December 2007

A different college prep: Third-graders visit Penn State
for lesson in possibilities.

By Kristen Graham
Philly.com Columnist

VThey were in love by the time their feet hit the pavement.

Ira Somers' third-grade class hopped off the big yellow school bus, all dropped jaws and excited skips.
"Penn State is so cool," one boy shouted, eyes full of the wooded Abington campus and its large, old buildings.

It was a big day: The First Philadelphia Charter School for Literacy class had been studying the university all year, learning about its history and traditions and about what it meant to go to college. Now they were actually there, taking a tour of the local satellite campus.

It was part of Somers' quest to show his students, many of whom live in poverty and would be the first in their families to attend college, that college can be an option for them. So when Christopher Walters, Penn State Abington's associate director of enrollment management, sat the 24 students down in a lovely solarium and asked them whether they knew what college was all about, they were prepared.

"It's harder than all the other grades," said James Lewis.

"If you go to college, you get a better job," Nachae Collins told Walters.

But the students had questions, too. Would college classrooms be big, like a movie theater, or small, like their room? Would they understand the professor? How long would the class they were attending last? Do you get your driver's license when you're in college? (Answers: small, yes, 70 minutes, and you can get it before you go to college.)

"College will give you the opportunity to stay in the Philadelphia area, or, if you so desire, you'll get the chance to live in another area," Walters said. "Can you imagine living away and not having Mom or Dad wake you up every day? You don't even have to wake up if you don't want to."

Somers sat back in his chair, watching his students hang on Walters' words. At the beginning of the year, he encouraged his students to pick a school to name themselves after. They chose Penn State - Somers' alma mater - and through a relationship with Darryl Bundrige, president of the local alumni chapter, Somers arranged the visit for the potential Class of 2020.

The third graders' pride in the university rivals that of any alumnus. And it was evident in the several enthusiastic, unprompted rounds of the "We Are Penn State!" cheer. It was evident in the Penn State sweatshirt one boy insisted on wearing over his uniform.

At a conference at the Tacony charter school, the sweatshirt-wearer's mother wanted to know: Was watching Penn State football really a homework assignment?

The students read books about Penn State, studying the Nittany Lion and Joe Paterno. They learned geography through mapping Penn State campuses.

For a special treat, Bundrige brought them ice cream from the famous Creamery in University Park. He even hopes to raise enough money to take the students to the main campus in the spring.

For the students - whose school was opened in 2002 and which aims to have students reading at or above grade level after two years of regular attendance - that would be a gift. They live in a city whose public school graduation rate hovers at 69 percent, well below the state's target of 80 percent, and Somers is grateful for any advantage.

"They come from lower socioeconomic areas, and after 12th grade, their options are very limited," Somers said. "This is a way to teach them about college. For many of them, college was a foreign word."

So attending Suzanne Stutman's poetry class, where the First Philadelphia kids sat amid real college students, was a big deal. "Dr. Sue" gave them copies of All the Power Rests With You, her book of children's poetry, and asked whether they had any questions before they jumped into the poems.

Cesar Silva's hand shot up. He didn't have a question, exactly, but there was something he just had to say.

"It feels like we're really in college," he said, smiling shyly. "Because of the seats."

Stutman put a hand on one of the desks in her room - the garden variety, hard plastic seat with the opening on the left and flat, upside-down L-shaped surface on the right - and looked at Cesar seriously.

She understood, she said. She was the first in her family to go to college.

"I felt exactly the way you do about the seats, and I still do," Stutman said. "It's a very serious and positive feeling to sit in them. Being in college is very special."

The third graders took turns reading and discussing poems. "Books and poems are like adventures in your mind," marveled James at one point. "This is a fun class!"

The time flew, and at the end, there was a surprise - the classroom door swung open, and the Nittany Lion bounded in, shaking hands, giving high-fives and dispensing autographs.

Waiting in line for the Lion to sign their books, some students waxed philosophical about the college experience. "It's fun," Lynne McGee said. "It's a lot more people than our school, though." Does she want to go to college? Absolutely, she said. "But I have lots of time to decide where," she said.

Later, after a tour of campus and a trip to the bookstore, they sat down to a pizza lunch and more "wow" - Penn State yo-yos, keychains and mousepads.

For Markey Mincy, the deal was sealed. "I'm definitely going to college," Markey said. "And I am definitely going here."

May 2007
Local Students Perform in
'Shall We Dance?'

