Art in the Community

By Kennedy Alston-Lucky

For ten Mondays, during January, February, and March,  Project Learn School’s (PLS), Jr. High students walked up Germantown Avenue to do art with Senior citizens at The Germantown Home. Lots of their projects had to do with nature and other earth elements. The last project they worked on was collaging pictures they found in magazines that fit the genre and the projects went on a wooden canvas.    

    Jill Sherman, the founder of this program, is an artist and a teacher of college students. Jill, being very comfortable with college students, originally started this program for them. Fortunately for PLS, she decided to use Jr, high students instead. Jill is new to working with seniors and middle school children but, said she enjoyed the experience. Having her own kids, Jill has always enjoyed the interaction between age differences, and feels as though everyone experiences something positive when leaving her program.

    Jill’s program took some preparation before she got it started. She needed to write an essay on what her project was about and show some example of her own artwork.  A jury then judged it to see if they thought it was a good idea. If it’s okayed the program would be official, and would run. Jill didn't have much trouble with the program, it was a little difficult deciding the lesson plan and sticking with it consistently. The project had a few bumps in the road, like lots of snow days. But went quite smoothly, for the most part.

Margaret and Elya making art
together.

  The kids also enjoyed the project as much as the adults. “ I like the senior citizen project because I am able to work with people outside of my age group, and helping them do stuff that might be difficult on their own,” said Nasya, one of the kids who attends the senior project.

    Project Learn was very grateful to be  apart of Jill Sherman’s project, and hopes to be able to participate in other activities like this very soon. This art project was fun and allowed the kids to interact with new people in their community. Everyone involved will remember their experience with fondness.  

Junior High Ski Trip

By Ian Holbrook

The Project Learn school (PLS) Junior High-only ski trip is an adventure to the Pocono Mountains that occurs annually in February. If you ski or snowboard, this trip is for you and, takes place at Jack Frost Big Boulder Ski Resort. The mountain is small but as a new skier or snowboarder, it will seem big and very entertaining.

Map of Jack Frost

    Liam Gallagher, teacher at PLS and sometimes chaperone for the ski trip, said the trip is at the mountain for about 5 hours. In the past, Liam would help get equipment for the kids and then hang out in the lodge. Liam hasn't been at PLS long enough to have never gone to Jack Frost but he said that one year they did not go. Liam said there have been injuries in the past and that two people have broken their wrists on the ski trip. He added that the food is not good there.

    This year, Aisha Anderson-Oberman, Junior High Social Studies teacher at PLS, Sean Leber, who teaches math for the 5th through 8th grades at PLS, and Rebecca Zeldin, the PLS Junior High English and Spanish teacher, were the teachers who went on the ski trip this year. The parents who joined were, John Holbrook, Linda Pollson, Tanyikia Alston, David Brommley and Brian Murphy. Two former PLS students, Sarah and Emily Grubb also joined the trip.

    Aisha Anderson-Oberman said  this was her first time going on the trip. Aisha really enjoyed the trip because she thought it was fun spending time with and talking to parents outside of school. Aisha was hoping to go tubing but the tubing section was closed. Aisha would like to go again and she hopes that the tubing will be open the next time.

    This was Sean’s first ski trip since he is a new teacher at PLS this year. He had a great time! Sean skied and he thought he did really well, even though he hadn't skied in six years. While the kids were skiing, he went down the green slopes and when they were not skiing and were doing ski lessons, he went down the blue and black slopes. Sean said it was hard for him to remember what it was like to learn how to ski so it was hard for him to help people ski. Sean was excited to go on this trip so he could see all of the new skiers attempting to learn a new skill.

    Rebecca Zeldin, also a new teacher at PLS, went on her first PLS ski trip and had a good time. Rebecca wishes she could do it every week. This was not the first time Rebecca has skied and she really enjoyed herself. It was hard for Rebecca to help kids who kept falling but it was easy for her to ski with people who had skied before. Rebecca skied down all of the slopes and she was excited to ski with people she liked hanging out with. She would go again in a heartbeat!!

