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Archive for 2009

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Family, friends recall the life of a legionaire

In News, Portfolio on December 30, 2009 at 5:52 pm

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Nobody really knew about Richard J. “Dick” Breyer Jr.’s honors from the U.S. Army.

His late wife, Terry R. (Forrestieri) Breyer, was even unaware of her husband’s decorations until she found several medals hidden in a drawer.

She proudly framed and hung the 12 medals from his almost 25-year military career on the wall, a collection that included the honorable Bronze Star Medal.

Her husband didn’t particularly want his achievements on display. He wasn’t the bragging type. But he loved her very much and knew it was important to her.

Breyer died peacefully Dec. 22 in his home in Wyndmoor at age 79, taking with him the secrets of his many accolades. His family still doesn’t know why he received the Bronze Star, his stepdaughter, Sharon Krass, said in an interview Tuesday.

In the days following his death, family and friends from the American Legion Arthur V. Savage Post 100 in Wyndmoor, where Breyer devoted much of his time, described a man who, from the outside, seemed a bit of a curmudgeon, a stickler for correctness and accuracy in language and finances, and who carried himself with the serious air common of a military man, but who loved his wife so deeply that after her death he lost the will to fight his own ailments.

“Although he was proud of his service, he never boasted. He achieved many honors and medals during his time in the army, but that was information he didn’t share with anyone,” said Krass of the man she affectionately called Pop, in her prepared eulogy at the burial mass Dec. 26 at Queen of Peace Church in Ardsley.

During the last 20 years of his life, Breyer served the Arthur V. Savage Post as financial officer and particularly loved the Wyndmoor Memorial Day parade.

Born Aug. 24, 1930 at Abington Hospital and raised outside of Philadelphia, Breyer enlisted in the Army at 18 and completed two tours of combat in Korea and one in Vietnam during his 25 or so years of service.

Breyer was also stationed in Germany, Japan and Italy and was fluent in Russian, Korean, Japanese, Italian and German, said Krass, a resident of Glenside.

Russian was the only one he learned formally, as the Army sent him to the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, Calif., to train in communications during the height of the Cold War, Krass said.

Breyer retired from the Army in 1972 as a chief warrant officer. He had begun studying for his bachelor’s degree while serving and after retiring finished his degree at the University of Maryland. He also worked as the financial manager for the U.S. Navy at the Department of Defense, she said.

Later he moved to Philadelphia to work in the Navy Yard, met Theresa Forrestieri in 1979 and married her a year later. They lived in Philadelphia several years, moved to Washington, D.C., for another and transferred back to Northeast Philadelphia to the Defense Department Base, Krass said.

Breyer retired to Wyndmoor, though those close to him said it wasn’t quite retirement, as he treated his job as financial officer at the Arthur V. Savage Post very seriously.

Jim Marlin, commander of the post for 14 years, called Breyer his “strongest sounding board.”

“Mostly he was the money man. He had all the p’s and q’s right where they needed to be. We’d fly through every audit without a problem. He kept us straight,” Marlin said in an interview Monday. “He’s the kind of person who wouldn’t go to bed unless every penny was accounted for. And I mean every penny.”

Breyer was financial officer for 25 years, Ron Stone, adjutant, said Monday.

“He was such a stickler for honesty and for doing the right thing and making sure nobody was taking advantage of anyone else. And I admired him for that,” said Stone, who has been adjutant for six years.

Stone admired his colleague even when he was correcting his word usage.

“You’re going to bring it to him, or you’re going to take it to him?” Stone recalled Breyer saying.

And while he could appear gruff on the outside, inside Breyer was warm, family and friends said.

Stone recalled that after his own pet bird died, Breyer’s eyes welled in compassion. Breyer had a papillon dog named Pappy that used to sit by his feet while he worked and had to be put down a few months before Breyer himself passed away, Stone said.

In the last two years of his life, following his wife’s passing in 2004, Breyer’s health began to diminish. Those close to him could tell some of his motivation to keep himself healthy was diminishing as well.

“When he lost her, he lost a big piece of himself,” she said.

What Krass will remember most about Breyer is how much he loved her mother.

Breyer lived life cautiously, the result of his experiences in the Army, Krass said.

“When he met my mother he finally was safe and comfortable and happy,” she said. “When he lost her, he lost a big piece of himself.”

Breyer is survived by a sister, Maria Mastranton; two children, John Mascaro and Sharon Krass, and four grandchildren.

“He will be sadly missed and I think that the post will always honor him and remember him in some manner because he made quite an impression on a lot of people,” Krass said.

Services were held Dec. 26. The family requests all memorials be sent to the Arthur V. Savage American Legion Post in Wyndmoor.

For first responders, Christmas is just another day

In Uncategorized on December 29, 2009 at 2:20 pm

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They have pledged to help the community around the clock, 365 days a year. So, the local emergency responders, crises don’t hold off because of a holiday.

While most are celebrating the season with their families, the volunteers and officers of the fire companies and police department of Springfield Township will either be working or on call, just as they were for Thanksgiving and other holidays throughout the year.

As Don Sirianni, deputy chief of the Oreland Fire Co., said, “Fire doesn’t take a holiday.”

For the Oreland, Flourtown and Wyndmoor fire companies and the Springfield Township Police Department, holiday operations are no different from everyday preparedness.

The Springfield Township Police Department remains regularly staffed over the holidays and with undiminished services, just like any other day, said Cpl. Lee Allen, president of the Springfield Police Association.

Fire Chief George Wilmot of the Flourtown Fire Co. said no person is at the station on a regular basis because it’s completely staffed by volunteers.

But he always has a good idea of how many volunteers will be in town at a given time, and he knows who will be out of town, which stays true during the holidays, he said.

But they also have back up.

“The three companies in Springfield rely on each other,” Wilmot said.

The other Springfield fire companies, each made up of volunteers, are also constantly keeping track of who is available in case of emergencies, volunteers said.

Volunteers do not plan their holiday celebrations around whether they might get called in for duty.

Being a firefighter means one might have to excuse him- or herself from holiday dinner with the family, Sirianni said.

“It gets in your blood. If you’re around, you go,” he said. “Neighbors helping neighbors is the way we look at it.”

Calls are not more common over the holidays than at other times of the year, volunteers said. But they have certainly occurred.

John Fleming, volunteer firefighter and EMT of the Wyndmoor Fire Co., said the company has come out on Thanksgiving to respond to oven fires and last year arrived to extinguish a Christmas tree fire just a few days before Dec. 25.

The Flourtown Fire Co. has also responded in the past to calls on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, Wilmot said.

The Oreland Fire Co. had a three-year streak in which volunteers responded to serious fires on Christmas Eve, Sirianni said.

For these groups, the holiday season also means celebrating among the families of fellow members and reaching outward to spread some cheer as well.

For the Oreland Fire Co., December means decorating the town for the holiday season, an effort expanded this year to include the Springfield Rotary, Oreland Lions and Flourtown Fire Co. to deck the streetlights of Springfield.

