Seeing Green! Southwark Kids Get A Vision For Future
SOUTHWARK SCHOOL students received free eyeglasses on Tuesday from Wills Eye CEO Joe Bilson and Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Stewart Bradley at school auditorium. Joining them is Principal Alberto Rivera and school nurse Rita Ann McLaughlin.
Vol. III No. 50 (Issue 114)
by R. George Linton Southwark School students have had their eyes on a special prize for a few weeks now. Well, their gift touched down early Tuesday morning. Eleven students received two pairs of new eyeglasses from Philadelphia Eagles middle linebacker Stewart Bradley inside
“Reporting South Philadelphia the way it deserves”
their school auditorium. The Southwark students were chosen for a visit from Bradley because they are among the number of children in need of prescription glasses, according to the School District of Philadelphia. The Eagles teamed up with the (Cont. Page 2)
Value 50¢
December 10, 2009
Who Has The Answers? Anti-Violence Discussion Tonight At Southern HS
Why Kids Won’t Learn, Teachers Can’t Teach
In a timely fashion, a group of politicians and civic and community leaders will host a discussion on youth violence at South Philadelphia HS tonight. Host State Rep. Kenyatta Johnson said he wants to engage youth in dialogue with a group of premier panelists. This event had been planned before the recent attacks. It will start promptly at 5 p.m, South Philadelphia HS auditorium, 2101 S. Broad Street. Last week’s vicious attacks at Southern proves violence continues to be a growing issue that’s affecting our region physically, emotionally, and economically. (Cont. Page 2)
Send A Christmas Greeting Take Advantage of Wishing Your Constituents, Rank and File Supporters, Fellow Employees, Family Members and Loved Ones in Our Christmas Supplement, December 24, 2009
Call John David for details at (215) 755-2000.
A surge of interest in the safety and teachability of the City’s public high schools is expected from City Council and the State legislature following reports of Asian students who are targeted daily by roving gangs inside the halls and classrooms of South Philadelphia HS. But will their findings and legislative proposals, if turned into law, be enough to begin to control the mayhem inflicted in schools by uneducated teens unable to learn and unwilling to let others learn? There are good public high schools and bad public high schools. The big problem for this City’s School District is the bad schools are so bad that they outweigh all the good done by the School District as it endeavors to transform students into educated, concerned, responsible citizens. The bulk of the violence is afflicting the “comprehensive” neighborhood schools. That’s where kids with no special academic or career focus and small gains in middle school wind up. They are at risk of low academic achievement and large social problems. A report in the Philadelphia Daily News of an Asian student’s being hounded and pursued through the halls of South Philadelphia HS has raised the ire of legislators, Council Members, the School District Administration and parents. Fortunately for the good students at “Southern” – those normally asked by teachers to “sit in the front rows if you want to learn” – enough safety personnel will appear in the halls for the next few weeks to give them some relief from the students who, singly or in gangs, continue to roam the halls unchecked. Sadly, similar incidents are occurring too often in other high schools, such as Bartram, Germantown and University City, which were called to our attention by teachers. Despite the School District’s claim assaults are down by 50%, students and teachers report many reportable cases are ignored yearly. Therefore we pose some questions and express some of thoughts to our political leaders, asking them to join in with their findings. (Cont. Page 11)
Ron Panepinto Jewelers 700 Sansom St. 215-923-1980
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St. Monica Hosts Santa by Saddie Agnes Two hundred South Philadelphia kids got an early Christmas surprise when a special visitor stopped by St. Monica’s Elementary School Sunday. Santa and his Elf parked their Sleigh on 17th & Porter Streets to enjoy breakfast with parents, children and school faculty. Kids aged K through 3rd grade each handed a letter to Santa as they got their picture taken; older children organized Christmas games in the auditorium. With St. Monica’s Children’s Choir singing and the Cheerleaders cheering on, the kids played games for prizes, made crafts, ate breakfast, wrote letters to Santa and then finally got to get their pictures with Old St. Nick himself. (Cont. Page 2)
EVA Minita and her mom are all decked out for the holidays at St. Monica.
Jim Stevenson 9371 ROOSEVELT BLVD. PHILADELPHIA, PA 19114 215-698-7000 JStevenson@ChapmanAutoGroup.com