Category Archives: Community News

FORJ Updates and Activities

Check out these upcoming FORJ events with our Newton Community.

“Racism Not Race”: An Author talk with Joseph L. Graves, Jr. and Alan H. Goodman on Wednesday, February 23rd at 7PM presented by Newton Free Library. Register here.

Bigelow Middle School FORJ 7-Day Anti-Racism Challenge – FAMILY EDUCATION and REFLECTION RIGHT AFTER FEBRUARY VACATION

As we are all learning about what we can do to build anti racist schools, community, world — we hope you can join us for a week long school-wide learning activity, called the 7-Day Anti-Racism Equity Challenge, originally sponsored by Brandeis University. The purpose of the week is to engage in reflection and practical thinking on how to integrate racial equity into our work and daily habits — for ourselves, our families, and our school. The 7 Day Challenge will take place (all on your own time) during Black History Month – February 21-27, 2022. Each activity takes no more than 15 minutes to complete.

Then, join us a ZOOM conversation March 1st as a school community to reflect on what we are learning. Contact Lanni for information on the conversation and the challenge readings, videos and prompts: lanni_harris@yahoo.com.

Racial Representation in Pop Culture (e.g., “The Falcon & the Winter Soldier”) on Monday, February 28th at 8PM presented at the Burr FORJ February Meeting. Register here.

“How to Talk to Children about Anti-Semitism” on Tuesday, March 1st at 7:30PM presented by Hadassah Northeast, Lappin Foundation, Temple Emanuel and Holocaust Legacy Foundation. Deborah Gilboa, MD, attending family physician and parenting and resilience expert, will outline a framework for addressing antisemitism with children. “Dr. G.” will provide context for introducing and reacting to antisemitism, as well as an algorithm for talking to kids about any scary or difficult issue. Dr. G. will also give strategies for meeting children where they are and answering their questions as they come up, while strengthening their resilience and building your relationship with them. Register here.

FAMILIES ORGANIZING FOR RACIAL JUSTICE (FORJ) is a group of diverse Newton families helping our children learn about issues of power and inequality and how to stand up for racial justice. We seek to generate understanding and curiosity about differences in our society, and to work together towards racial equity.

For more information about FORJ, contact Lincoln-Eliot FORJ PTO Liaison Lanni Isenberg, lanni_harris@yahoo.com.

Black History Month Assembly Recap

The month of February is dedicated to honoring the sacrifices and celebrating the achievements and contributions of Black Americans to the history of the United States. During this time, many educators seek resources to share with their students. This year, Lincoln-Eliot’s Assembly Team came together to create the “Heroes Among Us” project – not only to celebrate African Americans in our community – but to bring stories from the Newton and Boston communities into our classrooms every day during the month of February.

“Heroes Among Us” is a series of short videos made by community members, families, and friends from the Lincoln-Eliot, Newton, and Boston communities. These videos provide an opportunity to amplify the voices of African Americans in our community and to share their stories and perspectives. Each day in February, students hear from different community members – from lawyers, to doctors, to firefighters, engineers, and more – who share a little bit about themselves and what Black History Month means to them. These videos have brought both students and staff together in new and meaningful ways. In addition, over the last few days before vacation the school community engaged in a read aloud of Change Sings by author and poet Amanda Gorman, and classrooms came together for a school-wide culminating activity.

Each class also created a “Wordsplash” reflection after completing the assembly this past week.  Here are two:

Educators and students both agree that this month’s assembly has been a powerful celebration in honor of Black History Month. Thank you to all who participated and to the Assembly Team for their work honoring the “Heroes Among Us”.

LE Snack Bar

We were able to provide the teachers with a little boost before the break by setting up the LE Snack Bar on Wednesday. Thank you teachers and staff for all of your amazing work. We appreciate it!

FORJ Updates

February 10th FORJ CityWide Meeting Recap

What a treat to hear from JoAnne Bland, Founder of Foot Soldiers Park! She leads thousands of visitors on tours of Selma each year, and in January 2020 met several Newton students on a trip organized by their synagogue, Temple Shalom of Newton. She was a child when her family members participated in the historic 1965 march from Selma to Montgomery, AL to demonstrate for voting rights. Ms. Bland is personally working to impress upon everybody the importance of every person’s role in the path to civil rights for all. The three students who joined the panel talked about their own transformed thinking from their visit with Ms. Bland to the historic sites in Selma, including the famous Edmund Pettus Bridge.

In the discussion, Ms. Bland and the students talked about the need to continue to talk about peoples’ experiences before Civil Rights legislation was passed and about the work still to be done. Ms. Bland visits schools in Alabama to tell the students about her experiences and hopes for a time when there will be featured stories about figures in Black History every day of the year.

Check out these upcoming FORJ events with our Newton Community

“Racism Not Race”: An Author talk with Joseph L. Graves, Jr. and Alan H. Goodman on Wednesday, February 23rd at 7PM presented by Newton Free Library. Register here.

