Blog Feed

Recently an article was published in the Philadelphia Inquirer about the increase of school violence, and the steps that need to be taken in order to solve this growing problem. Over the past year or so, the issue has received a lot of attention from media because the problem became racial. With the violent attacks towards Asian students at South Philadelphia High, the flaws of the Philadelphia School District were put on display for the entire country to see. A policy is already in place for students in order to decrease violence. Programs that will heighten children’s tolerance for different races and sexualities are hopefully going to change this problem. In an the same article (linked above) Michael Johnson, a science teacher at Germantown High School states, “The policy is wonderful… The implementation is missing." Meaning that even though the policies are there, the district, teachers, and even student fail to enforce it. This problem could possibly stem from the recent cut of the Office of Safe Schools Advocate, which was eliminated in August 18, 2009. According to the National School Safety and Security Services website, “While the State claimed the cuts were for budgetary reasons, Stollsteimer [monitor of school crimes and violence in Philadelphia Schools.] alleged the cuts were due to his advocacy and unwillingness to not document failures by the school district to report school crimes.”

Some key players in this issue are the names we hear in Philadelphia all the time. Officials such as, John Street (when in office), Chaka Fattah, Paul Vallas, and 150 community leaders were said to have pledged to increase the saftey of schools in Philadelphia back in 2004.

The Pledge:

We, the public officials and active citizens of Philadelphia, entrusted with "securing the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity," pledge to work together and with our youth leaders to combat violence in our schools and to build safe and supportive neighborhoods for young people throughout the city.

Even though Street is no longer is office, this pledge to uphold the safety in schools was taken 6, almost 7 years ago but at yet the violence in out schools has increased.

From doing this research it seems as though my main job is to get these officials back on track with their plans. It seems as though they have forgotten about the problems in school, because of the small policies they put in place but did not truly enforce. Issues such as money, health care, and the recent elections have totally taken the attention away from our schools and their lack of safety. It is time now to bring it back.

Some recent hearings on school violence were held back in January. There were 11 hearings with more than 125 testimonials from activist, city leaders, student, and parents. The topics of these hearing were of coarse about the South Philadelphia incidents. Other then those hearing there haven’t been any recent hearings about the violence, which I hope to change soon

Work Cited Page

Sachdev , Nina. "The School District Needs the Feds to Tell Them What to Do?!." Philly Now 1 Sept 2010: 1. Web. 22 Nov 2010. <http://blogs.philadelphiaweekly.com/phillynow/2010/09/01/the-school-district-needs-the-feds-to-tell-them-what-to-do/>.

Trump, Ken. "School Crime Reporting and School Crime Underreporting." National School Saftey and Security Services. National School Safety and Security Services , 2009. Web. 22 Nov 2010. <http://www.schoolsecurity.org/trends/school_crime_reporting.html>.

Graham, Kristen. "City panel says hearings on school violence heard of problems and also promise Read more: http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/20101117_City_panel_says_hearings_on_school_violence_heard_of_problems_and_also_promise.html?page=1&c=y#ixzz164fHQiCF Watch sports videos you won't find anywhere else." Philadelphia Inquier 17 Nov 2010: 1. Web. 22 Nov 2010. <http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/20101117_City_panel_says_hearings_on_school_violence_heard_of_problems_and_also_promise.html?page=1&c=y>.

                                                

Shared Interest

His Views on School Violence

“Congressman Brady also won nearly $1 million in violence prevention funding. And, on the heels of tensions at South Philadelphia High School, he was able to secure $100,000 for the Main Line Chinese Culture Center for after-school and weekend programs at the Russell Beyer’s Charter School.”

-Press Release from 12/16/09

       INHUMANE ACTS

For my lobbying project, I will be trying to expand the seriousness of human trafficking. There are no bills that are currently passed in the united states that protect the rights of women and children who are soled as sex slaves. My ultimate goal is to help the current senator Christopher Smith  pass that bill.

