currently, he is Baruch College's High School head wrestling coach, and is a regular member of LREI's Judo academy under Athletic Director Larry Kaplan. He trains Brazilian Jiu Jitsu at Studio X, NYC, under Professors Fabio Clemente, Babs Olusanmokun, and Marcelo Garcia.

MS Music teacher Henry Chapin is directing and performing in a community-based, Revels-like celebration: YULEFEST 2007 on Saturday January 6th, 2007, in Stratford, Conecticut, at Christ Episcopal Church. The piece is a celebration of the season, and happens to fall on Twelfth Night this year. This 2007 edition is special in that the church is celebrating its 300th anniversary.The cast is about 50 strong, and includes an Adult chorus, a ‘Tween chorus, a children’s chorus, a kid’s recorder ensemble, an early music ensemble, plus New Haven Morris and Sword and the Hudson River Mummers. This is the seventh year Henry has worked in this show, and it is a direct outgrowth of years of performing and directing various “Revels” in New York, Boston, Washington, Oakland, CA, Hanover, NH and, most recently, Irvington New York.

Peggy Peloquin, High School Dance, PE and Life Skills Teacher, and Claire Hart, Eighth Grader showcased a piece of Ms. Peloquin's original choreography entitled "Fossil in Amber," in the 2006 DancenOw/NYC festival. Performed by Ms. Peloquin and LREI Eighth Grader Claire Hart, "Fossil in Amber" recieved a favorable mention in The New York Times article "A Festival Starts, With the Veterans Leading the Way" (September 9, 2006). Both the print and online versions of the article are headlined by a photo of their performance.

"Also notable was Peggy Peloquin’s amusing and emotionally perceptive “Fossil in Amber,” a duo evoking a mother-daughter relationship, performed by Ms. Peloquin and Claire Hart."
- Sulcas, Roslyn "A Festival Starts, With the Veterans Leading the Way"
The New York Times 9 September 2006.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/09/arts/dance/09now.html

Bonnie Maloney, Associate Teacher in Jamie's First Grade, was honored in a reception at the Brooklyn Public Library on Tuesday June 27. Bonnie was one of six adult finalists in the fifth annual My Brooklyn photo and essay contest. Her award winning photograph of a view of Carroll Gardens and her accompanying essay will be on display in the central library's main lobby throughout the summer. Bonnie's essay can be accessed online at http://brooklynpubliclibrary.org/mybrooklyn/2006/.

Noni Polhill received her Masters of Arts in Private School Leadership from Teachers College at Columbia University. Her research project for the Klingenstein Fellowship is entitled, "Visible Men: Examining the Experiences of Four African-American Males in a Progressive School".

Ann Schaumburger, Lower School art teacher is having a one-person show at AIR Gallery May 2 to 27. She will be giving an artist talk on May 25 at 6:30 at the gallery. Nancy Grimes writes in an essay for the show "There is a venerable tradition of art inspired by far-off places... Ann Schaumburger seizes on the visual delights of the palaces and gardens at Versailles incorporating into her new work the forms, patterns and textures she encountered during several recent visits there."

Melissa Rubin, Middle School Art Teacher, has been selected to receive a Japan Fulbright Memorial Fund award. Melissa will spend three weeks in Japan next fall visiting and learning about Japanese schools/educational beliefs.

Sandra Chapman, Third Grade Teacher, was the organizer of the New York Association of Independent School's annual Diversity Conference. Chap led discussions that many attendees felt were enriching and important.

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. Please click here for an image of the installation.

Henry Chapin, Middle School Music teacher, performed with New Shoes, a 5-piece children's music band, for a Bank Street benefit on Saturday, February 4th.

Sharon DuPree, Director of Diversity and Community and Sandra Chapman, Third Grade Teacher
– On December 1st, Sharon DuPree and Sandra Chapman presented a workshop entitled “Beyond Tolerance:  LBGT Themes in K-12 Curriculum,” at the annual NAIS People of Color Conference.  The workshop opened with a viewing of the ten minute film, “Both of my mom’s names are Judy,” where students in grades three to six discussed their struggles with peers and teachers not supporting their lesbian or gay families.  Sharon and Chap then presented LREI’s progress in this area, starting from the “outing” of Elisabeth Irwin ten years ago and ending with the Visibility Show.  It was a wonderful opportunity to reflect upon our work at LREI and to share the fruits of our efforts with other independent schools.