For Flourtown and Wyndmoor volunteers, the holiday season means driving Santa Claus on a fire truck. Flourtown firefighters make these runs twice during the week of Christmas — once in Erdenheim and again in Flourtown — and give candy canes to the children, which they have been doing for about 50 years, Wilmot said.

Wyndmoor volunteers have begun a tradition in which they — and Santa — bring gifts to the Stenton Family Manor, a homeless shelter in Philadelphia. It started began last December when a basement flooded and ruined gifts meant for these families. The company delivered toys and brought Santa to the shelter, Fleming said.

Members have also been working with United Cerebral Palsy organization for 12 years and have done work with the Ronald McDonald House, he said.

Combined, the three fire companies will have answered about 800 calls by the end of this year, according to numbers provided by the volunteers contacted.

Among some of this year’s notable events, the Wyndmoor and Flourtown companies received the Golden Pin Award from Holmatro, a rescue tools company, which recognized them for saving a life at a vehicle rescue scene, Wilmot said.

A driver crashed on Bethlehem Pike the beginning of 2009, and responders had to extract him from the vehicle, he said.

This year, the Wyndmoor Fire Co. spent hours on vehicle, water, ice, high-angle and confined-space rescues, hazardous materials containment, emergency medical services and police assists, Fleming said.

In March, Wyndmoor and Oreland firefighters spent more than four and a half hours extinguishing a structure fire on Camp Hill Road, according to an e-mail from Fleming.

In August, over a seven-hour period, Wyndmoor and Flourtown volunteers, along with the nearby Barren Hill Fire Co., completed six flood-related responses, including vehicle rescues and hazmat investigation, he wrote.

Wyndmoor also has a MEDPOD truck, which contains equipment for a mass- casualty accident, which members used in August when the power went out at a health care facility.

The fire companies are always looking for more volunteers to help them serve the township.

The police officers in the township are also active in the community. The police association, an 11-year-old group that comprises both active and retired officers, is separate from the police department.

Members provide services throughout the year, such as renting a truck for shredding papers and providing the service free to residents every spring, Allen said.

The association also sponsors youth sports leagues in the township, offers a $1,000 scholarship to graduating seniors, and donates to charitable organizations like the Women’s Center of Montgomery County and Mainline Animal Rescue.

“We wish everybody a happy holiday. Be fire safe and fire conscious — not only during holidays but during the entire year,” Wilmot said. “We’re always trying to think of the safety of the community and trying to make it a safer place for all of us.”

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Oreland Mom passes muster as ‘the fittest’

In Uncategorized on December 23, 2009 at 2:48 pm

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When Oreland mom Jahnna Henderson goes to a holiday party, she tries to bring something healthy, like shrimp or vegetables and dip, which she knows she can eat without sabotaging her goals.

At the party she puts together one plate and leaves it at that, rather than picking at the hors d’oeuvres all night. That way she knows when she’s finished eating.

Henderson lost 21 percent of her body weight last spring as the winner of One Fit Mama’s Fittest Mama Challenge, an intensive 12-week nutrition and fitness competition for moms of the Philadelphia suburbs.

One Fit Mama is a fitness company that holds classes where mothers and their young children can exercise together. Registration for the Fittest Mama Challenge is open now, and the competition is set to begin shortly after New Year’s Day.

Henderson’s triumph changed the way she, her husband and children approach health and nutrition.

“I think part of it is I want to be a good example for my kids,” she said. “We’re now each much healthier. We’re all about whole grains.”

Henderson has lost about 40 pounds since the Fittest Mama Challenge, which required her to participate in biweekly workshops, twice-monthly weigh-ins, and physical challenges in which she competed against other moms in wall squats, pushups and relay races.

Through the challenge she also listened to speakers who discussed topics such as nutrition and “mommy guilt,” when a mom feels guilty about taking time for herself.

“You have to take care of yourself in order to be a better mom to take care of your kids,” Henderson said.

Now her workout routine includes working out with One Fit Mama about three times a week at different locations like churches and malls.

Henderson and her friend Meg, a third-place winner in the Fittest Mama Challenge last year, run together twice a week, sometimes as they push their children in strollers. Henderson has a two-seater she won in a challenge last year.

She and her One Fit Mama friends also run together in 10Ks and 5Ks.

“It’s fun to do with the other ladies. It’s just very empowering,” she said. “You know, you sit on the couch and never think you can do that. Even if you walk, it doesn’t have to be a 5K or a mile. Just do something.”

She felt a desire to become healthier after turning 30, she said. It was time to reclaim the athletic routine she had when she was younger and decided to run a marathon, which she completed in 5 hours and 50 minutes.

“Then I just got out of it. You get so busy,” she said.

Now it’s easier to make the time because not only does she enjoy seeing her One Fit Mama friend, but her children want to see their friends. Her daughter, Teagan, 4, wants to go every day.

Henderson began working out with One Fit Mama when Teagan was a year old. The program was appealing because it would get both of them out of the house for an activity they could do together, she said.

Now Teagan and her brother, 20-month-old Ronan, enjoy healthy lunches like peanut butter and jelly on whole-wheat bread with applesauce on the side — Monday’s meal.

Carrot sticks often replace Goldfish crackers and cookies — “just small things we are doing as a family,” Henderson said.

Teagan has a history of passing over chips for carrots and hummus.

Besides setting a good example for her children, Henderson stays motivated by remembering that, after dropping two sizes, she had to buy all new clothes.

A secret to her success is that she doesn’t fool herself about her progress.

“When doing the challenge I wrote everything down and I was really honest with myself about my portion sizes,” she said.

One Fit Mama’s Fittest Mama Challenge begins Jan. 5. Winners will be announced April 15 at a celebration in North Wales.

For information, visit www.onefitmama.com.

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Council considers ordinance on guns

In Uncategorized on December 16, 2009 at 11:54 am

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Next year Hatboro may join the 21 Pennsylvania municipalities targeting illegal guns.

In both its December meetings, Hatboro council publicly debated the potential adoption of an ordinance that would require residents to report their lost or stolen handguns within a determined amount of time.

Still in its discussion stages, adopting any legislation depends on whether Hatboro can do so lawfully and if it gets council’s support.

Hatboro Mayor Norm Hawkes is a member of Mayors Against Illegal Guns, a national coalition working to keep firearms away from criminals by regulating illegal handguns.

The coalition, co-chaired by Mayors Michael Bloomberg of New York City and Thomas Menino of Boston, supports lost or stolen gun reporting reforms that are currently under consideration in individual Pennsylvania municipalities.

The Pennsylvania General Assembly held a vote almost two years ago and was approximately 25 proponents shy of passing a statewide lost or stolen gun law, Joe Grace, executive director of advocacy organization CeaseFire PA, said in an interview Tuesday.

“This is not about the Second Amendment. This is about illegal gun trafficking,” he said.

In hopes of garnering state support, 17 Pennsylvania municipalities have adopted their own lost or stolen gun ordinances, and four additional ones have passed resolutions stating they believe gun violence is an issue, he said.