By Brian Rademaekers
Star Staff WriterFor Shana

Vitoff, dancing is much more than just a fun way to shuffle about the floor while listening to music. Vitoff, a dance instructor at the Society Hill Dance Academy, says that in learning to dance, people can learn a lot more about life, too.Dancing can introduce you to new music and new cultures. It can teach you discipline, and imbue you with an air of sophistication. It’s also not a bad way to exercise. But perhaps its most useful everyday application is the confidence it can give you, she says. “When you have confidence enough to ask someone to dance, you have confidence in everyday situations too,” said Vitoff. That self-assuredness was apparent in her class of students from the First Philadelphia Charter School and the Conwell Middle School as they took the stage at La Salle University last Thursday. Students from the Fenton Middle School in Hunting Park joined them as well. Dubbed, Shall We Dance?, the hour-long performance was the culmination of a 24-week program that taught the students ballet, contemporary jazz moves and ballroom-dancing techniques. The three schools took part in the program through The Delphi Project, an annual production organized by the Pennsylvania Ballet Company. Vitoff taught the students ballroom dancing during their eight-week after-school course at the dance studio on Second Street, showing them the motions of various waltzes and a tango known as the Rueda.After Vitoff was done with them, they went on to learn contemporary dance from Philadanco’s Elisabeth Bell and ballet from Jon Martin at the Pennsylvania Ballet Company. The program also included a crew of kids from the schools who documented the whole program with video recorders. Last week’s performance tied it all together, giving the students a chance to show off their moves and their documentary to a packed hall of wowed parents. “We wanted them to learn about the differences in the dancing styles, but also to see the similarities they share,” said Phil Juska, director of outreach and education at the Pennsylvania Ballet Company. And while Juska hopes that the program sprouts a few dozen new appreciators of dance, he says the most important part of the project is that it teaches them discipline and gives them something constructive to do after school.“This takes real commitment and dedication,” said Juska, “and it can also be a motivation for their academics.” But don’t tell that to the kids. They were there simply to have fun. Take Selena Rodriguez, a fifth-grader at First Philadelphia Charter School. Her favorite style was the contemporary dancing, essentially hip hop. “I liked that because it was fast and you get to do cool things like flips,” said Rodriguez, 11. She also liked the ballroom dancing, though for entirely different reasons.“The waltz was nice, it was real soft and graceful, but you really had to pay attention to your steps,” explained Rodriguez. Ballet, she said, gave her the toughest time. “That was the most challenging because some of the moves were really hard,” said Rodriguez. Her classmate, 11-year-old Ivan Cruz, agreed that the contemporary music was the best. “We get to learn all these great moves,” said Cruz. “I practice every day.” He was nervous sitting backstage before the show, but you couldn’t tell that when he came onstage to do a Michael Jackson number. Sporting a sheepish grin, he led his peers through a flawless performance. Cruz and Rodriguez soaked up the dance lessons enthusiastically, but their friend Tyler Robinson, 12, admitted that his mother put him up to it. Willing or not, Robinson still found a way to learn from the experience, and he liked the ballroom dancing and ballet best. The intricate steps in the waltzes and tangos taught him to pay attention. Ballet, however, helped him with his real passion: football.“I thought I would just be playing football for my whole life,” said Robinson, who was surprised to find himself enjoying dancing.“With the ballet, I think it is going to help me keep my balance when I play football,” Robinson rationalized.Robinson wasn’t suited up in shoulder pads and helmet when he came onto the stage with his friends last week. But he sure did seem to be having fun, and even through the movements of Tchaikovsky’s The Sleeping Beauty, he never lost his balance.

The teachers at First Phila. Charter are extremely dedicated to their students' education. That's why they agreed to play the Harlem Wizards.

By Brian Rademaekers Star Staff WriterYou might not think a troupe of acrobatic basketball players from Harlem has anything to do with a class of Bridesburg students clamoring to head up to Canada to practice their French. Well, guess again.On Saturday, the Harlem Wizards — a basketball team more interested in laughs and stunts than points — will play the faculty of Bridesburg’s First Philadelphia Charter School for Literacy. Their goal is to help raise enough money to send about 40 sixth-graders to Canada, where they finally will have the chance for some bona fide conversations en Français. Jim Stanton, a spokesman for First Philadelphia, said many of the students have been learning French since the second grade, but have never had a chance to hear the language used in action. “A lot of these kids have not even been out of Philadelphia, so this should be really exciting for them,” said Stanton.The three-day trip will have students leaving Philadelphia by bus for Montreal at the end of May. The excursion will include a hotel stay, tours of the city and plenty of interaction with the locals.And while it sounds like a swanky deal for the students, their teachers have been biting their nails during the days leading up to this weekend’s game.Chris Clark, head of the athletic department at First Philadelphia, said he’s been forcing his scraggly co-ed team of about 10 teachers to practice a few nights a week to get sharp for Saturday’s game. So far, he has noted two things that make his team stand out against the Wizards:“We’re a lot shorter and we’re a lot slower,” said Clark. But that hasn’t stopped them from hitting the court in earnest. “They’re working on their 360 dunks and alley-oops,” Clark joked.That probably won’t be enough to hold off players like the Wizards’ Rashaan “Rocket” Barner, who can jump more than four feet in the air — while just standing around.But Clark thinks it’ll be a great show for the students and parents who come out to see First Philly’s staff give it their best. “They are going to come out here and see us get made fun of, and they’re going to love it,” said Clark.

March 2007
Moore Art
By Brian Rademaekers
Star Staff Writer Photos By Matt Godfrey
When it comes to artistic talent, there is no shortage among Philadelphia’s youth. That fact was evident last week at the Moore College of Art on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, where the work of students from schools citywide adorned the walls. Displayed as part of Moore’s Youth Art Month, the works represented more than a dozen public and charter schools that participated in the college’s art contest.

The competition was open to all ages, from first grade to high school seniors. In each grade, first-, second- and third-place awards were given out. First-place winners also were given a scholarship to attend Moore’s Young Artists Workshop, a value of about $500. Students received their awards last Thursday during a ceremony hosted by radio personality Kathy O’Connell, the voice of the popular Kid’s Corner show on 88.5 WXPN. Later, students got to check out their work in the college’s Atrium Gallery.

On hand to comment on her first-place masterpiece was Molly Noble, a student at the First Philadelphia Charter School for Literacy.Noble, a fourth-grader at the Bridesburg school, said she made her piece during art class and at an after-school art program. Her work featured a panel of three painted flowers — one yellow, one orange and one red, set neatly over a green backdrop. Her technique, she explained, involved some paint, a piece of foam and a “little stick.”The 10-year-old said she loves being an artist and wants to continue to study art. “It feels good,” she said of getting first place. “I want to do drawings and pictures of people too when I get older,” said Noble.

