Halloween Happenings

By Lily Waxler

The Ghost of The Mad Hatter Tea Shop booth,

On October 31st, this year as in every year, Project Learn School (PLS) celebrated Halloween throughout the building. The Jr. High did a lot of  planning and made fun activities for the younger kids to do. One of the ways the school celebrated Halloween was with everyone making Halloween clay pots with Joan Fox. Joan helped everyone glaze their Halloween pots and on the day of Halloween a witch came in before school and  filled them with candy. No one in PLS knows who the witch is for sure, but there is a lot of talk among the students about who the witch could be.  Some people think it’s Joan, the art teacher, but this year she wasn’t even at PLS for Halloween.  For the kids who don’t celebrate Halloween, Joan helped them make fall themed clay pots, which also got filled with candy.

    Sean Leber, the math teacher at PLS, helped the younger Jr. High students put together a Halloween carnival; the other Jr. high teachers helped too. The carnival happened in the back yard and was a time for the kids to play different games that the Jr. High kids made. Some of the games this year were: Demon Dash, The Ghost Of The Mad Hatter Tea Shop, Face Painting and Wheel Of Fortune. At each booth kids tested their skills.  If they won, they got candy as a reward.

    While the younger Jr. High students were designing the carnival and Halloween pots, the 8th grade kids were working on the Haunted House. The Haunted House  is similar to the carnival; there’s something in it for all the kids to enjoy.  This year’s theme of the Haunted House was a masquerade ball.  The kids could go in with  the lights on or lights off, or optionally colored lights, all depending on how scared they wanted to be.

    Sylvie, a student at Project Learn School said, “I really liked the Haunted House. It’s my 3rd year at Project Learn School and, it was the 2nd time I went in the whole time, and it was just the right level of scariness. It was a little creepy, yet fun. The carnival was really good too.”

    The kids at Project Learn had a fun Halloween this year. The Haunted House was great; the carnival was fun and it had a lot of games for everyone at Project Learn to enjoy.

Review of a TV Show: "Red Band Society"

By Tia Yancey

   The TV show the “Red Band Society” caught my attention when I saw in the commercials that Octavia Spencer and Ciara Bravo were starring in it. I recognized Octavia from the movie “The Help”  where she was known as Minny, and I recognized Ciara Bravo from a Nickelodeon show from a couple of years ago. I like both of the actresses, and it seemed interesting to me to see them both on the same show. I was curious.

    In the previews, it looked like a TV show about kids with cancer in the hospital. At the time, I thought that if you were a patient with a red band on your wrist, then you had some type of cancer. Although, in the show, the band means that you have had surgery. Most of the characters in “Red Band Society” are children in the hospital. “Red Band Society” would just be a regular show if Margaret Nagle, the producer, hadn’t flipped the switch and made the show about kids’ lives in hospitals. It shows that even if kids have a sickness or don’t have the same type of living style as us, their lives are like us in more ways than we think.

    The cast is a typical group of teenagers: the mean girl, Kara Souders, the cool one, Dash, the newcomer, Jordi Palacios, and the love triangle, Leo Roth and Emma Chota. Octavia Spencer is known as Nurse Jackson. She’s like the mother nurse of all the children, or to some, also known as the scary, strict nurse. Dr. Jack McAndrew is the head doctor of the patients. He’s hard working and takes care of the kids the best that he can.

   The narrator, twelve year old Charlie, is in a coma. Throughout the show, you can see how people relate to him and how they are so close to him. Kara has heart failure and is at the bottom of the list for a transplant due to her history of drug and alcohol abuse. Dash is one of the best characters on the show. He has lung cancer and even though there aren’t a lot of scenes involving his personal life you can tell by his personality that he’s a funny chill guy. All of the actors have special characters in the show which they play very well. They are all there for one reason or another, whether its working with the kids or because they are the kids with an illness. Through all of the stuff that goes on, they become close, the nurses and the patients.

   “Red Band Society” is appropriate for children 13 and older because it involves drug use, illnesses, and teenager life struggles. It’s message is something that all ages could share but some of the content may not be appropriate for younger views.

Open Houses at Project Learn School

Aisha Anderson-Oberman at the Open House table.

By Nya Hardin

   Project Learn School (PLS) Open Houses are one of the best things that happen at Project Learn. This is because they make it so people can see PLS in a pleasant way.

   Parents of young children who are looking for a school for their children and parents who are looking for a different school for their older children come to the Open Houses. They want to see if PLS is a good fit for their children.

