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Spotlight On......Martin Luther King Day Observances
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 Renaissance again hosted the 2nd annual Martin Luther King Day Celebration. It was a community event, open to all, and supported by Kehillat Tikvah:a Jewish Community of Hope; Community United Methodist Church; St. Mark's Episcopal Church/Lion's Share Food Pantry; Jackson Heights Beautification Group; Muhammadi Community Center; Regal Heights Rehabilitation and Health Care Center; The Jewish Center of Jackson Heights; Senator Jose Peralta; Council Member Daniel Dromm; Friends of Diversity Plaza; JASA (Jewish Association Serving the Aging); SUKHI New York; St. Pat's for All Parade; New Visions Democratic Club; Jackson Heights Community Chorus; Make Queens Safer; and other members of the Jackson Heights community. The day started with coffee and bagels supplied by the Jackson Heights Beautification Group and the JH Jewish Center. Over 150 people filled our auditorium to hear from speakers who have faced civil and human rights violations and to hear parts of Dr. King's famous "I Have a Dream" speech read by children of the school and community. Especially moving was a video of Ms. Jeannette White, who is a resident of Regal Heights Nursing Home. Filmed by JH resident John Rokosny and his wife Andriette, Ms. White was with Dr. King in the march to Birmingham and shared her first-hand experiences. Also speaking eloquently was Hannah Deutch, a survivor of the Nazi holocaust. She was part of the "kindertransport" to England, but lost her entire family in the concentration camps. Next up were the Bokhari sisters, two Muslim teens who told of their experiences as Muslims in the world today. Our "Black Lives Matter Practicum", which traces the historical treatments of blacks in America from slavery to today, spoke about their studies and their fundraising efforts to support a trip to New Orleans.
City councilman Daniel Dromm spoke, and stayed for the days speeches and events. The newly formed Jackson Heights Chorus led the audience in songs. Many local service organizations were on-hand to share volunteer or service opportunities, from helping the elderly to volunteering at hospitals and soup kitchens. There was also a book drive and food drive to collect for the Elmhurst Hospital's reading program for children and to stock local food pantries. This was the second year this event was organized and participation has really grown. We look forward to making this an annual happening in Jackson Heights. It was a great way to honor a great man.
 Full house!
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Students get ready to read Dr. King's speech |
Jackson Heights Chorus. Open to all in the community, stop by Renaissance on Tuesday evenings at 7:30 to join in the rehearsals!
The many speakers at this year's event 
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Over 20 students auditioned for this year's production. Here is the cast and crew for  Fuddy Meers:
CAST OF "FUDDY MEERS" PERFORMANCE DATES; APRIL, 13,14 AND 15
Claire - Paola Noel - a generally sunny woman with amnesia.
Richard - Andres Aguire - a chatty, friendly, sometimes nervous man.
Kenny - Max Cerezo - seventeen, a troubled teen.
Limping Man - Nicolas Rios - lisping, limping, half-blind, half-deaf man with secrets unknown to anyone else.
Gertie - Ella Shea - Claire's mother, a clear-headed lady who's had a stroke and can't speak properly.
Millet - Kenji Cano - an odd man with a puppet.
Heidi - Loren Francione - a tough woman in uniform.
CREATIVE TEAM, UNDERSTUDIES & RUNNING CREW
Driss Ayadi, Elijah Gonzolez, Luc Papineau, Sadiah Choudhury, Victoria Dudek, Robert Palta Tito, Helena Koffigoh, Marissa Sosa, Ben Gargen
STAGE MANAGERS
Julia Krutel, Nicolas "Nico" Rios
TECHNICAL DIRECTOR
Sam Baez
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1700s-Present: Black Lives Matter Practicum is a mixed grade course in which high school students look at the history and legacy of institutional racism in our nation. The students under the instruction of Chelsea Reid (TRCS graduate '08) and advisement of Emily Oliapuram (Middle School Social Studies Teacher) meet three times a week during their lunch period to critically examine events and laws that have led to the rise of the Black Lives Matter Movement. Through this course, students are looking at the criminalization of blackness as well as their own biases and assumptions of criminals. The students hope to culminate their study in a historical and cultural trip to New Orleans in the Spring 2016. They are holding fundraisers and would greatly appreciate your support with donations. For more information please contact Emily at eoliapuram@gmail.com, or Chelsea at chelseareid2@gmail.com. T-shirts are available for sale to help their cause--please contact them at the above email addresses to find out how to purchase one.
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Global Kids Visit Washington DC
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Washington Monument  | 
From Georgetown, with a view of Virginia | MLK Monument  |
Global Kids, a high school leadership program, visited Washington, DC last weekend. They were in DC for MLK Day, and 10th grader Andres shared a bit about their trip:
The trip to DC with Global Kids was great! We visited many grand monuments such as the MLK memorial. It's worth noting that the statue is incomplete because the real Dr. King's mission was never completed due to the tragic end of his life. I met new friends, visited new places, visited great universities (like Georgetown) and stepped out of my comfort zone. At the end of the trip, I thought to myself, "hey, maybe studying somewhere besides N.Y isn't such a bad idea!"