She wasn’t the only First Philadelphia student to take an award. Classmate Ashley Leahy came in just behind her with a second-place ribbon for the fourth grade. Third-grader Angelica Murphy and fifth-grader Tisha Paul also got top honors for their age groups.The art on display featured everything from crayon and pencil sketches to sculpture and tackled subjects ranging from a sunny day on the playground to coping with death and violence. Karen Baker, one of the Moore Art education majors to judge the entries, said that picking winners was no easy task. She and 12 other students who are studying to be art teachers at Moore had the job of picking three winners in each grade from among hundreds of entries. “There were so many great pieces, we really labored over it,” Baker said. Several times, the judges had to break off after debating a particular piece for too long. “We felt like everyone should have gotten an award because it was so hard for us to pick,” said Baker. “Everyone should be proud.” The wide range of materials and styles the students used in their work also struck Baker and her peers.“There were sketches, paintings, computer-assisted drawings, wood carvings, sculptures . . . it was a little bit of everything,” Baker recalled. Ultimately, the judges chose the winners based on certain skill levels that could be expected for the particular age group. They also looked for pieces that stood out as unique.

In the end, Baker still wished the judges could have given more awards, but the experience was great practice for aspiring teachers, she noted. Most important was that all the students — from fourth-grader Noble to graduate students like Baker — had fun. “It was a lot of fun,” said Baker, “especially looking at the ones that were done by younger children. That really brought us joy.”

•• The student art will be on display at the Moore College of Art, 20th Street and Benjamin Franklin Parkway, until Sunday, March 18. March is Youth Art Month at Moore.

January 2007
Acting Their Age
By Brian Rademaekers
Star Staff Writer
Show biz is no joke,” says Joy Parker, a fifth-grader at the First Philadelphia Charter School in Bridesburg, “It’s real serious.” She should know. Parker has been working with about 25 other First Philly students since September to put on a production of the musical Dear Edwina Junior. It also could be that her no-nonsense attitude has something to do with landing the lead role as Edwina Spoonapple. No stranger to the stage, the 10-year-old Parker estimates she has put on about a half-dozen shows at school and with her church since the she entered the first grade. So when asked about tomorrow night’s show at the Painted Bride Art Center in Old City, she says she isn’t nervous at all. But her fellow stage mates showed a little more anxiety after a rehearsal in the school’s cafeteria last week.The hour-long play features Edwina, a know-it-all kid who takes on letters from her peers regarding common blunders in the world of manners. In response to each dilemma, Edwina and her group of friends come up with a song-and-dance skit to illustrate the proper course of action. Subjects include such topics as the best way to politely refuse unwanted food or dealing with an obnoxious guest, referred to in the play as “Frankenguest.”Nyim Greenwood, 9, plays Bobby, one of Edwina’s friends. Greenwood says their first attempts at putting on the show were rough, but they have smoothed things out over the last couple of weeks. The students auditioned for the play last year and started practicing every week through this fall. “I am nervous,” said Greenwood, “But I am also excited. I am going to have my own solo and I think there’s going to be lots of people.” Tyjeir Harris, 11, is playing Scott, a rambunctious kid with a romantic side and a tendency to faint.“He’s pretty much trying to get Edwina to fall in love with him,” Harris explained.

Besides being a little shy about expressing his heart to Edwina, Harris has fears about jumbling his lines.“I have to keep going over them, and I just get a little mixed up sometimes,” he said. Naturally, the rehearsal had a few bumps, but for the most part the young actors and actresses moved through their songs and scenes with a sense of confidence, enthusiasm and fun. Even when their teachers weren’t guiding them, they were singing and dancing all over the stage. The play was produced with Broadway Junior, a division of the production company Musical Theatre International. Broadway Junior provided the music and an adapted version of Marcy Heisler’s Dear Edwina. On the night of the show, the students will be presented with a certificate signed by Heisler and Zina Goldrich, who wrote the music.

The play was designed not only to give the students a taste of theatrics but to subtly ingrain lessons in etiquette. Rebecca Rodriguez, 11, plays Aphrodite Colossus Athena Swanson, a girl who teaches her friend what to do when he can’t eat something that has been put in front of him.“He is kind of a picky eater, but she teaches him to at least try a little bit of the food, and to just say ‘no’ nicely if he can’t eat it,” Rodriguez explains.Not only has she picked up an important lesson but she also is thinking about pursuing acting as she gets older. “I love to sing, and I think it would be real cool to do,” says Rodriguez. Like many of her peers, she is “very nervous” about the shows set to take place tomorrow night and Saturday night. Tracy Decker, who joined fellow teacher Chad Beegle in guiding the students through the play, said it was a big hit with the kids from the start.“It is all about kids, it’s fun, and it also has tons of lessons in it,” she said. “They took to it immediately.” Beegle and Decker are second-year teachers at the school. Beegle said the experience pushed the students to work hard at their roles to make the play go smoothly. “They definitely got the whole acting process down and learned to be the character rather than just saying their lines,” Beegle said. “They really take risks now,” added Decker, “and they’ve really impressed us.”

What Makes an Artist?