     Fae Lobron is a first year Junior Higher, so it was her first ski trip and she had a blast! This year was Fae's first time to ever ski and she fell a lot. It was her first time skiing. However, she thought it was very fun. Fae thought it was easy to put the skis on but the actual skiing was hard for her. Fae went down a green slope -- only once. Fae was excited and wants to do the trip again.

    Jake Grubb is a eighth grader so this was his second ski trip because there was not a trip when he was in sixth grade. Jake has always liked the ski trip. Jake snowboarded and he did great. It was not the first time he had snowboarded. Jake had a hard time learning to get his balance in the air. He went down black diamond and terrain (ramps, etc.) slopes, which were very challenging. Jake was excited to snowboard and he would do it again.

At the mountain there are, five green circle slopes, seven blue square slopes and eight black diamond slopes. Green circle slope are the easiest slopes, blue square slopes are harder than green circles but not the hardest, while black diamond slopes are the hardest. The mountain also features a Slope style run. 

This trip is a very entertaining trip.  Many kids look forward to being in the Junior High just so they can go on this trip.

Focus on a Teacher: Sean Leber

By Evan Spann

Sean is a teacher at Project Learn School (PLS), he teaches math to the fifth grade through Jr. High groups. This is not his first teaching job, he has also taught at two high schools: Olney and Nueva Esperanza.

Sean found out about PLS from his brother-in-law Ari Miller, who used to go to PLS and told Sean about it. Sean was born in 1984, he is 29 years old. Sean is married to Kelilah and she is a rabbi at two colleges; Swarthmore College in (PA) and Stockton College (NJ).

Sean Leber, PLS teacher

Sean loves PLS because it lets students follow and learn about their own ideas.  

Focus on a Student: Ma'ayani Kaplan

By Fae Lobron

    Ma’ayani is twelve, and she is in seventh grade at Project Learn School (PLS). She is super funny and great friend.

Ma'ayani in the Jr High

    An interesting fact about Ma’ayani is she lived in Israel until she was seven and then she and her family moved to America. Her dad, Avi, was born in Israel and met her mom, Tresa, at the University of Michigan. They moved to Israel together, got married and had Elya and Ma’ayani. Ma’ayani says changing countries was a big move for her because she had to leave her friends, family and school.

    In Israel, Ma'ayani went to the Democratic School which she said was similar to PLS. She says that at that school some of the teachers were more strict than others, that she got to pick out her own schedule, and every Friday her school had an all school meeting to vote on decisions with each student having an equal say.

   At PLS Ma’ayani’s favorite subjects are social studies, science, art, and lunch. For Social Studies Ma’ayani said, “I like learning about places in the world that I normally wouldn’t know about, and learning about different cultures is really cool for me.” For science Ma’ayani said, “I am always amazed by science, because there are so many things our earth does that I can’t wrap my head around.” For art, she said, “I like art class because we get to do so many creative things that are challenging and fun.” Finally for lunch she remarked,” I love lunch because I am always really hungry, but also because it is a chance for all the Junior Highers to interact with each other and just hang out together.” One of the reasons Ma’ayani likes PLS is that she likes the fact that each student gets individual attention. Ma’ayani says that PLS and her old school are alike but so different at the same time.    

Some of Ma'ayani's hobbies, besides hanging out with friends, are dancing and singing. Ma'ayani loves to dance because she says it makes her happy. Modern, ballet, and jazz are her favorite types of dance and the ones she takes most seriously. She has five classes each week to learn more about those dance styles. She also loves to sing with friends for fun. Ma'ayani is a great, smart girl who like to dance, sing and hang out with her friends.  

  

Focus on a Student: Shayla Allen-Gerald

By Sophie Gala

Shayla in Aubrey's Group

Did you know that there only two girls in Aubrey’s group? Shayla Allen-Gerald is a third grader in Aubrey's group and is in her third year at Project Learn School (PLS). She has two siblings, Jessica and Emma Allen-Gerald  of whom are both older. Her family found PLS by coincidence when her mom LaCresha was looking for a school on the internet, for Shayla to attend after The Caren Center where she went to Pre-K and part of kindergarten.