Philadelphia, Allentown, Erie and Lancaster have all adopted lost or stolen ordinances.

Currently, borough Solicitor Christen Pionzio is examining how Hatboro might legally move forward. One such issue under consideration is if an ordinance would pre-empt any state laws.

She has not determined anything yet, she said Monday.

Councilwoman Nancy Guenst said this month she would not support such an ordinance.

It would target legal handgun owners, and it would be unenforceable, she said after Monday’s meeting.

She doesn’t believe the borough is in a position to enact the legislation, she said.

“I believe it’s all handled at the state level and that’s where it should be handled,” she said.

It might also lead to more regulation, Guenst said.

“I believe that the next part of that ordinance would be to regulate in Hatboro all legal gun owners.”

Laws monitoring lost or stolen handguns would benefit both residents and the police officers, Hawkes said after the meeting.

“My concern is in the last seven years, 18 law enforcement officers were killed in the state of Pennsylvania,” he said.

More than half of them were shot with illegal guns, he said.

At council’s Dec. 7 meeting, Guenst urged Hawkes to leave Mayors Against Illegal Guns.

Hawkes said the coalition recognizes the right of citizens to keep and bear arms, and targets those in possession of illegal handguns.

“As a responsible gun owner, you don’t need to worry,” he said.

Councilwoman Aleta Ostrander said residents have asked her not to support a lost or stolen gun ordinance.

“They’re afraid this is the beginning of something big,” she said.

She also said enforcing a law could add unnecessary work for the police department, and suggested council “tread lightly.”

Councilwoman Marianne Reymer suggested council might be able to support legislation at a state level.

Council President John Zygmont read a letter Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner Frank Pawlowski had previously addressed to Hawkes to thank him for taking steps to reduce access to guns at the local level, and adding that steps can be taken in municipalities.

Lost and stolen ordinances are under consideration in Norristown and in other municipalities in Montgomery and Delaware counties, Grace said.

Gun lobbyists have brought law suits against Philadelphia and Pittsburgh in an attempt to block local handgun reporting ordinances, arguing they were pre-empted by state law, but these cases were dismissed, he said.

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Board reverses decision on sanitary sewer fees

In Uncategorized on December 14, 2009 at 5:57 pm

At Springfieldsun.com

The township sewer fee in 2010 was proposed to increase by an average of $87.24 per household. After a vote Dec. 9 by the Springfield Township Board of Commissioners, it will only go up half that amount.

In a 6-1 vote, with board President Jeff Harbison dissenting, the board decided to buffer the increase by footing half of the bill with the township’s sewer reserve fund, just as members chose to do last year when Philadelphia raised the water treatment fees charged to Springfield Township.

The sewer reserve fund holds money put aside for major problems like pipe collapse or failure, and Harbison said he would be “uncomfortable” taking more money from the fund.

“My fear is that it’s over time. Once one starts to go, another starts to go,” he said.

The oldest pipes in Springfield Township are about 60 year old, according to officials.

So far, there have not been any “true emergencies,” Don Berger, township manager, said.

Commissioner Bob Gillies, who made the motion, said with rising unemployment, the $40 each household would save “wouldn’t hurt” the township.

Commissioner Glenn Schaum said the township has been thrifty in the past and has no debt.

The sanitary sewer fund has about $4.6 million available for normal capital expenditures such as manhole rehabilitation and meters for water flow studies, Assistant Township Manager Mike Taylor said in an interview Dec. 11.

The purpose of the reserve is to cover the cost of catastrophes. Repairs to the sewer system are expensive because many of the pipes are inaccessible, as they run along streams and creeks not in the regular roadways, he said.

This increase is due to a hike last year in Philadelphia’s sanitary sewer conveyance and treatment fees charged to Springfield.

The city increased the fees to meet federal standards and realign costs to treat waste like biochemical oxygen demand and suspended solids, wastes that shouldn’t be in the water and range from human- to factory-produced, to dirt that can enter water supply through cracks in the pipes.

The commissioners chose to temper the cost of the higher sewer fee by more than half last year by dipping into the sanitary sewer reserve fund.

Springfield’s engineer is examining where most of this waste is coming from, with the intention of saving money for residents down the road so the cost of removal does not need to be spread throughout the township, Taylor said.

The engineer is also looking to identify whether major manufacturers in the area have a high biochemical oxygen demand load, which raises treatment costs, he said.

“We need to get to the root of the problem before we decide how it’s going to be funded,” Schaum said.

The real estate tax and refuse fee are unchanged in the proposed 2010 budget, which the board is scheduled to adopt Dec. 16.

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A Hallmark Moment

In News on December 9, 2009 at 5:08 pm

It all began while Joy Zaffarano was taking photos of her 5-month-old — you know, “the typical 1,000 shots a day that you take of your babies,” she said.

That’s why when Zaffarano’s 5-month-old daughter Gianna spit up while lying on her belly, the proud mother captured it all on film. She turned the image into a greeting card, and sent it off to a Hallmark-sponsored contest.

Her creativity and sense of humor earned Zaffarano a place as one of the 26 winners in Hallmark’s “That’s Motherhood” contest, which judged consumers’ greeting card submissions based on cohesiveness of the message and image, “sendability” and use of Mother’s Day Theme, according to a release from the company.

Zaffarano’s card is now for sale online, and she hopes it will be popular enough that Hallmark sells it in stores, too.

“I just wanted to show people that, you know, babies being babies can be endearing,” she said.

Zaffarano grew up on Grace Lane in Flourtown, graduated from Springfield Township High School and attended Arcadia University back when it was Beaver College.

Once a special needs aide at Enfield Elementary School, Zaffarano moved to Hatfield in 2005 and has been working as a freelance child photographer for the past four years.

Black-and-white photos she snapped of Gianna, who is now 18 months old, and her son Avery, 4, hang on the wall and sit on top of the television in her living room.

The way Zaffarano sees it, some of the best photo opportunities happen when children look away from the camera and don’t smile: “the way you see them every day,” she said.

Her Hallmark card reflects the new perspective she gained from parenthood.

At a Fourth of July party this summer, Gianna spit up at the table and the only person who jumped a friend of Zaffarano who has no children, she said.

“When you’re a parent you don’t even notice it anymore. It’s just so second-nature,” she said. “They’re messy little stinky things that you love. It’s really weird how your perspective changes.”

Before she entered the contest, Zaffarano was looking for ways to get into the greeting card business because she was inspired by a friend’s success.

She stumbled on the Hallmark “That’s Motherhood” contest after logging online for more information about another of Hallmark’s similar contests, which she found while out shopping with her children.

She designed a card with the photo of Gianna and the white trail flowing from her mouth, wrote a little message about the less glamorous aspects of motherhood inside the fold, and submitted it in the nick of time — two days before the deadline.

She was “blown away” when they notified her just days after that she was a winner.

For winning the national contest, Zaffarano received $250, and her card is displayed online.