By Brian Rademaekers
Star Staff Writer
Two weeks ago, a fourth-grade class from the First Philadelphia Charter School for Literacy in Bridesburg sat amid the hushed atmosphere of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Before them was a simplistic self-portrait created by master artist Pablo Picasso. In the painting, his right hand is empty, and his left hand holds a palette. His huge round eyes are magnified by a protruding forehead.
Mindy Nguyen-Balli, a certified educator and public schools liaison for the museum, guides them through an analysis of the painting.
“What makes an artist an artist?” she asked the group of children sitting quietly on their stools.
“Intuition!” one of them blurted out.
For their teacher, Jenna Chavis, the moment was a breakthrough. She later recalled how excited the museum had made the children.
“They never use words like that in the classroom,” Chavis said. “They were asking tons of questions, and I never saw so many hands up.”
And while this may have been an impressive moment, it was just the first of many to come.
For the fourth-graders, the class was the first in a series of visits to the museum, and will also be paired with in-school workshops featuring illustrators and authors.
The partnership between the museum and the school was created through Pennsylvania’s Educational Improvement Tax Credit Program, which allows businesses to donate their corporate taxes to a state-certified educational facility.
Last year, the charter school used the same program to construct a similar course at the Independent Seaport Museum, at Penn’s Landing, for its fifth-graders.
Both years, the donations came from Bustleton Services Incorporated, which built the school’s new facility in 2004.
The grant amounted to nearly $10,000 and was used for everything from bus transportation to the museum to recruiting outside artists and staff-development workshops.
Last Thursday, Amy Pinto’s class made its first trip to the museum and received the lesson on portraiture. Over the next four visits, spaced throughout the year, the students will learn about narratives, elements in art and literature, and the written word combined with art.
Nguyen-Balli, who will be their guide over the next several months, said she developed the classes in conjunction with the school.
“They already have so much curriculum they have to cover in the classroom, so we tried to make it so that what we were teaching them would go along with what they already had planned,” she said.
Stacy Clarke, principal and one of the founders of the charter school, said the second year of its extended program with an area institution is off to a great start.
“Oftentimes on a field trip, you get to go to a museum once, and that’s it,” she said. “With multiple visits like this, we are trying to get them to think of it as a learning tool. We want them to emerge with a sense of ownership in the museum.
“We have forty or fifty field trips a year, so for most of the kids this is not their first trip to the museum. But now they are going there to study and learn a new way of seeing the museum.”
Clarke said the curriculum has been designed to incorporate all subjects taught at the school by using a piece of art as a critical starting point.
“When good writers write, they usually visualize
something first, and we are trying to encourage that type of thinking,” she explained.
For Nguyen-Balli, making the jump between the school’s focus on literacy and visual arts is an easy one.
Surrealism began as a writing style, she said, but eventually inspired a entire generation of artists like Salvador Dali.
“There were surrealist writers before there were surrealist painters, so the jump between visualizing and writing isn’t that hard to make,” said Nguyen-Balli.
The students also will be learning to “read” visual art as they would text. She said the school’s goal of teaching the students to think of the art museum as their own is an important one that can only be achieved through multiple visits.
“They start to feel comfortable. We want them to think of it as their own,” Nguyen-Balli said. “It’s not just a place for the elite. We want them to come here and have fun and feel free to think whatever they want about the art.”
Nguyen-Balli estimated that fewer than 5 percent of the 70,000 students who visit the museum with their school make repeat trips, making the charter school’s program a unique one.
Beyond being fun for the kids, the visits fit nicely with what the students are learning, Pinto explained.
“At this age, they are learning to read by visualizing what they read in books by using the pictures in their books. Now we are going to use this art to help them reverse that and write what they have seen,” said Pinto.
Her class finished the day by writing a poem about a self-portrait by Andy Warhol, writing words like “crazy,” “nutty” and “cruel” to describe the late pop-art icon.
The trips, she said, have sparked a whole new interest in learning for her kids.
“They just kept talking about it and can’t wait to go back.”
end

Amy Pinto’s fourth graders take notes on 18th century portraits at the Philadelphia Museum of Art last Thursday morning. The students spent several hours touring the museum learning about portraiture.

Lynn Swann Starts Tour of City Charter Schools

February 2006
Got culture? Charter school does!
By Jeannie O’Sullivan
Times Staff Writer

In the era of Omni theaters and virtual video games, Joan Klatchko still prefers her thrills straight up.
Traipsing across the world for her projects, the photojournalist from Levittown has risked malaria in Africa, traveled to remote South American villages by donkey, and once snapped pictures of an Australian mine shaft — from the bottom of it.

Klatchko shares her special brand of reality entertainment through picture stories, usually centering on the lives of children in countries all over the world. The stories, collectively titled Kids Across the World, deliver cultural awareness to classrooms. Combined with props like rainforest blowpipes and handmade African toys, and interwoven with evocative themes of education, conservation, health care and housing, the photo stories "challenge the assumptions" that primitive lifestyles dominate the world’s more obscure meccas, said Klatchko.

"The life of another person can illuminate a microcosm," said Klatchko, who recently visited a daylong multicultural festival at the First Philadelphia Charter School for Literacy in Bridesburg. "It makes it real."

The PowerPoint presentation featured slices of life in more than 20 countries, with images of lively street life in Hong Kong, students sailing to school by boat in Bornea, elaborate kites flown in Malaysia and native wildlife shots of emus, wombats and even a camel drinking a Dos Equis lager.

One photo story depicted Cotopaxi, Ecuador, where First Philadelphia students had sent 90 boxes of school supplies last fall. The tiny village, nestled in the Andes, had no formal education system until the fall of 2003, when revitalization efforts got underway at the behest of a retired teacher who discovered Cotopaxi while traveling.
After Klatchko’s presentation, students spent the rest of the day learning about life in different nations from teachers, parents and other students.

Teacher Ira Somers, a practicing Orthodox Jew, spoke to a group of fourth-graders about the Jewish Shabbat, bar/bat mitzvahs, kosher foods and the Dead Sea, which he visited on a trip to Israel.

French teacher Francie Lanza arrived at school clad in an Italian folk dance costume. While her outfit drew attention, the students were fascinated when she talked about southern Italian customs like arranged marriages, Lanza said.
In another classroom, a holiday-themed discussion covered Jewish Hanukkah celebrations, African-American Kwanzaa customs and a Pennsylvania Dutch-style Christmas. One student’s mother, a Lancaster native, drew laughs when she read ’Twas the Night Before Christmas in a German accent.
The program concluded in the auditorium with a lesson in salsa, a fusion of Caribbean, Spanish, Cuban and African music and moves. Dancers performed onstage while a five-piece band played conga and bongo drums, timbales and maracas.