   Aisha Anderson-Obermen is the Admission Director and the organizer of the Open Houses. Some of the helpers who make this event successful are Nadja Anderson-Obermen, Donna Waxler , Tanykia  Alston-Lucky and many others.These helpers act as tour guides for the guests and help set up the open house by putting food on the table and are tour guides for the guests. The teachers talk about what they do in their groups classes at each Open House. Guests are given a snapshot of the special teaching style of the staff which makes the school unique and keeps it in demand.

    Open Houses at Project Learn School show that PLS  is a well working school. At the evening Open House guests usually arrive at about 7:00pm because parents get off work that late and stay until 9 or 10pm. During the morning Open Houses, parents arrive around 9am and leave at 11:30.

   In between  the beginning  and end of the Open House, guests get information from a handful of the faculty members and some of the current co-op parents, and are treated to snacks and refreshments. Project Learn Open Houses do not just let people know more about the school but give them a chance to become a part of the PLS family.

Focus on a Teacher: Sean Leber-Fennessy

 By Lily Waxler

Sean Leber-Fennessy is the middle years, and Jr. High math teacher at Project Learn School (PLS).  He started teaching at PLS in 2013. He enjoys working with kids and helping them solve problems.

   Sean started teaching in 2008 through an organization called, Teach For America. He was interested in finding something meaningful to do while his wife went to grad school.

Sean Leber-Fennessy

   Teach  for America is an organization that recruits college graduates to teach in inner city schools. Sean taught at Olney High School where he taught statistics and algebra. He also taught statistics at school called Nueva Esperanza, as well as pre calculus and algebra.

   Sean thinks that all teachers should teach problem solving. “People face problems everyday and having critical thinking skills helps them make wise decisions,” said Sean. He loves being a teacher because he can watch kids figure out things and not give up.

    In his free time, Sean enjoys cooking, taking care of his son, hiking, listening to music, planning things for the kids to do in class, and playing board games. He lives with his wife, Kelilah Miller, his son, Gabe, and his cat, Jeffrey. In his years of teaching he has learned to be patient with his students, and with himself. Teaching takes a lot of patience.

Focus on an Alumni: Shiggy Rosenzweig

   By Carol Mei Rosenzweig                             

   Often the Journalism students focus on an alum. This journalist wanted to focus on Shiggy Rosenzweig.

    Shigeo, or Shiggy as he is known to his friends, graduated from Project Learn School (PLS) in 2012. Shiggy is 16 years old. He goes to Friends Select School (FSS) in Center City and is in his Junior year.

   “I chose FSS because I liked the classes that I shadowed,” Shiggy said. Shiggy misses PLS where he went for 8 years. He reflected, “I loved the community. I am still friends with Raz Reed and Jonas Bromley. I miss the the teachers and the art program, at PLS. However, I did not like FTGOTS, because nothing happens and it was boring and it was a waste of time. I like playing Magic, The Gathering with friends, riding my bike and going to circus [arts] classes. I have made some friends at FSS and I like playing chess with them ... I think that they are interesting people and I think that is cool.”

Shiggy Rosenzweig

   Shiggy says that his favorite subjects at PLS were Science and Art but at Friends Select they are Art and English. He says that it is because of the teachers and their teaching style. Shiggy’s main complaint about FSS are the homework and his commute. “I don’t like the amount of homework at FSS and the way I have to get there. It takes too long and sometimes I miss the place where I have to get off, because I fall asleep on the train. I do think that FSS is actually preparing us a lot more then we need for college and I am thinking of going to college. I just don’t know which one yet,” Shiggy says.

    Shiggy has a 12 year old sister named Carol Mei Rosenzweig, a mother, Hideko L. Secrest and father, Laurence G. Rosenzweig. Shiggy also has a dog named Elijah;he is a black lab mixed with cattle dog. He also has two cats named Thoren and Estella. He was always friends with Raz and Jonas.  Shiggy does not like attention. For his own Bar Mitzvah, he did not want to dance, play any games or say hi to his guests. Shiggy is funny at home, trying to make people laugh and imitates people and does a really good job of it.  This journalist has notice that he only does this around his friends or family.

    Shiggy, Mei, and their mom Hideko all went to Israel for winter break with many people. They are part of a congregation called Germantown Jewish Center, and a lot of people signed up to take a trip to Israel. They started in Jerusalem, traveled to Haifa for a day, and then went to    Tel Aviv. They met their guide and then the journey began. Their bus driver's name was Mosche, and the guide’s name was Asire. They went to the hotel named Dan Panorama and  checked in and went to sleep. The next day they all had breakfast at the hotel, and then went outside and walked to a windmill that did not work and talked about what they will be doing and seeing that day. Not much happened on the second day since a lot of people still had jet lag.

