Education: English Teacher Aims To Improve Opportunities Inside And Outside The Classroom
Kayla Conklin currently serves as the department head of the English department at Esperanza Academy Charter High School in West Hunting Park. That title is just one of many she holds at the school, mainly comprised of minority students in the surrounding neighborhoods. Between the hours of 8:50 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., Conklin is either […]
Amateur Sports: Getting To Know Roman Catholic Boys’ Basketball Coach Matt Griffin
The Roman Catholic boys’ basketball program is one of the most prestigious in the Philadelphia Catholic League. Last season, the Cahillites won the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association 4A boys’ basketball championship. However, following the season, several of Roman’s key players from the PIAA 4A championship team graduated and head coach Chris McNesby resigned to spend […]
Education: Five Classes To Try In Philadelphia Today
With all the negative attention education in Philadelphia receives, the community forgets about the different opportunities laced throughout the city. While there are endless programs serving the area’s youth, there are an abundance of classes and workshops available to all ages and skill levels. From arts education to STEM concepts, Philadelphia is a hub for […]
Activism: Fighting For Transgender Rights In Philadelphia
During the Obama administration, federal guidelines released called on public schools to allow transgender students to be able to choose the bathroom facility according to their self-professed gender identity. On Feb. 22, 2017, President Trump’s administration notified the U.S. Supreme Court that they would be withdrawing this guidance and felt that this was a focus for state-level governments rather […]
Northwest: Mount Airy Learning Tree Branching Out to Create Stronger Community
Mount Airy Learning Tree (MALT) is a community-based nonprofit organization that has been bringing together members of the Northwest Philadelphia community for more than 35 years. Founded in 1980 by Barbara Bloom, MALT looks to enrich the lives of community members by offering a wide range of courses in an informal learning environment on particular […]
Hunting Park: Program Leader Gives Back to the Next Generation of Lenfest Center Learners
As a youth in Hunting Park, Kysheen Wilson was always looking for a place that he could get excited about. In 2007, the Philadelphia Police Athletic League began to use the building on N.10th St. in Hunting Park for athletic activity for youths from ages 6-18. Wilson started taking advantage of the programs offered there almost […]
Tioga: Mercy Neighborhood Ministries Gives Students an Educational Head Start
Bright lights shine on the beaming green and orange painted walls as the next group of children happily walked into the Mercy Neighborhood Ministries building located on W. Venango Street in Tioga. The inviting staff and abundant open space offer some of the best amenities and educational assistance in the area for children in kindergarten […]
Hunting Park: SquashSmarts Prepares Kids For What Is Next In Life Through Squash
The loud sound of the collision of a rubber squash ball with a white wall reverberated around the squash courts at SquashSmarts, on the second floor of the Lenfest Center, as sweat dripped down the faces of the students and coaches while they prepared for another day’s work. The noise and buzz represented another day […]
Poplar: Gun Range Owner Aims to Offer Safe, Social, Inclusive Environment
The owner of The Gun Range greets all of his customers at the door, a welcome underscored with the faintest hint of an accent that originates somewhere between Russia and Israel. After a tumultuous childhood spent partly in the former Soviet Union, Yuri Zalzman came to the United States as a teenager. He later obtained an undergraduate degree in history […]
Chinatown: Officials Weigh Competing Proposals for Development at Parking Lot Site
Cecilia Yep has served the Chinatown community for decades. As one of the founders of the Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corp., she has fought what she considers intrusive development, including a proposed stadium near the Vine Street Expressway and Chinatown’s northern border. And on March 6, in a overflowing meeting room at 1234 Market St., Yep […]