Whose making a difference, page 10
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w w w. s o u t h p h i l l y r ev i ew.c o m
SEPTEMBER 2, 2010
Suddenly silenced A former Prep Charter on-court dynamo died last week days after collapsing while playing basketball at a rec center. By Joseph Myers R e v i e w S ta f f W r i t e r
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16-year-old’s heart should be a sturdy engine. What “should be,” however, often fails to materialize. The family of Akhir Frazier received a reminder of life’s unfairness last Wednesday when they said goodbye to the former basketball star four days after he collapsed at a North Philadelphia recreation center. Though autopsy results are pending, his family knows through doctors a thickening of Akhir’s heart contributed to his Aug. 21 collapse at the Hank Gathers Recreation Center in the city’s Strawberry Mansion section. Following four days of monitoring at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, See FRAZIER page 12
Sports
Soon-to-be fourth grader Stevi Richburg, right, picked out a container of clay, which was one of her back-to-school needs Monday when she shopped at Staples, 1300 S. Columbus Blvd., with mom, Marti McCall.
Let’s make a deal
S ta f f P h o t o b y G r e g B e z a n i s
Teachers, parents and students are out in full-force scouting last-minute bargains as the clock ticks down to the first day of school.
Forwards, march A year removed from its first-ever playoff game, Neumann-Goretti’s girls’ soccer seeks stability. By Joseph Myers................Page 40
By Amanda L. Snyder R e v i e w S ta f f W r i t e r
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ith pencils in hand, Joni Woods perused Staples for folders and poster boards. With many heading back to school Sept. 7, the English teacher was wrapping up her back-toschool shopping Monday for her students at Olney High School. “Just generic things, so the kids will have
them,” the Bella Vista resident said. “I’ll be reimbursed for [it], up to $100, which is a drop in the bucket for what we spend.” Deanna Hatter agreed, adding the supply stipend is added to teachers’ first paycheck. Hatter teaches fifth through eighth grades at Julia Deburgos Elementary School and has spent about $10,000 of her own money on her students in her seven years at the North Philly school, including the last year’s purchase of a Dell computer.
“What I buy is not for a ‘normal’ class,” Hatter, who teaches students with disabilities, said of the items that include clothes, diapers and food. At the office products store at 1300 S. Columbus Blvd., she was getting the classroom necessities, such as pens and printer ink, she has not found elsewhere. “I pick out deals. I go to flea markets and see what I can get,” she said, noting See BACK TO SCHOOL page 9