"We’re always celebrating something," said Jim Stanton, the school’s communications coordinator.
First Philadelphia regularly acknowledges Cinco de Mayo and other international holidays with presentations on native practices and visits to destinations like Taller Puertorriqueño, a Latino cultural center in North Philadelphia.

The events, said Stanton, are as rich as the student body, which has one of the most diverse breakdowns in Philadelphia. The African-American, Latino and Caucasian populations each represent 30 percent of the student body, with Asians comprising 5 percent.

The mix is a result of the school’s enrollment campaign, which targeted all 88 ZIP codes of Philadelphia, said school CEO and principal Stacey Clarke.

Clarke is happy that the students currently enrolled hail from as many as 25 ZIP codes in the city.

"It’s important that everyone feels connected," said Clarke. "Interaction is the only answer to breaking down stereotypes." ••


Reporter Jeannie O’Sullivan can be reached at 215-354-3038 or osullivanj@phillynews.com

Welcoming in the Year of the Dog

Absent the usual banging pots, noisemakers and piggies-in-blankets, students at First Philadelphia Charter School for Literacy, 4300 Tacony St., celebrated the New Year as the Chinese do — with plenty of dancing, color and history.
Dance China NY, a Manhattan-based dance troupe affiliated with the New York Chinese Cultural Center, rang in the "Year of the Dog" with flashing swords, fluttering fans and soaring silk scarves on the school’s stage. The elaborately costumed performers gave the audience a sampling of the classical, folk and mystical dances that symbolize the new year in China.

The students were getting a head start on the holiday, which follows the lunar cycle. The new moon, on Jan. 29, heralds the first day of the New Year, with festivities beginning on New Year’s Eve, Jan. 28, and commencing until the full moon, on Feb. 13.

The Chinese zodiac stems from a legend about a dying Asian emperor who’d summoned the land’s animals to say goodbye. The rat came first, followed by the ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog and boar.

Each of the 12 animals represents a portion of the lunar cycle and, according to legend, determines traits of anyone born under its corresponding year. This means that those born in 2006, as well as 12 years before and after, are likely to encompass the canine facets of honesty and loyalty.

Literacy, the focus of First Philadelphia, comes in many forms besides books, according to assistant principal Jennifer Donahue. The event dovetailed perfectly with the charter school’s standards of history and arts, she said.
"We are a multicultural school," said Donahue. "All the reading skills in the world aren’t going to make a difference unless a subject is close to them."

Chinese dancing reflects the ceremonial, martial and agricultural perspectives drawn from 5,000 years of Chinese history. During the Tang Dynasty (618-906), amid the flourishing silk trade and growing sect of Buddhism, dancers served as court amusement for royalty and nobles. Their poses and movements emulated symbols of the era — like the Flying Aspara, a deity frequently depicted in period murals.

Asian classical and folk dances theatrically represent the region’s nationalities, so Philadelphians who take in any of the numerous local Chinese New Year celebrations will get a glimpse of life in China’s farming villages, Mongolia’s open prairies, and the ancient imperial palaces.

The troupe’s Red Ribbon dance tied in with money, a central theme of Chinese New Year, according to Tingting Jin, an assistant bilingual counselor at Chinatown’s McCall School, where 40 percent of the kindergarten-through-eighth-grade student body is Asian.

China’s most important festival of the year starts out with a thorough housecleaning, meant to usher out the bad spirits and welcome the good — and whatever monetary gifts they bear, said Jin, a Shanghai, China, native who has lectured frequently about Asian culture.

"We decorate the house with a lot of different pictures and good luck symbols," she explained.
Red symbolizes prosperity, as do tangerines and oranges, for their close-to-gold hues, said Jin. Fish is another good-luck sign for its representation of surplus, but only if the head and tail are consumed.

A typical New Year’s Eve feast, a Thanksgivinglike event for most Chinese families, features seafood, citrus fruits and dumplings that are shaped similarly to Asian coins. Oddly enough, burning fake paper money — found at most Chinese groceries — is another way to lure riches.

Jin began teaching English to students in Beijing, an ironic vocation given the Russian degree she earned at Shanghai University. In 1984, she moved to the United States to enrich her knowledge of the English language and American culture in general.

She joined McCall in 1997, and, wanting to "accommodate the school’s multicultural mix," invited Chinese dancers, musicians, acrobats, bands, martial artists and Peking opera singers to perform at the annual Chinese New Year celebrations she initiated.

Over the years, an increasing number of American students have joined the activities, Jin said.
"They’ve seen a lot of Chinese culture," she said. And they’re fascinated." ••