    The next day they all had breakfast at the hotel, the group walked to the city and walked around in the Christian East Jerusalem.There was a guide for that area and she talked about what was going to happen and some history about the Christian area. They saw the place where Jesus was buried; it was a very holy place and many people came here. People had lunch on their own looking around to see where they wanted to eat. This is where Mei met a nice girl named Lillian, and they were friends in their first conversation. Mei and Lillian hung out with each other for the rest of the trip. Shiggy was sick for some of the trip, but he did not have a favorite part. He loved all of the trip. Shiggy loved the trip and some of the food.

Town Meeting Tradition

By Sylvie Goodblatt

Town Meeting is an important part of Project Learn School’s (PLS) identity, and has been happening since PLS first started in 1970. This whole community meeting is held eight times a year on the third Wednesday of each month, except for December and June. It’s a time where the parents and teachers of PLS’ students get to meet and talk about important issues.

      Eric Moore, a PLS Jr.High parent, says, “I like to be with the other parents of the school and get to know them all. I think it’s helpful to know all the faces behind the children’s faces.”

      Jordan Shapiro, the lead parent of PLS says, “My favorite part about town meeting is that it gives the families an opportunity to have an impact on the education of the children.”

       During Town Meeting, there is an educational portion, where the parents learn what is going on in their children’s classrooms. They then all meet in the Community Room, where the parents and teachers talk about important issues. A recent discussion, at the November, 2014 Town Meeting, was a proposal for having a loading zone in front of PLS for drop off and pickup. The decision was reached that it would not happen without further investigating; some worried whether it was illegal or not. There were also concerns that the people living around the school might object to it. In this case the person who brought the proposal was asked to revise it and bring it back to Town Meeting, but some people don’t go any further with their idea.

     Each March the school budget is decided on which is presented by the budget committee that anyone can be on if they want. In November all the budget changes that happened over the summer are approved.

     Often there is a Town Meeting where everyone meets each other, a community night, and everyone talks about their hopes for PLS. The topics brought up are then written down and used to further enhance the school.

    To reach decisions, the school uses something called the “modified consensus process.” Everyone gets four different ways to express their opinion: yes, no, no with blocking, and abstention (the “ I don’t have a strong opinion” vote). If everyone chooses either yes, or abstains, then it is called a “unanimous decision .” If the choices are yes, abstention, and no, the proposal still passes. However, if even just one person chooses to block, though, the proposal is stopped and further discussion happens. Through these discussions proposals can be revised and decided on later in the meeting or reintroduced at a future Town Meeting.

    In past years, Town Meeting has been run by the lead parent. The lead parent’s job also includes signing important documents and checks with the lead teacher. This year the Project Learn Administrative Committee (PLAC) is trying something different: each time two people from PLAC runs the Town Meeting. Ten parents, four staff and one or two alumni parents need to be on PLAC each year. There needs to be at least ten people at each meeting. There are two PLAC meetings a month.  It is at PLAC where the agenda is decided on for the month’s Town Meeting.

    Since Town Meeting is from 7:30 PM to 10:00, kids don’t usually come, and if they do, there is someone who takes care of them while the adults have the meeting. Jordan Shapiro says that he would like it if the kids had more of a part in town meeting, though, and if they came.

     Town Meeting really makes PLS what PLS is. It helps parents be part of their child’s education.

Book Review: The Hunger Games Trilogy

By Ian Holbrook

The Hunger Games Trilogy symbols.

The Hunger Games Trilogy is a popular book series by Suzanne Collins. The series is about a dystopian society, made up of twelve districts, a capital and one secret underground city in the place of a no longer existing district. Every year the capital picks two children, one boy and one girl, from each district, in what is called “the reaping.” The kids are between the ages of twelve and eighteen. The twenty-four children are set up to fight to the death in an arena.

The main character is Katniss Everdeen. She is best friends with Gale Hawthorne. They go out to hunt together when they need food. Gale wants to run away with Katniss on the day of the reaping, to get away from the society that kills children for entertainment and pleasure. At the reaping, Katniss’s sister Primrose is chosen; Katniss volunteers in her place. Peeta Mellark is chosen in the boy’s place. At the end of the first book, the capital decides that a pair of children from a district can win. Both Peeta and Katniss survive, but when the capital goes back on its decision, Katniss and Peeta decide to kill themselves.  Right before they do, the capital declares them the winners. This sparks a rebellion and the start of the second book of the series, Catching Fire.