                               

My motivation for this is being surrounded by girls who have been rape victims. Just the thought that they didn’t have the opportunity to say no, then to keep it hidden so long really repulses me.  The girls I knew, some of them were tricked into their situations and some of the people they knew. Alike, these are the occurrences that happen during trafficking. 

The supporter for this cause is Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. I will be going up against the federal government that is having issues with supporting the bill being past. Trafficking in Persons Report 2010 is being led by Hillary Clinton and she is apart of the 10th annual trafficking report. She discussed issues and things to help stop these things from occurring  

                      

Its happening across the Globe and the U.S is aware of it. What bothers me, is that its not being stopped as fast as I would like. If we could a force, something similar to NATO to dig these people out, I believe that it would make a significant difference.

Resources:
http://me19leela.deviantart.com/art/human-trafficking-86196555
http://www.today.ucla.edu/portal/ut/trafficking-93715.aspx
http://www.state.gov/g/tip/rls/tiprpt/2010/  
http://www.istockphoto.com/stock-photo-8170684-slavery-human-trafficking.php

Thomas F. Donatucci 

http://www.schooltube.com/video/b76dec0daeb3aa2cb0b3/Francesca-and-Alissas-EnglishHistory-Benchmark

Alissa DiBartolomeo & Francesca Brennan 

Adaire History - A Video

      In Fishtown, Thompson and Palmer Streets, is  Alexander Adaire elementary school.  Despite the name, barely anybody is familiar with its namesake or history (but then again, perhaps the same could be said of all buildings).  The school was a very interesting one, and the individual it is named after was perhaps even more fascinating.

            Adaire School was opened in 1892, and was quite beautiful.  Even in its day it was quite the alluring architecture.  Its exterior looked very much like a mansion, one could say.  This is referring, of course, to the original school building.  Unfortunately, the new building did not attempt the same design and, even more unfortunately, resembles a more conventional building.  Upon its inception, Adaire was a combined grammar, primary, and secondary school.  The classrooms were quite large.  At the time, it was a very innovative school.  It had one thousand students and twenty classes, and its walls were adorned with such things as maps and pictures.  This is quite commonplace, unsurprising, and even expected of the schools of today to have such things, but at the time they were a bit rarer than that.  The school prided itself in such innovation.  Naturally, these graphical representations not only improved the atmosphere of the school, but also supported the learning process.  It was believed such academic adornments would enhance the learning process and give more meaning to the students, that is, to show them visually as opposed to merely studying.

            The school was constructed out of Alexander Adaire’s lumber, but that is not the reason why it was named after him.  A little-known fact is that Adaire was heavily involved in education.  He was on the board of education and advocated the night school program, which is so in use today.  Yes, indeed: night school began in Philadelphia and Adaire school was named after the gentleman who established education in the evening.  Speaking of that gentleman…

            Alexander Adaire himself has quite the interesting story.  His official job was that he ran a lumber mill; more specifically, he was the president of the Philadelphia Lumber Exchange.  Knowing this, it seems strange that the school would be named after a gentleman who worked with lumber, even if the school was built out of his lumber.  In addition to running a lumber mill, Adaire also improved certain aspects in education and was overall a good person.

            The current principal of Adaire School, Mr. Robert McGrogan, describes Adaire as a philanthropist.  He was not only a wealthy businessman; he helped other people with his wealth.  He was a very generous, giving person whose primary interest was improving the lives of people in the neighborhood.  In addition to merely being a kind soul, he also was very involved in education.  Adaire was on the board of education and was responsible for the founding of the night school program.  He wanted people to receive an education, and he found the best way to do it was have classes in the evening when people were not working.

Alexander Adaire was born on May 7, 1834, in Philadelphia.  His father died when he was young, which left him to be raised by his mother, who did not remarry.  The loss of his father at such an early age might have affected his nature as a good man later in life.  Such a loss would lead him to understand exactly how hard life could be on people.  Alexander lived with his sister Margaret and his mother until somewhere near 1870, when his mother passed away.  He and Margaret still stayed in the house.