    Shayla’s favorite subject at PLS is art because of how you can look back on what you made when you get older to see the progress you made over the years. Shayla likes to read and her favorite book is “Amelia Rules” because it is written in the point of view of the main character Amelia.

    Shayla and her mom  live on Provident Street in Philadelphia and it takes her about six or seven minutes to get to school in the morning. Shayla was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She and her family own two guinea pigs and her hobby is making Rainbow Loom Bracelets.

Book Review: The Fault In Our Stars

By Kennedy Alston-Lucky

The Fault In Our Stars is a book by the author John Green. John Green is a thirty six year-old young-adult author whose works include: An Abundance of Katherines, Looking for Alaska and many others. John Michael Green was born August 24,1977. He is an American author, a Youtube blogger, and an educator. He won the 2006 Printz Award with his book Looking for Alaska. In 2012 The Fault In Our Stars became number one on The New York Times Best Sellers List.

The Fault In Our Stars is about two teenagers trying to get through life while dealing with cancer. Hazel Grace Lancaster, the main character, is a sixteen year-old girl with stage IV cancer. Hazel Grace is what you call a “couch potato”, She never goes out as it concerns her mother.  After a while her doctor diagnosed her with depression making her go to a support group. Hazel is not to fond of the idea and find it boring and pointless. Except for her acquaintance ,Isaac, who's been going through trouble of his own. That is until one day she finds a new member in her support group, a teenage boy shamelessly staring at her. This boy’s name is Augustus Waters,a friend of Isaacs. Hazel and Augustus become close friends over time, going from place to place and facing tragedies along the way.

    The Fault In Our Stars is a zany and hilarious book that will make you cry, laugh and everything in between. The book is highly recommended for any young adult and older.

Focus on a Family:The Pollack-Johnson's

By Jamie Polson

Linda, Jamie, and Bruce Pollack-Johnson

Project Learn School ( PLS) has lots of family members who live all over Philly. Bruce and Linda Pollack-Johnson are two members who live in East Mt. Airy. They are the parents of this reporter and have been in the PLS community for 17 years.  How they first heard about this magical school, was from their neighbor Danny Miller ( who works for NPR), and whose daughter Karin, went to PLS. Bruce and Linda were looking for a place for their oldest son Ben.  Once they saw PLS they knew it was the right place for their family.

     Many parents of PLS students, devote their time to help run the school.  The jobs they do are called Co-oping jobs.  It is necessary for each family to do a co-oping job.  Some of these jobs include, helping in a classroom, taking out the trash, shoveling the front stairs and sidewalk when it snows, and working on a committee, like the Administrative Committee.    

     Bruce is a co-oper on PLAC (Project Learn Administrative Committee)  which is the planning committee for the PLS Town Meeting.  He is also, the current treasurer of PLS. Bruce said that being treasurer is, “stressful for me, but that’s just who I am.”  Bruce loves PLS, that's why he works so hard to make it a better place.  Bruce will not be treasurer next year, because his son will be graduating in June.  Bruce is also a math professor at Villanova University.  He enjoys working at Villanova where he teaches, does research, writes articles for journals and is an advisor for math students at Villanova. Some of Bruce’s hobbies include:  biking, singing with family and friends, tennis,  games such as Boggle, juggling, candlepin bowling, running, and running a coffee house.

    Linda is an Italian translator for written documents, and interpreter for spoken word at CHOP and other area hospitals.  She enjoys sewing, knitting, swimming, biking, arts n’ crafts, cooking, reading, and traveling.  Linda grew up in Roxborough and said “ When I was a kid all my friends lived in Mt. Airy, so when I was old enough to buy a house I moved to Mt. Airy.”  Linda’s co-oping jobs are that she counts the box tops that are collected from the community, and drives kids on field trips.

 Bruce and Linda said, “After 17 years we’ll really miss the Project Learn community because we've known them for so long, they're  like family.  We know that we don’t have to dress up or anything for you guys because you know us well enough.”  Project Learn  will miss Bruce and Linda and it won’t be the same without them.