Zaffarano plans to continue freelance photography, and said she loves going into her friends’ homes and seeing the photos she took of their children on display.

“I just like to photograph them the way they see their kids every day but they never noticed before,” she said.

Now that she’s got her foot in the door, Zaffarano hopes to continue designing for the greeting card industry.

“Anyway that I can make money and still stay home with my kids is a win-win situation,” she said.

Zaffarano’s online portfolio is at www.zaffphotography.shutterfly.com. To view submissions of all 26 winners, visit www.hallmarkcontests.com.

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Historical Horsham site hit by state cuts

In News on November 23, 2009 at 3:38 pm

State budget cuts announced last week forced two state-owned and operated Montgomery County historic sites to close temporarily Nov. 20, but volunteers said Monday they will try to keep the sites open for the long term.

Hope Lodge in Fort Washington is temporarily closed to visitors. Graeme Park in Horsham will be open Sundays only, thanks to a standing deal between the state and the Friends of Graeme Park that allowed the site to operate Sundays without the site administrator, President of the Friends of Graeme Park, Beth MacCausland said in an interview Monday.

“By the time our new calendar starts in the spring of 2010, we hope to have an agreement in place with the state where we are fully operational,” she said.

In a memo sent to members of the Friends of Graeme Park, MacCausland said all programs at the site will continue.

That means volunteers will operate the site during school tours and community group meetings, she said.

Before the layoffs, Graeme Park and Hope Lodge shared a part-time site administrator from the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission who traveled between both sites.

Each location also had a custodian that helped maintain the grounds. However, the employee at Graeme Park quit and “dedicated” site volunteers had picked up where he left off, MacCausland said.

“At this point in time we looked for the opportunity to meet with the Friends groups of both those organizations to see what their interest would be in working with the commission to maintain some sort of hours of the site,” Kirk Wilson, spokesman for the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, said in an interview Nov.19.

MacCausland and president of the Friends of Hope Lodge, Jack Gumbrecht, said they did not receive official notice of the layoffs until Nov. 19. Both sites were temporarily closed 5 p.m. Nov. 20.

“While the events of last week were disappointing for us, they weren’t a complete surprise,” Gumbrecht said in an interview Monday.

The Friends of Hope Lodge knew from the problems passing the state budget they would have to do something to compensate for a reduction of funding, he said.

The state indicated earlier this year the Friends group should explore alternatives for operating Hope Lodge, so members began the Hope for the Future committee, which was geared toward finding additional resources to maintain and operate the site, he said.

“It includes over 40 acres and really should be considered a community resource,” he said.

As of Monday, Gumbrecht had not been able to speak extensively with representatives from Harrisburg and is unsure of the state’s expectations or how long it would take to negotiate a management agreement to keep the site running, he said.

In the immediate future, volunteers from Graeme Park and Hope Lodge intend to hold their previously scheduled holiday events. Graeme Park’s holiday craft show will take place Dec. 5 at the Horsham Township Library.

The Friends of Hope Lodge has made hosting Holidays at Hope Lodge its first priority, Gumbrecht said. The event is scheduled for Dec. 12 and 13.

Then, the Friends will look toward how they can keep the site open through the winter and further into the future.

“We’re really looking at long-term, sustainable fundraising and operating plans,” he said.

Both Graeme Park and Hope Lodge received most of their funding from the state, according to the volunteers.

Hope Lodge also receives some funding from an endowment called the Degn Trust, named for the site’s previous owner, Alice Degn, Gumbrecht said.

Graeme Park is waiting to receive a resolution volunteers sent to the state confirming that the Friends will be able to continue all onsite programming, like school tours and Cub Scout meetings, but they are confident, MacCausland said.

Both Friends groups are reaching out for help.

“If ever we needed more help to keep the site open or to preserve our heritage … now is a great time to give us a call and see how you can help,” MacCausland said.

“Everything just hinges on what we can do as a volunteer group, so everyone and anyone is more than welcome.”

Graeme Park is online at www.ushistory.org/graeme.

Any updates on the situation and how to get involved in Hope for the Future can be accessed at www.ushistory.org/hope, Gumbrecht said.

Glenside’s Due Truth aims to restore hip hop to its golden days

In Uncategorized on November 22, 2009 at 4:22 am

Classmates called him “Truth” during his poetry slam days at Cheltenham High School. When he began to rap, emerging artist Due Truth added the “Due” to his nickname to reflect his passion to restore hip-hop to its golden days, a feat he says is due.

Due Truth, otherwise known as Marcus Anderson, said his music represents “intelligence in entertainment,” a realization of his aim to challenge listeners through his lyrics while laying down a dance-worthy beat.

“It’s what they’ve been hearing — they just haven’t heard it. It’s where the hip-hop should be. It takes you right back to your ’95s, your ’96s, your ’97s, you know, when everything was all good and the people who were best at their craft were the ones who made it,” he said.

“It wasn’t about what you wore, what your swag was and all that … it was about the feelings you could convey with your music.”

The Glenside resident’s premier album, “Evolution,” is set to hit stores Nov. 27, and he will make an appearance at Hibbert’s INC in Glenside on Friday, Dec. 4, at 6 p.m., to help promote his album.

The tracks on “Evolution,” with its single “Fresh to Death,” are reminiscent of some of the more progressive rappers, like Common, but at the same time, he said it has the same entertainment value of artists Jay-Z or Nas.

The album is his personal attempt to help hip-hop evolve to the next step because “if it didn’t evolve, then it would just die, and I don’t believe hip-hop is dead at all,” he said.

“My inspiration for the album is actually how hip-hop is right now. It’s far from what I remember it being in the late ’80s going into the ’90s-era hip-hop. It seems as though it’s greatly misdirected. And the focus has gotten out of having real skill or real rapping prowess,” he said.

“Evolution” is about being lost and misdirected; it’s also about looking at common experiences through the lens of lessons learned in the past, and its lyrics offer recourse instead of complaints, he said.

Musically, the album borrows from jazz, which is perhaps most evident in the flute track for “Go, ” a song about the desire to get away for a moment when life gets tough.

There’s a history behind this influence. When Due Truth began rapping, he used to freestyle during jam sessions with a jazz band.

He also values harmony and incorporates it into his music.

He wasn’t always so focused on hip-hop — it’s something he fell into.

Due Truth was born in Roxborough and moved to Montgomery County when he was 11 years old.

The 2006 Cheltenham High School graduate started out doing spoken word competitions in high school. He won a poetry contest during his senior year.

“Doing spoken word is definitely where it’s all rooted. I never really grew up wanting to be a rapper. I got really good at spoken word and I just found my way into it,” he said.

He hopes to use this album as a springboard to more opportunities. Once the album comes out, he’s hoping to do some shows, get a tour together and release a second album in the future.

Due Truth’s music is online at www.facebook.com/duetruth2009 and at www.reverbnation.com/duetruth.