In book two, the capital decides to put only the victors of previous games into the choosing pot instead of new tributes. So Katniss, Peeta and their trainer Haymitch Abernathy are the only ones in the choosing pot. Katniss, being the only female victor from district twelve is picked and Peeta volunteers for Haymitch, who is getting old. Once in the arena, they notice that it is a clock and that every hour in a different section of the arena there is a different disaster. At the end, Katniss ends the games by shooting an arrow into the force field around the arena. It is connected to a wire that is about to be electrified by the lightning tree which is the 12:00 disaster, which causes the arena to collapses. This causes the capital to firebomb district twelve and start the full-on rebellion. This sets up book three, Mockingjay.

In book three Mockingjay, Katniss and her family move to the underground city of district  thirteen where Katniss joins the war and acts in “propos,” video propaganda that is streamed through regular television programs using hacks. While Katniss is doing this, Peeta is in captivity and being tortured by the capital to go against Katniss. The ending is not entirely happy but satisfying.

I really liked this series because the action never seems to stop. The suspense is also a major positive, because it makes things more believable in some cases. The details were good because the books told us, not just about violence, but also about nature-inflicted dangers of the games; for instance hunger, thirst and fatigue.   

I would recommend this to people ages 11 and up because of violence that may not be suitable for younger people. Readers who like stories like Harry Potter and Percy Jackson and the Olympians will enjoy the Hunger Games. An overall rating for this series is 8 out of 10.

Book Review: The Mysterious Benedict Society

By Penny Rhoads

“Are you a gifted child looking for special opportunities?”   

   When this peculiar advertisement appears in the  local newspaper of Stone Town Harbor, in the book, The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart, hundreds of children apply to take a series of mind bending tests. One 11 year old boy named Renard “Reynie” Muldoon, is puzzled by the ad. Mr. Nicholas Benedict, creator of the tests, has been using them to find extraordinary children to help resolve a problem that could affect the world drastically. While Reynie is undergoing his tests the reader is being tested as well; challenged to think about life and how other people think.

   There are multiple rooms to take the same test and in the end Reynie is the only one who passes the test in his group. As Reynie takes the second test some of the other kids start freaking out and running out of the room. As Reynie reads he soon finds out the test is impossible and he knows none of the answers, but he is determined. There are 30 questions, and as Reynie comes to the 15th question, he pauses. The 1st and 15th question answer each other, this is the same for the rest of them. This is an example of the types of fun loopholes you, the reader, will find.

    Reynie is again the only child who passes the second test in his group. The woman in the room with them escorts Reynie to a hall where two other children; George (Sticky) Washington and Kate Wetherall are also waiting. From then on the three children go through two more tests together. Along the way the children meet a fourth gifted child, who is particularly advanced for her age, named Constance Contraire.

   The four children are recruited to investigate the strange brain messages coming from the “The Learning Institute for the very enlightened” or L.I.V.E, which has also used the extraordinary children to use their gifts to control people.  

    The Mysterious Benedict Society can be a very complicated and confusing book. I would suggest it would be best for 10 to 12 year olds. If you want to challenge yourself and you’re younger than ten then this could be a great book.

    I always thought the abbreviation for the academy was a little cheesy. If you write it backwards it spells E.V.I.L. This was not revealed in the book but I believe the author did this on purpose.  This is the first in a series of three books about these four kids, along with a puzzle book and a prequel book on Mr. Benedict, the organizer of these tests, who you will learn more about as you read.

   There are many puzzles and secrets ready to be read in The Mysterious Benedict Society. I would rate this book a four star out of five because it can be a little unorganized at times.

Teachers Switch It Up

By Fae Lobron

    Aubrey DiSanto, who taught the younger middle group students, had a baby in June and decided to take a year off. Jane Laties, the youngest group teacher (K-1), was running one day and thought it would be an exciting change to teach the younger middle groupers. So began the teacher switch up.

     Jane says that she is “having fun” working with the 2nd and 3rd graders (Team Polar).

Jane Laties in her classroom.

The first thing that Jane noticed about this group that is different from the K-1 was that these kids can tie their shoes and clean up after themselves. She also says that since these children can already read and write, she gets to help them grow as readers and writers by talking about the books they read, reading different kinds of books and writing a variety of stories. This is a wonderful change for Jane since she has been teaching K-1 for 23 years and she had been teaching the youngest group  at Project Learn School (PLS) for 13 years. Jane says that her way of teaching has not changed because of the different age but the curriculum has.