Alexander Adaire worked as a carpenter for the early years of his life, and this and his money allowed him to become an important figure in Kensington, going so far as to be in the Pennsylvania State Legislature, and was later put on the Board of Education, a position which he held for nearly 30 years.  He was appointed as the chairman of the night school, and was honored by the city of Philadelphia by naming Alexander Adaire School after him.  He was also the chairman of the Railroad Committee during the time Pennsylvanian railroads were being mapped out.

Around 1880, Alexander married a teacher named Anna Soumeilan.  They had two children, Anna and Alexander. Alexander Adaire (the one the school was named after, not his son) passed away on January 14, 1904.  His death certificate is quite unique and fascinating: his cause of death was “acute nephritis,” that is, inflammation of the kidney.  That is not the interesting part, though.  Contributing factors to his death – written on his death certificate, even – are “exhaustion, grief over loss of wife.”  It is certainly not common for something such as “grief over loss of wife” to appear on a death certificate, in fact, the writer has never even seen such a thing appear on a death certificate.  If anything, it goes to show what a great man Alexander Adaire was, to love his wife that much and die as a result of her own death.

Alexander Adaire lived in the Fishtown-Kensington for his entire life.  He was buried at Odd Fellow’s Cemetery in January 1904.

Bibliography:

Alexander Adaire’s Death Certificate.  1904.

Adaire’s death certificate really wasn’t that big of a reference.  It was about his life, not his death, after all.  However, the final part of the project raises the question of why “grief over loss of wife” is written on his death certificate.  That, his year of death, and the cause of his death are the reasons for which his death certificate was referred to.

Hamersly, Lewis. Who's Who in Pennsylvania. 1st ed. New York City: Lewis R.          

     Hamersly Company, 1904.

Who’s Who in Pennsylvania is a book containing short biographies on important people in Pennsylvania  Naturally, there are a lot of people and not a lot of space, so descriptions are a page at most.  Alexander Adaire has a page in this book, mentioning his Philadelphia Lumber Exchange Company and his involvement in education.

McGrogan, Robert.  E-mail/telephone Interview.  Oct 2010.  5 Nov 2010.

Robert McGrogan is the current principal of Alexander Adaire Elementary School.  I had emailed him regarding the history of Alexander Adaire/the school, and he provided me with a bit of information regarding him.  He described Adaire as a philanthropist (a comment which went into the project).  Very helpful.

Milano, Kenneth. E-mail Interview. Oct 2010. 5 Nov 2010.

The local historian and genealogist of the Fishtown-Kensington area, Kenneth W. Milano (http://kennethwmilano.com/page/default.aspx), is the writer of several books about the history of the area, like the history of Penn Treaty Park and the history of the Kensington Soup Society.  Milano puts a lot of time into his research and makes sure that everything he writes is factually accurate.  He was contacted in an effort to collect information about Adaire or the school, and he responded with a great deal of information from a book he has written, but that is, at this time, unreleased.  In addition to this, some pictures come from his website.  Kenneth W. Milano was probably the greatest source of information in the completion of this.

Matusov, Eugene. "USA public schools." Eugene Matusov's Webs. N.p. Web. 05 Nov 2010. <http://ematusov.soe.udel.edu/classrooms/usa.htm>.

This site didn’t provide much information, but a picture or two was lifted from here.  Truly invaluable.  Few pictures of the school exist today, so any pictures around are  highly important. 

United States. United States Census. Multiple Years.

The Census was referred to for the purpose of checking where Adaire, his mother, and his sister were living.  Most of that didn’t find its way into the final product, but the census was a large reference early on and at least some remnant of it must exist in the final product somewhere, in some form.  The census confirms that Adaire lived with his sister and mother, and then that he had a wife, and two children later on.

As part of the on-going Scaer Library Speaker Series, Jonny Goldstein, founder of Envisualize, will be speaking at Science Leadership Academy during X lunch today, Tuesday, November 23rd. Students interested to learn how they can better visualize powerful ideas should come to the Scaer Library during lunch and meet one of the people re-thinking the way we communicate ideas.