Wyndmoor author takes on the juvenille justice system

In Uncategorized on November 19, 2009 at 2:49 pm

To those who don’t see the juvenile justice system every day, it can seem pretty black and white: The bad children go to jail.

But it’s not that simple, said Sandra Simkins of Wyndmoor.

Her new book, “When Kids Get Arrested: What Every Adult Should Know,” attempts to shed light on the juvenile justice system, namely that it’s more serious than one might think.

“I’m trying to reach out to parents, coaches, church leaders, school officials and anybody who works with kids,” said Simkins, associate clinical professor at the Rutgers School of Law in Camden and co-director of the school’s Children’s Justice Clinic.

Simkins co-directs the Northeast Region Juvenile Defender Center, where she gives consults with and trains children’s advocates in surrounding states.

She is also a former assistant chief of the juvenile unit in the Defender Association of Philadelphia.

Frequently, she has received phone calls from parents who felt lost when their children were arrested, she said, and she wanted to make information available to them in her book.

“Over and over I’ve seen

parents become very confused by the juvenile court process and not know where to turn,” she said.

It is important that parents and children understand their rights and the system, because the manner in which a child’s case is handled largely influences the outcome, she said.

Simkins has seen two children charged with the same offense, but their cases had radically different outcomes.

Her major tips for parents are not to waive their child’s right to a lawyer and not to let children talk to the police without one.

“Parents frequently encourage children to waive the right to a lawyer, and by doing that it always makes it worse for the kid,” she said.

The U.S. Supreme Court has granted this right to children, who have to be 10 to be arrested in Pennsylvania, she added.

Parents also need to understand that what happens in the juvenile justice system can severely affect a child’s future, contrary to the assumption that juvenile court may be easy on children.

The system is more punitive today than it was 15 years ago, when a child could get arrested and then have his “slate wiped clean,” Simkins said.

“Now, if a kid gets arrested, there are long-range consequences that go into adulthood,” she added.

For example, a child’s record of indiscretion may disqualify him from joining the military or receiving college loans, she said. The “zero tolerance” policy adapted by many schools is also significant because it brings many more children into the juvenile justice system, and guidance counselors and school officials should be aware of what happens when a child is arrested, she said.

The “school to prison pipeline” is something she discusses in the book because she wants to educate parents to make smart legal choices for their children, she added.

According to Simkins, everything goes downhill when a child gets involved in the juvenile justice system.

Simkins first became interested in this subject while working at the public defender’s office in Philadelphia, particularly working with girls.

“Girls that ended up in the juvenile justice systems always had a really tragic background,” she said.

Ninety percent of girls she worked with suffered abuse in their lives and landed in the juvenile justice system because they got into a fight with someone at school or at home, Simkins said.

Everything got worse when they entered the system, she said.

“Seeing that the system was often unable to make it better and often made it worse made me want to do more and make this my career,” she said.

Those who often end up in the system are poor, don’t have parents or have special needs, she said.

”I like being a voice for those kids,” she said.

Millions of children get arrested every year, she added.

“One out of three children of color is going to spend some time on probation or parole or prison in their lifetimes. One out of three,” she said, adding that the United States incarcerates more people than any other country in the world.

Simkins said her goal was to take what she learned in Philadelphia, a city with fantastic organizations like the Juvenile Law Center, and write a book with a national scope.

“The attorneys in the public defender’s office in Philadelphia are outstanding. Not everybody has that,” she said.

This is Simkins first book, and it was exciting for her that her daughters could watch her go through the process of having an idea, writing a chapter and then incorporating revisions, she said.

She has lived in Wyndmoor for eight years and has a “really supportive husband” and two daughters, 10 and 12, who attend Springfield Township schools.

Proposed budget holds the line on property taxes (11.18)

In Uncategorized on November 19, 2009 at 2:45 pm

Springfield Township residents will see an increase of more than $80 in their sewer tax next year but no increase in township property taxes or refuse charges, according to a proposed 2010 township budget presented by the board of commissioners Nov. 11.

Under the proposed budget, a household with a property assessed at the township average of $175,400 will pay $591.10 in township real estate taxes next year. This is the same as in the three previous years, according to the commissioners’ summary.

Springfield homes will see an average increase of $87.24 on the sanitary sewer rental fee tax, a change largely due to an increase in the sewer charge Springfield pays to Philadelphia for sanitary sewer conveyance and treatment.

Last year, Philadelphia raised sewer taxes 37 percent to meet federal water regulations, but the increase was not fully reflected on the 2009 budget because the commissioners covered about 68 percent of it by dipping into its sanitary sewer reserve fund.

These sewer fees are expected to increase another 22 percent in 2010, and the cost will be passed on to the households that use the municipal sewer system, commissioners said.

Homes with their own septic systems will not be affected by the new sewage fees, board President Jeff Harbison said

The proposed 2010 budget is about $17.3 million, an increase of about 0.3 percent from in 2009.

In addition to sewer fees, changes in the 2010 budget reflect contractual increases in salary and employee benefits, utility expenses and the use of capital reserve funds for the purchase of equipment and special projects including storm-water management.

Residents will continue to pay for sanitary sewer service and refuse collection and disposal through separate fees.

Springfield residents can comment on the budget at public meetings Dec. 9 and 16 at 8 p.m. in the township building.

The board of commissioners is scheduled a vote on the budget Dec. 16.

Parents speak out on school realignment proposal

In Uncategorized on October 12, 2009 at 3:48 pm

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Before administrators proposed to move eighth-graders to the middle school, Bill McVeagh considered moving out of the Springfield Township School District so his rising eighth-grader would not have to go to high school earlier than would be appropriate.

“Many of the people in the community for years have been concerned with eighth grade in high school,” he said. “Many of the parents in the community were concerned at the point to thinking of pulling students out and putting them in private school.”

These concerns are that socially, developmentally and maturity-wise, eighth-graders are experiencing one of the most difficult times in their lives, he said.

At that age, the experience of being the “top dogs” of the middle school might give them the confidence to excel both academically and in their transitions to ninth grade, he said.

He added that he has “nothing but kudos” for the school district administration.

Some of the other parents who spoke at a Sept. 24 public forum for middle school parents agreed with McVeagh and administrators that the proposal to restructure the school district is a good idea.

Others were concerned that bringing fifth-graders to Erdenheim Elementary and eighth-graders to Springfield Township Middle School would take away the opportunities these students have now.

A few parents urged administrators to consider how a change would affect the gifted program for fifth and eighth grades if the school board were to pass the proposal, which will be up for a vote later this month.

One parent said that her children, graduates of Springfield, valued spending their eighth-grade year in high school because it exposed them to the arts early.

Other parents asked the administrators to keep in mind that some students are actually ready for more responsibility as eighth-graders.

Another concern was that children missed out on the more focused and grade-appropriate academic instruction that administrators promise the restructured system would allow.

According to administrators, one of the benefits of restructuring the schools would be higher academic achievement. Students would have schedules appropriate for their instructional needs, and it would be easier for teachers in the same grade level to work together because they would all be in the same building, they said.