Our students were joined by students from Harry S. Truman High School in the Bronx.
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Flo reports:Can you believe the 2nd graders are writing paragraphs based on non-fiction resources? The children are busy getting ready for their next Publishing Party, February 11th. They are creating lap books based on an animal of their choice. In social studies they've been busy learning about geography and climate. The children created land forms of volcanoes, canyons, mountains, valleys, plains, oceans, and an island. In Math they have mastered Regrouping. Many thanks for all the support the children received at home and in after school The next cluster 1 publishing party is scheduled for February 11th. Please join us! For the month of December, Pre-K learned about the many holidays celebrated in different cultures. For their first at home project, Pre-K students were asked to work with their families members to display what they celebrate in the month of December. Pre-K also learned that not every culture celebrates a holiday during December, but it is still the start of a new season, Winter. As a result, students were given the choice to create a project that focuses on what their family celebrates for the month or their favorite winter activities. On December 22nd, families were invited to the Pre-K classroom for a gallery walk of the students' Family Winter Banners. A few students volunteered to share their banners in front of their family and friends. Students also made gingerbread play dough with their families to take home.  3rd Grade Community ServiceIn December, 3rd grade did activities to help out in the community. They read to residents at Regal Rehabilitation Center, held a Food Drive, and held a Bake Sale to raise money for the American Cancer Society. They'll be writing informational text about these activities for their publishing party. 
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Fifth graders are working with real world math investigating proportional reasoning in a pet store setting. They are coming up with impressive strategies to compare the different ways to solve problems. All of their teachers are so amazed by their smart thinking!
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 MS Girls Basketball Team is currently undefeated in league play ( 4-0 ). They are also ranked as the 8th best girls basketball team in the NYC Basketball League! 
After a two year hiatus, HS Girls Lady Knights Basketball has returned, coached by fellow Alumna Daisy Pena. In their first game they fell short to Williamsburg Charter School.
HS Boys Basketball Team recently won two games in a row. Recent Scores:
MS Girls Basketball Team - 43-19 win over JHS 102 HS Girls Basketball Team - 25-12 loss to Williamsburg Charter HS Boys Basketball Team - 46- 38 win over Baccalaureate for Global Education 56- 48 win over Queens School of Inquiry Upcoming Sports :
6-8th Boys Basketball Club ( See Alex for More Info )
Recently TRCS Sports co-hosted with IS49 MLK Day Invitational Tournament that featured four of the best girls public school basketball teams in the city. Three were from Queens (Renaissance,
IS 49, IS 230 ) and one was from the Bronx (IS 529). IS 529 came out as the winner.
For more info visit: www.trcsknights.com
MS Girls Basketball
HS Girls Basketball |  |
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 The meeting this past week was jammed packed with resources and references from two presenters. Angela Rios, parent of a graduate and 3 current Renaissance kids, gave a wonderful and enlightening presentation on Saving for College and Retirement. She was very helpful and answered all questions asked and provided us with folders. Suzanne Arnold also gave a great presentation with visuals and handouts to increase our Social Media Awareness and strategies to stay on top of our children's tech savvy ways. Everett gave a video presentation on the request for a 3D printer for the science department. We are very excited that the vote in favor of purchasing the 3D printer and Document Camera was unanimous. We want to thank all the presenters for taking the time out of their busy, busy schedules to provide us with the resources and wonderful workshops for this PTA meeting.
Please click here for cluster updates!
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Thursday, 1/28 - PreK Non-Attendance Day
Monday, 2/1 - High School Non-Attendance Day
Wednesday, 2/3 - Board of Trustees Meeting 5-8PM
Monday, 2/8 - Lunar New Year, School Closed
Wednesday, 2/10 - CSG Meeting 6-8PM
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HELPFUL HINTS AND COOL LINKS
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Make an investment in children, education and the future of our world. Safer, better-educated communities are great for business; they improve the quality of life for everyone. Renaissance's hard-working, high-achieving students strive to make that happen and with your help that goal is closer to being a reality: Please visit our website for more information, and lick on the red DONATE button on the bottom of each page: http://www.renaissancecharter.org/. Thank you!
Sincerely,
The Renaissance Charter School
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This year, the New York City Charter School Center celebrates its 10th year of supporting the development and continued growth of a high quality charter sector in NYC! To honor this milestone, they are featuring a series of videos, blogs, events and more in partnership with our friends and colleagues in the sector. Our principal, Stacey Gauthier, shared her reflection on her partnership with the Charter Center on their website's blog, which you can read here: 
Reservations and deposits are being accepted for the Middle School End of the Year Trip. They have already filled up a bus with 57 participants and are aiming to get another bus.....with 25 seats remaining. 