Deborah Damast, Lower School Movement Teacher
– In December, Deborah Damast presented her original choreography in a dance performance at the 92nd Street YMCA Harkness Dance Center.  Highlights of the afternoon included “City Life” (2004), “Bolero” (1996), and the premiere of “you/me”, a duet that addresses observation, surveillance and secrets in modern society.

Stacy Dillon, Elementary Librarian
– In October, Stacy participated in an LREI book review panel for readers in the Fourth-Ninth Grades.  At this well-attended event, Stacy profiled ten great books for Fourth Graders, among them Colibri by Ann Cameron and Out of Order by Betty Hicks.

Delia Hernandez, Lower School Assistant Principal
- Delia Hernandez was one of the leaders of The Hewitt School's recent Diversity Day.  She organized and led whole and small group activities for girls in 7th-12th grades.  Delia has lead workshops on diversity at various independent schools and has presented at the NYSAIS and NAIS People of Color Conferences.

Middle School Librarian and Library Department Chair Jennifer Hubert Swan's professional reference book about young adult literature, entitled Reading Rants: a Guide to Books that Rock! was published by Neal Schuman in April 2007. She has also authored several entries in the recent Continuum Encyclopedia of Young Adult Literature. She reviews children’s and young adult book titles professionally for several library journals, Amazon.com, and Time Out New York Kids, and teaches a summer Young Adult Literature class for the Graduate School of Library and Information Studies at Queens College in Jamaica, Queens. Jennifer has served on two American Library Association book award committees, Best Books for Young Adults and the Michael L. Printz Committee, and conducts workshops on Young Adult literature to teachers and librarians all over the United States.

Gary Lai, Lower School Gymnastics Teacher
– As part of the DUMBO dance festival in the fall, Gary danced in an aerial dance duet that was choreographed by Elise Knudson, Lower School Gymnastics Assistant.  He also danced in an all-male modern dance evening work entitled “Badman”.

Harriet Lieber and Mary Young, Learning Specialists
– Harriet and Mary will be giving a workshop at the Association of Teachers of Independent Schools (ATIS) in March.  They will discuss how to integrate literacy learning into an early childhood program without direct reading instruction.

Noni Polhill, Middle School teacher, will be part of a panel discussing "Best Practices of School Heads" at the upcoming NAIS conference in Boston on March 3rd. She and her colleagues will be presenting their research findings after studying 22 heads of schools using the criteria in Jim Collins' book, Good to Great."

Sue Ribaudo, Early Childhood Music Teacher
– This fall, Sue presented a lively workshop for the New York chapter of the Orff-Schulwerk Association, sharing songs and activities from all over the world.  She also presented at the Children’s Music Network’s National Conference in Madison, WI.  During the holiday season, Sue has been busy singing and dancing with the New York Revels, where she just finished a five-show run of Elizabethan England’s music and dance at Symphony Space.

Melissa Rubin, Middle School art teacher, recently received her master’s of science in education from Bank Street College, and taught a course at the School of Visual Arts last fall on ways art teachers can improve their practice. Melissa is teaching at Fordham University this spring, where she is instructing both graduate and undergraduate elementary education students to better incorporate art into the classroom. She will also be co-presenting, with Middle School math teacher Ana Fox Cheney, their work initiating a Critical Friends faculty group at the ATIS Conference this March. Melissa recently served on a panel at the Guggenheim Museum, presenting and discussing ways of incorporating contemporary art into the curriculum.

Elaine Winter, Lower School Principal
– An article written by Elaine Winter was published in a new college text, Teaching on Principle and Promise, The Foundations of Education (Breitborde & Swiniarski, 2006).  Polishing the Progressive Approach:  Why an “Endangered Educational Species” Should Be Protected looks at the underpinnings of the progressive approach:  “We ask our students for collaborative effort across lines of race, class, gender and gender orientation, age and family configuration.  We ask them for openness and flexible thinking – compromise and change balanced by all-out stubbornness when it’s called for – for respect for their own work and for others’, for accomplishments as well as good tries.  We ask for willingness to take risks and explore what is new, for the ability to find pleasure in group work.  And finally, we ask them (students) to build an interdependent world and to start here.”