For fifth-graders, this means more time for language arts instruction, which is difficult to schedule when adhering to a middle school schedule, said Superintendent Wendy Royer.

If fifth grade is moved to elementary school, students would be instructed by one teacher all day, rather than having a schedule with a few different classes and instructors, she said.

The new structure would increase rigor across all grade levels, administrators said.

Some parents asked if present fifth-graders are not having enough language arts instruction, and if there would be a curriculum adjustment so next year’s sixth-graders could receive language arts instruction comparable that proposed for next year’s fifth-grade class at Erdenheim.

The middle school faculty and staff have been targeting the language arts curriculum in order to heighten student performance, said Alice Snare, principal of the middle school. They already have adjusted the fifth-grade schedule to improve language arts instruction and made sure that the time allocated for the subject would not be interrupted, she said.

For example, a library tutorial might take place during a different class, Snare said.

“Because we want to do better doesn’t mean our students aren’t being served,” said Carol Rohrbach, director of curriculum and staff development. “We are doing a very good job … we want to do even better.”

Royer said Sept. 25 that she does not think there will be any changes to the proposal before the school board members discuss it at their next meeting.

“The meetings gave us a lot of insight into what the parents’ concerns were,” she said. “I felt that we gave parents their assurances that academic programs would not be compromised by the restructuring of schools.

“There seems to be a lot of sentiment for returning fifth-grade to elementary, and that didn’t surprise me.”

About 40 parents spoke during the elementary school meeting and about 21 at the middle school meeting, Royer added.

“I know the administration was really pleased with the turnout and the comments that they got from parents and the community,” she said.

The school board will discuss the proposal at its Oct. 6 meeting and vote Oct. 20. Once the board takes action, school district officials need to get started quickly to prepare for the change, Royer said.

Her plan is keep parents informed during the entire process, she said.

Dentists win 2009 Acorn Award

In Uncategorized on October 1, 2009 at 3:13 pm

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When Susan Zemmel and Larry Schiff moved their dental office to 813 Bethlehem Pike, Erdenheim, they planted new trees that attracted song birds. Their neighbors were so pleased to see the new species that they sent thank you notes.

Last month, the owners of Schiff & Associates Aesthetic & Family Dentistry were recognized for another contribution to the area. On Community Day, Sept. 13, the Friends of Historical Bethlehem Pike presented its third annual Acorn Improvement Award to Schiff and Zemmel and their architect, Banny Jesudason of JLM Design Group on Germantown Pike.

The award honors property owners and designers who address historical preservation, pedestrian consideration, beautification, environmental improvements and appropriate economic development.

“It’s always nice to be recognized,” Schiff said at his office Sept. 17. “We very much support their efforts to get the Bethlehem Pike historical feel.”

“We think we did a good job fitting into the community,” Zemmel added.

Mimi Leitzel, the Wyndmoor-based interior designer for the project, nominated the building for the award in June. Leitzel, one of Schiff’s patients, heard about the Acorn Award and thought the property would be a great candidate.

“This building shows potential inspiration for other renovations on the pike, and provides not only a service to patients, but newly renovated spaces for other tenants to build thriving businesses,” she wrote in her letter of nomination to the Friends.

Schiff and Zemmel, who were married in 1986, bought the Bethlehem Pike property in 1990, although planning for the renovations did not begin until two years ago, when they had grown out of their space.

“It was an eyesore with old systems, and we wanted to be able to incorporate all of the new technology available in our field,” Zemmel said.

Not about to leave their strong ties with the Erdenheim community, Schiff and Zemmel explored ways to develop the property. The most viable option was a multimillion-dollar project to build on and around the current structure.

Workers broke ground in June 2008. Throughout the construction, Schiff and Zemmel continued their normal operations from their second floor office, as did the Twisters Wellness Center, located on the bottom floor of the building.

“It was a little bit of a challenging project for us, mainly because we had to add a third floor without adding a disturbance to the two lower levels,” Jesudason said in an interview Sept. 18. “We had to come up with a very unique structural system to construct a third level.”

This process included building a third floor supported by six corkscrew-shaped steel stilts, called helical piles, which were drilled into the ground. A concrete slab was placed on top of the piles, columns added and steel beams installed across the existing building to make the floor.

Then, the new and old windows had to be matched and everything with a stone base, Jesudason said.

“This approach still has a residential quality and scale, but is inviting and suitable for a commercial building solution,” Leitzel wrote in her nomination letter.

Schiff and Zemmel moved into the new third-floor office Jan. 20. The new space can accommodate modern and environmentally friendly technology. The interior is the ultimate in high tech, Zemmel said.

The office is completely digital, save for a back room with folders of hard copies of documents. All lights in the office are activated by motion sensors, and doctors use a digital X-ray machine because it emits less radiation and energy than other models.

“We are much more efficient now than before,” Schiff said.

Patients sit in ergonomic massage chairs during their appointments and can watch cable television — or the work going on in their mouths — on overhead monitors. The individual exam rooms are soundproof.

“When it’s comfortable for the patient and you take that stress out of the visit, everything is simplified,” Zemmel said. “You can offer the highest-quality dentistry available.”

The building also has its own water supply sanitized in a plant within the office. Everything in the sanitation room can be opened by the tap of foot-level lever or light kick with the knee.

The Acorn Award is on display at the coffee bar across from a bamboo fountain in the lobby.

“Winning the award is a great thing,” Jesudason said. “We honor that and hopefully it will give us the opportunity to reach out to other potential clients in the area who will look at the building and come to us.”

Both originally from New York, Zemmel and Schiff met when she was a graduate student at the University of Pennsylvania and he was a faculty member. Their children were born here. Schiff played Santa Claus one year for the Erdenheim Civic Association and delivered presents to local children on Christmas Eve.

Holy Martyrs shows the neighborhood a good time

In Uncategorized on September 25, 2009 at 12:11 pm

The paintball shed at the annual Holy Martyrs Church carnival looks different from the average game at the fair. It’s a wooden shed with no flashing lights, save a red emergency light steadily turning and flashing on the roof.

Observers hear only the “pows” and the “dings” of small, paint-filled balls smacking into targets, instead of the music and computer-generated sounds they would hear at the standard toss ’em, pop ’em and squirt ’em games at traveling carnivals. Those games are across the parking lot.

Rustic and original, the paintball game rounds out a hometown section of the fair, where church volunteers manage small carnival games and local restaurant workers serve festive cuisine like hamburgers and ice cream.

“We set up the garage and hang our beloved collection of targets, which we selected over the years,” volunteer John O’Brien said Tuesday, the carnival’s opening night. “And man, the kids love to shoot paint balls.”

“Yes they do!” said his co-volunteer Delores Serianni, who has been working at the paintball booth for about eight years.

Hanging from the wooden rafters and splattered with greenish-yellow paint are street signs — a stop sign, library sign, a no parking sign — a firefighter’s boot, a Direct TV satellite dish and a fire alarm bell.

