Stories of interest to teachers
59 teachers named Lindback award winners
Submitted by Wendy Harris on Tue, 05/07/2013 - 10:40 Posted in Events | Permalink
Today is National Teacher Day, and this afternoon 59 Philadelphia teachers, one from each District high school, will receive the Christian R. and Mary F. Lindback Foundation’s Distinguished Teaching Award.
The honorees will join Superintendent William Hite, School Reform Commissioner Wendell Pritchett, Philadelphia Federation of Teachers president Jerry Jordan, three trustees from the Lindback Foundation, and others for the celebration, which will be held from 4:30 to 6 p.m. at the Prince Music Theater.
Randi Weingarten to speak Tuesday at YUC awards ceremony
Submitted by Wendy Harris on Mon, 05/06/2013 - 14:43 Posted in Events | Permalink
Youth United for Change will hold its 22nd annual award ceremony and reception on Tuesday, May 7. The theme for this year’s event is “Defending Public Education.” American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten will be the keynote speaker.
As a union leader, Weingarten has advocated for partnerships with parents and students around reforms that improve public school education nationwide. In March, she joined hundreds of teachers, students, parents, and other public school advocates outside District headquarters in Philadelphia to protest mass school closings. She later was arrested, along with 18 other protesters, after an organized attempt to block School Reform Commission members from entering a meeting to vote on which schools would be shuttered.
The city and District funding crisis: Use 2002 as a model for 2013
Submitted by thenotebook on Fri, 05/03/2013 - 16:36 Posted in Commentary | Permalink
by Michael Masch
I am struck by how many supposedly politically sophisticated public school advocates appear to be urging City Council to give the Philadelphia School District more money, independent of what the state does. If that happens, most of the horrible cuts now looming will still occur, since $60 million represents less than 20 percent of the District’s identified 2013-14 budget gap.
It seems to me that Council President Darrell Clarke has a point when he says that Council has already increased city funding for the District two years in a row, even as the Commonwealth was cutting and freezing its funding, and it's just not smart for the city to do that again.
Local dance group teaches academics using hip hop
Submitted by thenotebook on Fri, 05/03/2013 - 12:01 Posted in Latest news | Permalink
This guest blog post comes from Aaron Troisi, a board member of the Philadelphia Coalition Advocating for Public Schools.
With the School District cutting programs and closing neighborhood schools, the city’s children may soon receive some educational assistance from an unlikely source – Philadelphia’s hip-hop community.
Hip Hop Fundamentals, a local group of dancers who use breakdancing to teach academic content, are gearing up to tour their empowering “Civil Rights Movements” assembly to 10 neighborhood public schools at no cost to the local schools. But first they have to raise some money.
Curriculum Fair and Education Summit taking place this Saturday
Submitted by Samuel Reed III on Fri, 05/03/2013 - 10:23 Posted in Events | Permalink
Teacher Action Group Philadelphia and the Campaign for Nonviolent Schools will hold the 4th annual Education for Liberation Curriculum Fair and Citywide Summit on Saturday, May 4, from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Folks Arts and Cultural Treasures charter school.
The theme for this year’s curriculum fair and summit is “Flipping the Script in Philadelphia.”
Technology fair to help families improve digital literacy
Submitted by thenotebook on Fri, 04/26/2013 - 12:32 Posted in Events | Permalink
Interested in improving your computer skills? As part of Comcast Cares Day and Philly Tech Week, the School District of Philadelphia, Comcast, and KEYSPOT are co-sponsoring a free Digital Resource Fair tomorrow, April 27, for students and families.
PCAPS talks new strategy as it regroups
Submitted by thenotebook on Thu, 04/18/2013 - 14:12 Posted in Latest news | Permalink
by Charlotte Pope
Now that the School Reform Commission has voted to close 23 schools, the Philadelphia Coalition Advocating for Public Schools -- a major voice in the school-closings debate -- is regrouping and laying out its next steps.
About 200 people came together Wednesday evening during the group’s general assembly to hear about a new three-part campaign focusing on school funding, community schools, and charter school accountability.
Herold, Notebook win awards for coverage of education, broken pipeline to college
Submitted by Wendy Harris on Tue, 03/12/2013 - 11:45 Posted in Latest news | Permalink
The Notebook has received two honors from the Education Writers Association's National Awards for Education Reporting.
Education reporter Benjamin Herold nabbed the top prize in beat reporting in the medium-sized newsroom category for his work in 2012 at news partner WHYY/NewsWorks and the Notebook. And with an assist from NewsWorks, the Notebook won second prize in the education news outlets category for best topical or series coverage for the summer 2012 "College for a few" package.
Don't give up the ship
Submitted by thenotebook on Fri, 03/08/2013 - 16:07 Posted in Commentary | Permalink
by Zachary Lax
I am a second-year high school teacher who is proud to serve the students of the School District of Philadelphia. I am also among the many members of our community whose school will be closed. I know that my colleagues, my students, and their parents share my sense of dismay and betrayal over the final decision by the School Reform Commission -- and by extension their appointers, Mayor Nutter and Gov. Corbett -- to ignore our pleas.
A biotech pilot program to get students excited about STEM
Submitted by thenotebook on Tue, 03/05/2013 - 13:21 Posted in Latest news | Permalink
by Charlotte Pope
Robin Bethune, a junior at Roxborough High School, is intrigued by forensics, and she is eager about a class she's taking as part of an afterschool program being piloted in the District.
“Last class, we did a lab where we had to figure out who was at a crime scene by looking at DNA fingerprinting,” Bethune said. “I am excited to see the results.”
Bethune is one of 25 District students who are participating in a new biotechnology program launched by Philadelphia Youth Network (PYN) in partnership with the District's 1199C Training & Upgrading Fund. The program, called Quest, uses lectures and lab-based research to help students gain skills in science, technology, engineering, and math -- also known as the STEM fields.
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