April 2005

By RICHARD DEGENER
The Press of Atlantic City Staff Writer

There were plenty of loons, cormorants and gulls along the oceanfront and in the Delaware Bay, but no sign of any whales. That didn't stop more than 100 people from taking an early-season shot at seeing a celebrity cetacean.  "I want to see a beluga. I saw the one in the Delaware on TV," said Leayana Brinkley, 7, on a field trip with other second graders at the First Philadelphia Charter School.  The second-graders watched "Free Willy" on the bus ride here from Philadelphia and got on the boat hoping to see a real whale. They had also learned about whales in class, where the animals seem to challenge dinosaurs for the hearts of young boys.  "I like whales. The blue whale is 100 feet long. It's bigger than the biggest dinosaur," said Timmy Zink, 8, of Philadelphia.  Zink's mother Tracey came on the field trip hoping to see her first whale. She has been following media accounts of the beluga's trip up the Delaware River.  "It's on just about everyday with updates of where it was last spotted," Tracey Zink said.  Aleem Griffith left the dock itching to see the beluga. He had only seen whales in science books. He was sure the real thing "looked way better."  "I want to see the beluga," Griffith said.  Captain Jeff Stewart began the trip by announcing the beluga had been on the Delaware River but was swimming toward the ocean.  "You have to go by Cape May to get to the ocean so we could very well see a beluga whale today," Stewart announced over the PA system.  Stewart, 50, scanned the water looking for anything swimming as he steamed down the coast from Cold Spring Inlet. Stewart said his 20-10 vision has helped a career that began in 1978 running party boats and since 1990 whale watchers. His vision means he can see at 20 feet what people with 20-20 see at 10 feet.  "I look for a whale spout. Boaters go right by whale spouts all the time," Stewart said.  But the great eyes did not help Stewart spot a whale Thursday. The problem early in the season isn't Stewart's eyes but the lack of other eyes out there. He relies on reports from fishermen, boaters, the Cape-Lewes Ferry and everybody else on the water, and hardly anybody is out there on a weekday in April. Radio calls to a passing ferry brought no encouraging news.  More than an hour into the two-hour trip Steward would gladly settle for a bottlenosed dolphin or a harbor porpoise. He guarantees sightings, so he would end up giving everybody on board a free pass for a future excursion.  It can be like that during these early-season trips when the water is still frigid. This year is actually the earliest Stewart has brought his customers to pay dirt. April 22 had been the earliest but this past Sunday, April 17, he came across a pod of dolphins off Cape May. On another trip to an area called East Lump, about 20 miles out, he ran into three humpbacks and two finback whales.  Whales can be seen year-round, Steward said, but nobody wants to take a boat ride in the winter. Dolphins show up when the water hits about 50 degrees.  It isn't just temperature. Another big factor is food. The waters have herring and mackerel now, but one of the main food sources, menhaden or bunker, haven't made an appearance yet.  The lack of a whale sighting seemed a bit less important to the school students near the end of the trip as they ate pizza and hotdogs. Stewart, mindful of who he was talking to, mostly students and teachers, gave a history lesson of sorts as they passed landmarks including a World War II bunker, the Cape May Lighthouse and the concrete ship USS Atlantus.  He even shot off a joke or two. Passing the St. Mary's By The Sea Convent, he noted the massive building in Cape May Point was a former hotel purchased in a bankruptcy sale for just $732.  "You've got to hand it to the pope. He does know his real estate," Stewart said.   To e-mail Richard Degener at The Press: RDegener@pressofac.com 

March 2005

By Elizabeth Stieber
Times Staff Writer

Reading just a few sentences from her book, Robin Miller Ingram already drew a group of students into her childhood memory of Sunday-morning breakfasts.

Fresh rolls, piles of home-fried potatoes and sizzling slices of bacon, scrapple and sausage, all whipped up by Ingram’s grandmother.

"The smells and aromas were just divine," Ingram read.

Pausing between pages, she said: "Sounds good. Anyone hungry?"

Her audience — students at First Philadelphia Charter School for Literacy — learned all about "Robin Lee’s" family tradition as Ingram read her first published book, Sunday Morning at Momma’s House.

Ingram, a Frankford native, and two other children’s authors, Linda Gross and Linda Adkins, spent a morning last week reading to Frankford school students. They also taught the children to open their imagination through activities.

"I hope the kids get the value of family tradition. If they don’t have one, establish one. If they do have one, nurture it," said Ingram, a former Philadelphia teacher and graduate of Allen M. Stearne School in Frankford. "Family traditions are so important."

The second-graders made a picture collage of their own family traditions, and the third-graders wrote stories about their pastimes.

Linda Gross, meanwhile, awakened the fourth-graders’ imaginations by making storyboards and by using a call-and-response technique. The youngsters then used their imaginations and backgrounds to weave a story of their own.

"We woke up our bodies, our voices, our faces and our imaginations," said Gross, a writer and co-founder of the National Black Storytelling Festival and Conference and the National Association of Black Storytellers.

Linda Adkins not only read her book, Mighty Mite, The Dog Who Couldn’t Wag His Tail, she also brought in the story’s hero, Mighty Mite.

Adkins, a Humane Society police officer, wrote the true story about the lovable golden retriever, which was found abandoned and abused.

Mighty Mite still has no chest hair because he was infested with mites, she told them.

The dog now works with Adkins in the community.

Adkins explained to the students that she enforces laws that protect pets. She also told them that dogs should not be left in a car alone.

"We teach that you have to take care of an animal just like you take care of a child," she said.

The kindergartners wrote a class letter about being kind to animals, and the first-graders wrote stories using a dog as a character.

Mighty Mite performed a few tricks for the youngsters, who each got the chance to meet and pet the friendly pooch

Reporter Elizabeth Stieber can be reached at 215-354-3036 or estieber@phillynews.com

February 2005

Sing Tao Newspaper

First Philadelphia Charter School for Literacy is located in Northeast section of Philadelphia between Tacony Street and Church Street. Cost about six million dollars, this brand new seventy thousands square feet school is converted from a factory warehouse and now is being transformed into bright spacious and advanced facility contains a library and indoor gym. The school will hold its open house for visiting and registration of parents and students on Monday February 28th at 6:00 PM with on site Chinese language interpreters.

This school currently has about six hundreds students, which range from Kindergarten to fourth grade with plans of adding one additional grade per year till eighth grade. With goals of higher academic achievements, all classes are small size classes which limit to 25 students. Current enrollments are from twenty two different zip codes including south, northeast, and other sections of Philadelphia. School bus service is available for students in every grade except kindergarten. This is a privately managed public school with free tuition and the Superintendent is also called Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

As presented by the Coordinator of Communication & Community Relations Mr. James P. Stanton, this school is relative smaller in size than other regular public schools, so it can adjust accordingly. Besides the standardized requirements by public school district, such as reading comprehension and writing workshop, the school has also implemented creative teaching by adding classes such as horseback riding, tap dancing, yoga, sewing, tennis, formal proprieties, Latin and French. The principle and other administrative personnel are experienced in both teaching and management, and all teachers of the school are properly licensed. The school currently has about a dozen students of Asian descent enrolled.