Those who want to test their aim pay $1 for five shots and $5 for 30.

Nine-and-a-half-year-old Colin Quinn had already loaded and pumped his paintball gun. He was aiming for the perfect target.

“Hit one of those lights that’s hanging,” O’Brien said. “That will give you a good ding.”

Quinn aimed and fired, then turned around to share his content after hearing the gratifying ding.

“I wasn’t sure if I hit the target, but I was sure when I heard a bang and I saw it move,” Quinn said.

The carnival at Holy Martyrs Church in Oreland runs through Saturday evening. Hours are 6 to 10 p.m. until Friday night, and 3 to 10 p.m. on Saturday.

“We come every year. It seems like it gets bigger and bigger each year,” said Colin’s mother, Vickie Quinn, of Oreland.

In addition to the rides and games there is music, and dinners donated by a different restaurant each night.

Through Friday, visitors can pay $10 for a meal donated by a restaurant that is either local or has a relationship with the parish, said Donna DeMarco, a parishioner who has been managing the carnival’s food operations since 2004.

Tuesday night featured Halligan’s Pub. Other restaurants represented on the menu will be O’Towne Tavern on Wednesday, Winnie’s Le Bus on Thursday and Roberto’s Trattoria on Friday.

A filet mignon dinner courtesy of Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse and Wine Bar will cost $12 per meal on Saturday.

“It includes a nice meal, drink and desert. You can’t beat it,” DeMarco said.

One of the most popular attractions each year is a dunk tank on Friday and Saturday nights, Pastor Mike Ryan said.

“Our principal sat in it one year and drew a big crowd,” he said.

Over at a play-till-you-win Winnie the Pooh-themed game, Briana Vetter, 11, and Megan McGrath, 12, were compensating for a slightly smaller-than-usual turnout with their own energetic enthusiasm.

“We love the church and it’s for a good cause,” Vetter said. “And Father Ryan is a very nice person.”

Parents assess school realignment plan

In Uncategorized on September 23, 2009 at 5:02 pm

Parents at a town hall meeting Monday said they value the caliber of faculty and staff in the Springfield Township School District, but they have questions and some reservations about the proposed plan that would restructure schools for the 2010-2011 school year.

The meeting, which that took place at Springfield Township High School, gave parents of elementary school students a chance to ask questions or raise concerns about the proposal. For administrators, it was an opportunity to consider parents’ ideas.

The plan was created to provide equal resources for all students and handle projected high enrollment numbers, according to school administrators. If the plan is implemented, all kindergarten and first-grade students in the school district will attend Enfield Elementary School next year, and second- to fifth-graders will attend the new Erdenheim Elementary on Haws Lane. Fifth-graders would move to Erdenheim from Springfield Township Middle School, and eighth-graders would move to the middle school from the high school.

Parents and administrators discussed how restructuring would affect the students’ academic, social and personal development. Some of the public comments referred to keeping class sizes small, maintaining close relationships with the schools and how physically changing buildings would affect the students.

Some parents said they worried young children would be overwhelmed by moving from Enfield to Erdenheim after only two years in school. They suggested that a school for kindergarten through third grade might be more suitable.

“I think K through second at least would be more developmentally appropriate with the needs maturity-wise, social and academic,” said Lisa Antinucci, a parent of a third-grader at Erdenheim. Antinucci works with school districts throughout Montgomery County on transition activities with kindergarten children.

According to state guidelines, kindergarten through third grade is referred to as early childhood and elementary education, she said after the meeting. “Kindergarten through first, it just seems like we’re narrowing down too much,” she said.

Kindergarten, first and second grades would not fit into Enfield unless the district sacrificed small class sizes, and fourth and fifth grades would not be an ideal fit for Enfield because there would be too much leftover space, Superintendent Wendy Royer said,

Developing the restructuring proposal has been a difficult process because the administration has to consider the option that is both best for the students and the most economical, Royer said, likening the process to piecing together a puzzle.

“We are not going to sacrifice instructional programs to do this,” she told parents.

For the fifth-graders, a benefit to moving to the elementary school is that test scores would increase because there would be more time for teachers to focus on language arts and math, said Carol Rohrbach, the school district’s director of curriculum and professional development. “We have an opportunity to tighten our focus.”

The instructional capacity will only be enhanced by the teachers working together in the same building, she said.

Some parents were also concerned about losing the small-school atmosphere at the elementary schools.

According to enrollment projections, there will be about 600 to 700 students in Erdenheim next year, should the district implement the proposal, Royer said.

“I love the fact that the principal knows my kid’s name,” said Noah Eisenman, a parent of a second-grade student at Erdenheim and a daughter who will enter kindergarten next year.

Under the proposal, Eisenman’s daughter would begin school at Enfield next year, but he would prefer that his two children be at the same school to ease the transition for his youngest.

“There’s got to be a better solution,” he said after the meeting. “I think it needs to be really carefully thought out. They could have done a better job planning for the future. Space is always an issue.”

Walter Lapidus, a candidate for school board, supported the measure.

“My opinion is that it’s a good solution given the constraints,” he said. “It would be nice for all of the kids to enjoy the brand new school.”

One of the benefits of the proposal is that it would do away with redistricting and give families a sense of certainty that they know where the student will attend school each year, according to administrators.

The proposed plan would also unite all students as a Springfield “cohort,” rather than keep students split between the two elementary schools until they reach middle school, they said.

“The relationships that students will be able to form in the community are a powerful part of going with this cohort model,” said Chris Bradley, principal of Erdenheim. “They would have developed these relationships from their early years. I know that we have a phenomenal staff, so I have no doubt that we will all come together.”

The downside of the cohort is that there would be no opportunity for students to break away from stereotypes and negative relationships, one woman said in the meeting.

Martin Ryan, an Erdenheim parent and a member of the PTO’s Erdenheim Elementary Playground Fund, said the merging of two school communities provides an opportunity to increase their fundraising efforts to build a playground for all students. “If there is a community equal to our size at Enfield, they don’t know we don’t have a playground. We’re ready to work with the other half of the future Erdenheim community.”

Administrators said they will create a document of frequently asked questions to keep parents informed as the process continues and address such related issues as the effect on bus schedules. The document will be on the school district Web page, www.sdst.org.

School officials will hold another meeting in the high school auditorium on Sept. 24 at 7 p.m. to discuss realignment at the middle school.

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Suspect charged with felony terroristic threats waives preliminary hearing

In Uncategorized on September 16, 2009 at 3:57 pm

James Gallagher of Wyndmoor will be arraigned in county court in November for posting threatening material on an online social network.

Gallagher, 22, is accused of posting death threats and hate messages on his Facebook profile. Acting from a tip, a detective with the Springfield Township Police Department created an undercover Facebook account and “friended” Gallagher for access to his Facebook profile.

The detective found Gallagher published statements such as “I will destroy Springfield no1 here got guns like me,” and “White Pride, World Wide,” and displayed pictures of himself holding an AR15 rifle and an AK47 bayonet, according to the affidavit.

