Eighth Grade: A Year of Celebrating at Project Learn School!

By Jamie Polson

     8th grade…  What an exciting year!  So much to look forward to.

     Liam Gallagher, the Junior High science teacher, said, “The 8th grade year is a good celebration for all that the students who have been at Project Learn School.  They work on systems thinking, collaboration, and setting big goals. Collaboration is a very important skill to have anywhere you go; systems thinking is when you have a project with multiple steps or things that need to get done and people need to be assigned to certain tasks; and setting big goals is trying to see the big picture first, then trying to get there. In order for the 8th graders to practice these skills they have a lot of projects throughout the year to work on such as the Haunted House, weekly food sales, and the Costa Rica trip.”

     Earlier in the fall, the 8th grade went on a trip to Silver Lake in the Poconos. They were invited by Surya Bromley's family to their house. Liam's favorite part of the trip was "watching the kids go crazy over the rope swing as I watched from the kayak." The goal of this trip was to come up with fundraising ideas for the trip to Costa Rica and for ideas for the Haunted House. David Bromley, Surya's dad, Liam Gallagher, and Linda Pollack-Johnson, the mom of this reporter, were the leaders of this trip. 

     The Haunted House is a project that the graduating class does during the Halloween season. They make up costumes, plot lines and characters for the Haunted House, which they construct in some of the Jr. High rooms. On Halloween the rest of the school goes through the Haunted House. Sean Leber, a PLS Jr. High teacher said, " I was looking forward to seeing what the 8th grade put together. Although I didn't know much about it, I was looking forward to seeing their creativity." The Haunted House is kept a confidential activity so that it's not spoiled before the other groups go in. Joan Fox, the PLS art teacher, remarked, "I like going to it and being a little scared."

     In the Spring, the 8th grade goes to Costa Rica on a service learning trip. In order to raise money for their trip, they do weekly food sales, which are put together by the 8th grade students, Liam and Joan. Some of the items sold at these sales are spagheti and garlic bread, tomato soup and grilled cheese, tacos, and mashed potatoes with toppings. A drink is included with each meal. The cost of the lunch for the rest ofthe school is $5.00. Zack Waxler, an 8th grader, said, "Spaghetti is my favorite food sale idea." The Costa Rica trip is what the 8th grade looks forward to all year. Joan said,  “The staff at PLS has always been looking for ways to culminate the 8th graders’ time at PLS.  Five  years ago we decided to have that be in another country and through research, we decided that Costa Rica was the place we wanted to go to.”  

     During the whole school year, the 8th grade tries to raise enough money to go to Costa Rica, where they stay with local families and do service projects for the community.   Zack said that “ I am looking forward to being away from school for a week.”  They will be going with Liam and Joan, who have brought the 8th graders to Costa Rica for the past few years.  There are nine 8th graders this year. If you want more information or have questions about the 8th grade contact Jake Grubb, Elya Kaplin, Surya Bromley, Jamie Polson, Zack Waxler, Tania Crowell, Kyle Adams, Jhakur Hall, or Nasya Howard.  Look for them around the building; they are easy to spot.

 

8th grade students at Silver Lake in the Poconos.

Restaurant Review: Honeygrow

By Cece Mulchay

Honeygrow is a restaurant with two locations in the Philadelphia area that serves dishes made with locally grown ingredients. Their motto is “ honest eating + growing local.” The owner, Justin Rosenberg came up with the idea of his restaurant when he started a strictly plant-based diet. He wanted people to experience wholesome and simple foods.

The main dishes at Honeygrow are stir-fry dishes featuring different types of noodles made with egg whites, rice , and other grains. There are also salads and smoothies available. My favorite part of this restaurant is the Honeybar, where you can create your own fruit parfaits. To place your order, you walk up to the counter and use one of the many touchscreen kiosks. The counter people are very friendly.             

Lunch time seems to be a popular time at Honeygrow. If you want fresh food fast, it makes a great lunch, and Honeygrow is a perfect restaurant for kids. Kids can order what they want and it's fun to place an order on the touchscreen kiosks.I went for dinner one night, and it was not so crowded.

Since orders are made through a kiosk, the food comes fairly fast. At my last visit to Honeygrow, I ordered a create-your-own stir-fry with edamame, shrimp, cashews, and noodles made with egg whites, in a sour cherry barbecue sauce. It was very flavorful. The sauce was sweet and tangy, which went well with the shrimp. There sure is a lot of food for the cost; two people can easily share a meal! The average cost of a meal starts at $7.95, and you can also create your own stir-fry with shrimp, vegetables, chicken, and other tasty ingredients for an additional price.

Another advantage for customers is that there are stations to recharge smartphones. When I have been there, all of the smartphone chargers have been in use. They seem to be used often.

Honeygrow has two locations; one in Bala Cynwyd, in the Bala Shopping Center on City Avenue, and the other is in Center City, on S. 16th Street, between Walnut and Chestnut Streets. It is open daily from 11 am to 10 pm. Honeygrow is a wonderful restaurant, where it is fun to place an order and where you get a lot for your money. I would rate it 4 1/2 stars out of 5 stars.

KidsCare Blooms at Project Learn School

By Fae Lobron

Painting the flowers for KidsCare.

Imagine walking into a museum and seeing artwork  made by children alongside artwork made by professional artists. This is what happens every fall for the KidsCare exhibit at Woodmere Art Museum.   

    KidsCare is a collaboration between Woodmere Art Museum, WXPN’s Kids Corner, St. Christopher’s Hospital For Children, and about 20 Philadelphia area schools. Project Learn School (PLS)  has been participating in KidsCare since it began, and PLS has only missed one year in twenty years. Public and private schools in the Philadelphia area participate in KidsCare, other schools have one or two art classes to make the art. PLS is different because PLS is the only school where everybody in the school participates in making art. PLS has mixed up ages working together so younger students can spend time with the older students.

     Every year there is a theme that the art projects are designed around.This years theme is based on an artist named, Peter Paone.The thing that Joan Fox, PLS art teacher, found most interesting about his art was his flowers. So flowers are now the theme for PLS. Each student made two ceramic flowers; one to keep for themselves and the other to give away. The flowers are then painted and glued to wire to create flower gardens.

    The art projects that were made are given to St Christopher’s Hospital For Children. The gifts are given to the sick kids during the winter holidays. The hope is to give them something exciting and cheerful for their room and to make sure they know someone is thinking about them.

Mixed-up Group partners working together making the presents for the kids at St. Christopher's.

   Joan says, “Art can be healing and a powerful way to make people’s lives brighter.”, Joan also thinks it is good for the PLS students to make art and give it away, and to be generous to others. PLS originally found out about KidsCare because a former PLS parent, Meri Adleman, happened to be part of the program and she asked if PLS would participate. A PLS student, Nadja says that she,  “can only imagine the smile on the children’s faces as they get their art presents.”

Please look at the December 5 edition of the Chestnut Hill Local where Fae's article was published.