The reporter happened to runs into students dressed themselves as kings and royal patricians with colorful European ethnical costumes and masks on the “French Day” at school. They were learning about French culture through games and plays supervised by teachers. Mr. Stanton has also shown us that school has organized many culture-enlightening programs targeting student’s future development such visiting Philadelphia Museum of Art, enjoying symphonies in the most technology advanced Kimmel Center, and tea time at five star hotel Four Seasons, etc. The regular school time is from 8:30 in the morning till 3:30 in the afternoon. For the conveniences of working parents, before class and after class activities are available and supervised by school personnel. Parents can drop off their children at 7:00 in the morning with school providing care and breakfast for only $10.00 per week. The after school care, which is activity oriented and supervised by teachers, lasts from 3:30 till 6:00 in the afternoon for $35.00 per week, proved to be much more economical than hiring sitters. Although school bus service is not available for students who enroll the before and or after school care program, but the school is conveniently located near I-95, it should not be a big issue for driving parents.

When the reporter brought up the enrollments difficulty issue of children of new Chinese immigrants, Mrs. Clark expressed school’s future considerations of hiring teachers or assistants with Chinese language background when enough enrollments of the Chinese speaking children, she also expressed school’s desires to understand and to build relationship with Chinese community.

February 2005

By Jeannette Ryder
News Gleaner Writer


Before reading chapters of "The Reptile Room" by Lemony Snicket to a room full of fourth graders, District Attorney Lynne Abraham met with the "press."

The press, which consisted of a fourth grade journalism class at the First Philadelphia Charter School for Literacy, 4300 Tacony Street, grilled Abraham on her background.

Just what does she do?

"I am the chief elected law enforcer of the city. We represent victims of crime. We handle about 70,000 cases a year," she said.

What's the hardest part of her job?

She's had to learn how mean people can be to one another. "I could never understand why," she said.

Does she like her job?

"I think it's one of the best things that could happen to someone. It's a great honor," said Abraham, who grew up in West Philly.

Did she always want to be a lawyer?

"I couldn't work my way through medical school. I really wanted to be a doctor, (but) I didn't want to be burdened in debt," Abraham said. She then told the students that one day they would come to a road and it will fork. "That's when you'll have to make your most intelligent decision. I don't regret my decision. I'm thrilled with what I am doing."

Abraham went to Temple University "because I was able to get jobs and work my way through college. We had no money. I could live at home and go to work on the bus or subway and pay my way through school," she said.

Was she a good student?

"Mediocre," the district attorney said. "When I struggled my way through grade school, I decided it was time to apply myself. My teachers would say I know you are capable of doing better. I found if I applied myself I was just as smart. Then I became a very good student. You can't succeed in life without applying yourself to the fullest."

What does she read?

Abraham reads a variety of newspapers including the "Washington Post," "The Wall Street Journal," and the "Philadelphia Inquirer." She also reads a lot of books.

An advocate of literacy, Abraham told the children to ask their guardians to read to them or tell them a story before they go to bed.

Her favorite children's books?

Abraham is partial to all of the books in "The Series of Unfortunate Events" by Lemony Snicket.

"I love these books because he uses a large complex writing structure (and) increases children's vocabulary," she said.

The books weave through the tale of the Baudelaire orphans and incorporate words in both the English vocabulary and other languages.

The fourth graders were enthralled with her visit. The best part was "when she read the chapters. She's nice," said Miguel Aponte, a member of the "press."

Fourth grader and fellow "reporter" Brianna Melonson enjoyed interviewing the district attorney. "I was nervous because I thought I'd mess up and not say the right thing," she said.

The students look forward to going on a field trip to the District Attorney's office during an upcoming intercession.

By Patty-Pat Kozlowski
Bridesburg Bulletin

The old saying, “never judge a book by its cover” is usually a good rule of thumb to live by, but it rings false with the First Philadelphia Charter School for Literacy (FPCSL).

From the outside of the building of FPCSL, located at 4300 Tacony Street, you expect magnificence and that’s what you get as soon as you walk through the doors. The building used to be a manufacturing plant and in an ironic sort of way, the building is still manufacturing, but instead of textiles, it is manufacturing minds. Every student is taught that the key to learning is reading well and all families must understand the importance of literacy.

The school was built on the mission statement of reading and writing being the utmost importance and instead of the school library being tucked away in a corridor, the school’s “literacy center” is front and center and is open to every student to come in and read a book.

At present, the school opened at the new location in Frankford Valley in the late summer and caters to grades kindergarten through fourth grade. Every year, the school will add a class until it achieves completion at grade six.

On Wednesday, December 8, dozens of dignitaries and special guests were invited to celebrate the grand opening of the FPCSL with a celebration ringing true of Philadelphia flavor.

In an auditorium packed to the brim, a Mummers Stringband led a procession up the aisle onto the stage followed by Philadelphia’s favorite mascot, the Phillie Phanatic who joked and had fun with teachers, staff and students.

As Gerald L. Santilli, founder and board president cut a gigantic red ribbon to officially open the school, the applause was as thunderous as the moment and the school choir, the Singing Eagles, treated the crowd to songs such as “America”, “I’m a Believer” and the alma mater of FPCSL.