Racial Representation in Pop Culture (e.g., “The Falcon & the Winter Soldier”) on Monday, February 28th at 8PM presented at the Burr FORJ February Meeting. Register here.

“How to Talk to Children about Anti-Semitism” on Tuesday, March 1st at 7:30PM presented by Hadassah Northeast, Lappin Foundation, Temple Emanuel and Holocaust Legacy Foundation. Deborah Gilboa, MD, attending family physician and parenting and resilience expert, will outline a framework for addressing antisemitism with children. “Dr. G.” will provide context for introducing and reacting to antisemitism, as well as an algorithm for talking to kids about any scary or difficult issue. Dr. G. will also give strategies for meeting children where they are and answering their questions as they come up, while strengthening their resilience and building your relationship with them. Register here.

FAMILIES ORGANIZING FOR RACIAL JUSTICE (FORJ) is a group of diverse Newton families helping our children learn about issues of power and inequality and how to stand up for racial justice. We seek to generate understanding and curiosity about differences in our society, and to work together towards racial equity.

For more information about FORJ, contact Lincoln-Eliot FORJ PTO Liaison Lanni Isenberg, lanni_harris@yahoo.com.

Newton Little League Registration Open for Spring 2021

Little League season is around the corner! Sign up to play today! Newton Little League registration is open for the Spring 2021 season. Sign up at NewtonLLBaseball.org.  Open to boys and girls ages 4-15 – Little League for ages 4-12, Senior League for ages 13-15.

Games are typically played two to three times per week, Sunday through Saturday. Weekend games will be played mostly on Sundays for all levels unless Saturdays are requested by certain teams. Makeup games may occur on any day. Practices are held at the coaches’ discretion. 

Newton Little League will be following nationally established COVID safety protocols. If you have any questions, please reach out to info@newtonllbaseball.org

5th Grade Annual Community Service Project – Snack Drive To Help Other Children

The fifth grade is starting its annual community service project this week and this year they are doing an individually-packaged snack drive! Here’s a message from one of our own LE 5th graders about the project with info on donation drop this week.

Dear Parents,

We are having a donation, run by 5th grade, for homeless children! We are having a snack drive. We are doing this because homeless children go hungry twice as often as other children. (information from ‘Homelessness in the United States of America’ Article). Also, kids at school miss breakfast because the lines for food are too long. (Information gotten from ‘Invisible Child Girl in the Shadows: Dasani’s Homeless Life’) To support the snack drive you can leave snacks in our snack boxes. You can find them outside the Lincoln-Eliot office, Jackson Road or inside your child’s classroom. Please bring in individually packaged snacks, such as small bags of Goldfish, chips, granola bars, or crackers. You can drop off snacks from Monday, February 7th to Friday, February 18th.

Thank you!

FORJ Update – Events, Citywide Meeting and More – 2.06.22

FORJ Newton Citywide Meeting – Thursday, February 10th at 7PM

This month’s FORJ Newton Citywide Meeting will focus on the Civil Rights Movement with a panel discussion on the work of JoAnne Bland and her organization, Foot Soldiers Park.

Foot Soldiers Park leads thousands of visitors on tours of Selma each year, and in January 2020 met several Newton students on a trip organized by their synagogue, Temple Shalom of Newton. On this panel, JoAnne will share some of the stories and lessons she provides to visitors, and why it is so important to understand this history, and our three students will share what the experience of visiting Selma and other civil rights landmarks meant to them.

Please join us for this important conversation. All are welcome! You can register and learn more here!

Boston Public Library Black History Month Booklist

As part of the Boston Public Library’s annual observance of Black History Month, “Black Is…” is a list of books published in the previous year for all ages concerning the African American experience.

Boston Black Restaurant Challenge, Feb 3 – 28, 2022

The Boston Black Restaurant Challenge is a month-long event. Visit four Black-Owned Restaurants in Boston during the month of February! See the list of restaurants for something delicious! https://www.bostonusa.com/event/boston-black-restaurant-challenge/70595/

MA Indigenous Legislation in Motion

Last week, Massachusetts legislative committees voted favorably for two MA Indigenous Agenda bills to establish the Native American Education Committee (to improve Native educational outcomes in MA) and the Native American Heritage Bill to protect Native American objects (of cultural, traditional or historical importance to their heritage) held in governmental, municipal or non-profit collections are not sold for profit.

FAMILIES ORGANIZING FOR RACIAL JUSTICE (FORJ) is a group of diverse Newton families helping our children learn about issues of power and inequality and how to stand up for racial justice. We seek to generate understanding and curiosity about differences in our society, and to work together towards racial equity.

For more information about FORJ, contact Lincoln-Eliot FORJ PTO Liaison Lanni Isenberg, lanni_harris@yahoo.com.