Gallagher is charged with terroristic threats, a third-degree felony; possessing an instrument of crime, a first-degree misdemeanor; and disorderly conduct, a summary offense.

Defense Attorney Michael F. Dunn said Gallagher had no violent plans.

“When he put this on Facebook, he didn’t realize it would be accessible to others,” Dunn said Tuesday after Gallagher waved his preliminary hearing at Montgomery County District Court in Oreland, with District Judge Robert Saraceni presiding.

Gallagher is being held on $1 million cash bail, which reflects the seriousness of the offense, Assistant District Attorney Nathan J. Schadler said.

“We felt it had risen to the level of terroristic threat,” he said after the proceeding.

According to a receipt of seized inventory, police found the rifle and bayonet at Gallagher’s home in addition to other weapons including a crossbow, knives, a stun gun and ammunition. Police also found two Nazi flags, according to the inventory.

The district attorney’s office is continuing investigations into all aspects of the case, including whether the guns are registered in Gallagher’s name, Schadler said. In response to the case, the Springfield Township School District sent a letter to parents saying that there were no threats against the schools, but all principals reviewed safety procedures with students Tuesday afternoon.

At Springfield Township High School, which Gallagher formerly attended, faculty and staff reminded students to be diligent of their surroundings, and the administration urged staff members to stay abreast of activities going on in the building, Principal Otis Hackney said Tuesday.

“There have been no threats against the high school at all,” he said.

Pep store proposed for Springfield Township High School

In Uncategorized on September 10, 2009 at 10:04 am

Springfield Township High School students do not want to just talk about their school spirit. They want to wear it on their sleeves.

A proposal for a school store in the high school, presented to the township school board Sept. 1, not only will offer Springfield T-shirts, sweatshirts and flip-flops to the school community, but also give students in the prevocational program the opportunity to gain real-world job experience, proponents say.

With a school store, everyone, including parents and teachers, can share their school spirit, Eddie Halton, a student in the special education program, told the school board.

“I’m also really excited about it because we can get great job experience from the store,” he said.

Students will learn how to use a cash register with a scanner, apply the math skills learned in class, take inventory, practice customer service and advertise, Halton said.

“All of these things will give us job skills that we need, that we can use in the future,” he said.

Halton and student council Co-president Brad Riddle are leading the collaboration between the student council and special education program to create the school store, which still requires the approval of the school board.

Both groups worked together in the past on such projects as Operation Bedding, in which students collected everyday items to send to soldiers in Iraq. The students decided to continue their relationship by working on a school store.

“The special education program really focuses on job skills and a school store is an excellent way to practice those skills in a real world environment,” said Sarah Hawksworth, a special education teacher at the high school. “It really was a student idea, a student passion that we have administrators that are behind this and really want to support.”

According to the proposal, only school spirit items would be for sale, including apparel, magnets, hats, pens and flash drives. The store would be open during student lunch periods and after school events.

“Walking in the hallways of Springfield High School, it’s kind of disappointing because I see a lot of sweatshirts and T-shirts that have other school’s names on them, and that’s not the way I think that should be,” Riddle said.

A demonstration of the school store will be held on back-to-school night Sept. 17.

What’s New

In Uncategorized on July 15, 2009 at 6:58 am

Springfield district considers realigning schools

Published: Tuesday, September 8, 2009

The Springfield Township School District might see a change in the structure of schools next year, a move that administrators propose would help to accommodate larger enrollment numbers and benefit the educational and extracurricular experiences of current students.

The proposed plan for the 2010-2011 school year is to make Enfield Elementary a facility for only kindergarten and first grade. Students in second through fifth grades would attend Erdenheim Elementary. This would move the fifth-graders from Springfield Township Middle School to elementary school.

Grades six through eight would be in the middle school, and grades nine through 12 would attend Springfield Township High School. Currently, eighth-graders attend the high school.

“There are a lot of things to consider and we want to make sure to get parent input,” Superintendent Wendy Royer said Tuesday at the school board meeting.

Public forums on this proposal will take place later this month.

Space is the main concern behind the proposal, as increased enrollment in the school system has created an immediate need for more classrooms at Enfield, according to officials.

“This year we have exactly enough classrooms” said Karen Alston, principal of Enfield. “Our classes have gotten bigger over the past four years, and by all indications will continue to go in that direction. We’re just feeling the pinch.”

There are currently 413 students enrolled in Enfield, but the building is designed to accommodate 350 to 375, Alston said. Over the past few years it has been difficult to find space for all of the classes, and teachers have had to hold class in areas not designated as instructional spaces, like foyers and hallways, she said.

If this proposal were to become a reality, it would be necessary to add six classrooms to Erdenheim, Royer said.

“The additional classrooms have been a possibility since the beginning of the project,” she said. “As a result of increased enrollment and program need, it’s more fiscally responsible to put them on now as opposed to three years from now.” Administration will look into the costs of adding these classrooms.

With its current enrollment numbers, the new Erdenheim Elementary School on Haws Lane will open next year with hardly any extra rooms to accommodate larger classes in the future, Royer said.

If no steps are taken right now, the administration will need to review attendance boundaries each year, and perhaps have to make changes in the future, she said.

In addition to increasing enrollment, another reason for the proposal is to form a cohesive student group through kindergarten to 12th grades. The current structure of two elementary schools separates students until they reach middle school.

“The principals feel very strongly that having all of the students together is a huge benefit to this plan,” said Royer.

“I tend to favor it,” said school board President Malcolm Gran. “I think one of the issues that I see at Springfield is that Springfield is not simply one community. There are distinct sections that I feel don’t have communication with the others that they should.”

Other reasons for the proposal include the need to address facility and program inequity between the two elementary schools and to increase resources and ensure more consistent class sizes, Royer said.

There are also educational and extracurricular advantages of moving fifth-graders to elementary school and eighth-graders to the middle school, she said. The proposal reflects research that eighth-graders are more appropriate in a middle school, rather than at a high school, she said.

Springfield Township High School senior Rebecca Davner said that attending high school as an eighth-grader offered a beneficial transition period that helped her become accustomed to high school before her grades began to count on her transcript toward college admission.

“I think that having that leeway time is really important because I know it helped me adjust to a new schedule,” she said. “You’re more adjusted when you get into the ninth grade and you can choose an elective, you can choose a language and you’re ready for that kind of stuff.”

Community member Colleen Robinson voiced concern that restructuring the school would make it difficult for families with child in kindergarten or first-grade in Enfield and an older child in Erdenheim.

A town hall meeting on the proposal as it related to the elementary schools will be held Sept. 21 at 7 p.m. in the high school auditorium. There will be another meeting Sept. 25 for parents of seventh-graders.

Amanda Glensky, Multimedia Journalist

In Uncategorized on May 6, 2009 at 11:20 am

I’m a 22-year-old general assignment multimedia reporter covering Springfield Township, a town located in the nearby suburbs of Philadelphia