Bridesburg’s own state representative, John J. Taylor was honored as he received the First Philadelphia Charter Friend Award. This award is given to those who have contributed time, resources and materials to the school in a significant way,

“The enthusiasm at this school is mind blowing,” said Taylor, a champion for education, who walked the halls, talked with staff and students and toured the classrooms. “I have never seen kids so happy to be in school, they want to be here, they want to learn, they want to read, they want the education. It’s amazing.”

The FPCSL is at full capacity and the administration says approximately ten families per day still come to apply to the school.

---

By Tom Waring
Times Staff Writer

The kids at First Philadelphia Charter School for Literacy loved their trip last week to hear the Philadelphia Orchestra perform.

Specifically, they liked hearing the various musical instruments that make up an orchestra. "It makes you feel like jumping up," third-grader Jailiene Miranda said of the French horn. The second-, third- and fourth-grade students also liked the fancy venue, Verizon Hall at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts.

"The Kimmel Center looks like someplace the president would live," said second-grader Joivian Cartagena.
The charter school, located at 4300 Tacony St., was one of 133 schools in the area to enjoy a concert during the Philadelphia Orchestra's annual Education Week.

The program is titled Music From the Inside Out. It is based on a documentary of the same name. Besides performing for its patrons, the orchestra has a commitment to music education. "This is an incredible experience for kids," said Sarah Johnson, director of education for the orchestra. "They get to see a hundred of the greatest musicians on stage."

Johnson explained that, in addition to the concert, the orchestra welcomed teachers to a music workshop and provided curriculum for schools.

Also, orchestra musicians paid visits to schools. Adam Unsworth, who plays the French horn, brought his instrument during a visit to First Philadelphia two weeks ago.

Unsworth, an upstate New York native who has played in the orchestra for seven years, explained his love of music to the kids. Educating the public, especially young people, is important for the orchestra's future, in his view.

At the hour-long concert, Unsworth and his fellow musicians tried to put on a good show for the students. "We hope they had a good experience and, hopefully, they'll come back," he said. At the Nov. 3 concert, the students watched portions of Music From the Inside Out, a 90-minute documentary. The documentary includes scenes from the orchestra's tours of Europe and Asia, as well as interviews with the musicians.

The students listened to live performances from the entire orchestra, along with the sounds of specific instruments. Brothers Zachary and Jason DePue played bluegrass music on the violin and fiddle. Unsworth entertained with the French horn. Soprano Josepha Gayer sung for the audience. And brothers Joseph and Louis Lanza played the violin.

The students were also invited to hum along with the sound of the orchestra. First Philadelphia Charter second-grader Kylah Benson was watching Unsworth play the French horn on the movie screen. Next, the musician surprised the students by walking down the aisle with his instrument.

"I thought he jumped out of the TV," Kylah said. The favorite moment for second-grader Shaidea Munroe was when Gayer, the soprano, teamed with the violin-playing Lanza brothers for an opera song.

"They made her voice sound like it was their violin," she said. James Stanton, the community relations coordinator for First Philadelphia, was glad his school was selected to attend the concert.

"It's one of the best orchestras in the country, and most kids are not exposed to orchestras at this age," he said. "Fortunately, we live in a city with great cultural opportunities."

First Philadelphia music teacher Joanne Schwab began implementing the Music From the Inside Out curriculum last month. She plans to present a different composer to the students each month.

So far, the students have learned music vocabulary words, how to keep a beat and the names of various instruments. Schwab believes the students had a good time at the concert, adding that the trip was meaningful. They seemed to pay attention and were eager to write and draw about their experience.

One goal at First Philadelphia Charter is to expose students to the best of everything. In addition to the partnership with the orchestra, the school will send students to the Pennsylvania Ballet's performance of The Nutcracker in December. Next spring, the school will host a ballet class.

The orchestra concert was a good start for the students, according to Schwab. "The concert was geared specifically to them," she said. "Some of these kids would probably never have experienced something like that." **

By Martha Woodall
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

While most area children savored the waning days of summer vacation, students at the First Philadelphia Charter School for Literacy yesterday trooped into a former industrial building.

But this onetime chocolate factory received a $6.5 million makeover into a gleaming new school with an inviting reading room. The new building brought together 575 students who had been spread out among three sites.

Dressed in red and navy uniforms and lugging new backpacks, the pupils in kindergarten through fourth grade lined up outside the building in lower Frankford.

"I am so happy to see you," principal Stacey Cruise Clark told the children. "What do you think about your new school?"

The students cheered, pledged allegiance, and waved to parents before filing inside.

For many, it was their first glimpse of their new school with an expansive literacy center-library as its focal point and quirky reading nooks in every classroom.

"It's awesome," said Joseph Bittner of Oxford Circle. Bittner and his wife, Anita Donahue, drove their sons Jacob, 5; Joshua, 7; and Joseph 3d, 8, to school.

Donahue said her family stopped by on Friday so the boys could meet their teachers and tour the building.

"They loved it," she said. "They thought the library was great, with all the cool chairs they have. They're really excited."

The two older boys have attended the charter school since it opened.

"They have excelled," Bittner said. "I can't wait to see how this guy is going to do," he added, referring to Jacob.

Although First Philadelphia pupils started school a week earlier than most, their 11-month calendar typically begins Aug. 1. This year's opening was delayed by the move and renovations of the 66,000-square-foot building.

The school, which opened in 2002, is one of 53 charters that will operate in the Philadelphia School District during the 2004-05 academic year. Systemwide, charters will educate approximately 25,000 of the district's 200,000 students. The district pays each charter $6,544 annual tuition for each student receiving regular education and $13,063 for special-education students.

First Philadelphia focuses on literacy, but its unusual calendar also sets it apart. The school day lasts from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. And not only does the school year begin earlier than traditional public schools, but it also extends to June 30.