    At PLS the name of the group is very important to the students this was especially true for the kids in Jane’s Group (K-1) from last year. It was important to them that they not be called “Jane’s Group” because they didn’t want to be known as the youngest students in the school.  Since a lot of people are used to Jane’s group being the youngest kids at PLS, it was important to change the group name. When the kids were choosing the name for the group Jane realized that the older kids didn’t mind if Jane picked the name for them but the newer, younger kids wanted to pick the name themselves. All together they decided that they would be called ‘Team Polar’, which seemed to fit perfectly since Team Polar will be learning about Antarctica and the Antarctic explorers this year with Liam Gallagher, the science teacher at PLS.

     When Jane was in second grade she had a teacher named Ms. Sokena, who she absolutely loved and that was the year that she realized that she wanted to be a teacher but in third grade she had the teacher who she “most disliked” because she cracked her gum.  Jane went to a public school when she was in 2nd and 3rd grade which was a  very different way of teaching compared to how she teaches at PLS. When Jane was in first and second grade they were always given what they had to do. She was taught at a desk, in front of chalk board. This is very different in comparison to how she teaches now at PLS, which is often on the floor with arts and crafts and small plays. For homework, Team Polar keeps their reading book and a journal to record things in the book that they thought were funny through pictures or words. For math usually the students bring home an activity that they did in class.

    Last year Jane had a helper, Dorian Dean, who was a great help. When Aubrey decided to take a maternity leave and Jane took her job, Dorian accepted the opportunity to teach the youngest (K-1) kids on her own.

Dorian Dean with one of her students, Alma.

    Dorian likes teaching K-1 and thinks it will make her a better teacher in the future. When she is talking to the kids or explaining something to them she talks clearly, firmly and with short sentences so that they know what’s happening and they do it in the time that they have. She loves teaching this age because they are full of wonder and curiosity and the love to learn.

    When Dorian took the job she knew it would be hard but she didn’t realize how much effort and practice it would take to teach this age group. Dorian thinks that the most exciting part of teaching the K-1 students is being part of their learning experience and getting to see them grow.     

    Dorian has been teaching for eight years as an after school art teacher.  She did a residency as a professional artist and worked with the K-1 group at Wissahickon Charter School in their after school program. Last year was the first time Dorian taught full time.

    She says that there is a different schedule and she has more time to do the activities and she has to prepare for a full day instead of one or to projects.

     When Dorian was this age she went to a Waldorf school for half of the year and then went to a public school the other half. She remembers Waldorf being more relaxed and in the public school there was a lot of chaos with 35 students in her class. This is one of the things Dorian likes about PLS - there is a lot of time for the kids to work in a relaxed way. This year the kids in Dorian’s Group are looking forward to their theme, Birds, this year.

     All of the teachers seem to be very happy with the rearrangement and everyone in the community is very happy for Aubrey and her family for having her baby, Lucien.

Blogging a Hit on the Third Floor

By Nadja Anderson-Oberman

One post! Two posts! Many posts - each week! This year Jane Laties is taking on the 2nd and 3rd grade group, and has decided to create a blog for her class,Team Polar. They decided to name themselves Team Polar, because in past years Jane has taught kindergarten and first grade. Her group didn't want to be thought of as Jane’s group, and the youngest group in the school. Also they’re studying Antarctica, so the group name choices had to tie into that.

A post from Team Polar's Blog by Maggie.

   Team Polar are avid bloggers. With Jane by their side, in case they need help. On the blog, the children post pictures instead of  long entries. Usually they post short comments about the pictures. Jane’s goal is for everyone to be able to post their own comment by the end of the school year. The blog is on a Google Doc that Jane has shared with all the Team Polar parents. Parents can comment but can’t edit.

    On their blog, the kids can post anything school appropriate. With two new bloggers each week they’ve been blogging for about two months, and so far they've posted everything from pictures of the class’s pet guinea pigs, Oreo and Reeses, to pictures of kids presenting their summer focus projects. Sydney J, one of Jane’s fantastic bloggers said, “My favorite pictures to post are landscapes. I haven’t posted any yet but next time it’s my turn to blog I’ll post lots of landscapes.”

   Blogging is a job on Team Polar’s job chart, which they do in pairs. The blog helps the Team Polar parents get to know some of the children in that group. It also helps them see what their kids are doing in class, like the group living agreement, cooking, and writer’s workshop. The parents love seeing their kids posts, and learning about their classes and classmates. One parent, Elmeka Henderson,  is especially excited about the blog. “I love that the kids are the ones who get to blog. Seeing what the kids are doing in class is really cool,” Elmeka commented.