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Frankford High Freshman Art Going to Congressional Competition

Congressman Bob Brady (D., PA) has selected the artwork of Danelly Cabrera, a 10th grade student at Frankford High to represent the First Congressional District in the 2018 Congressional High School Art Competition.

Miss Cabrera utilized digital media to create her artwork, entitled “Double Exposure.”  It features birds in-flight superimposed on the artist’s digital image. She says she was using her hair as a metaphor for a nest from which the birds are flying. The work was also selected for The Center for Learning Through the Arts Award by the School District of Philadelphia.

 

Miss Cabrera says she enjoys her classes with photo media teacher Adam Anderson, who also serves as Lead Technology Teacher and Art Department Coordinator at Frankford. But, as she completes her first year in high school she is not looking toward a career as an artist. She hopes to be a psychologist. Miss Cabrera’s family, originally from the Dominican Republic, moved to Philadelphia last year from New York.

Congressman Brady said, “I was pleased to select the work of this talented high school freshman, new to Philadelphia and the First Congressional District, who is also an immigrant. In these politically confusing and troubled times in our nation it is important that we recognize the talents, aspirations and contributions of those who have come to America for a better life.”

The Congressional art exhibition will be on display for ten months in the Tunnel of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. “These young artists will have their work seen by hundreds of thousands people from across the country and around the world who visit the House office building and the U.S. Capitol,” Congressman Brady said.

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Fly Frankford Fly

Frankford High School to become the Frankford High School Aviation Academy

 

When Doctor Michael Calderone, Principal of Frankford High School, got the call from downtown, he only hesitated for a second before saying “Yes”.  The offer to establish the Frankford High School Aviation Academy was exactly what he had been looking for, something new to offer non-college bound students since he became Frankford’s Principal in 2015.

Frankford already hosts the Junior ROTC and Culinary Arts programs but something else was needed.  This group of students need something to keep them engaged and most importantly get them on track to well-paying careers after graduation.

At first glance the aviation academy seems kind of out of place in a urban high school but the bottom line is that there is a growing demand for people in that field which includes not only pilots but all the other related careers such as Air Traffic Controllers, Mechanics, Flight Training, Drone Operations, Global Logistics, etc.

The academic course work will be taught, as much as possible, by School District teachers.  Those subjects requiring specialized training will be taught by experts.  The hands-on training will be done at Northeast Airport as part of the normal school day.  Students will finish with a private pilot’s license with a goal of also becoming a certified flight instructor. 

Next year the school will be rebranded as the Frankford High School Aviation Academy.  All incoming ninth graders will take two introduction to aviation elective courses that will familiarize them with the opportunities in the field so that they will be in a position to decide if they want to apply for the aviation track which begin in 10th grade.

Applications from current 9th graders, who have already applied to be admitted into the program, are under evaluation now.  The course is designed for 24 participants.  Those selected will begin the course work in September.

A provider is being selected to give flight training and any other instruction requiring specialized expertise.  That training will take place at Northeast Airport as part of the normal instructional day for the students.

This is a great opportunity for those students who are not heading to college to get on track for good paying, high prestige careers in a growth industry.

Frankford High is Pioneering once again.

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Frankford High Shows Off Expanded Arts Curriculum

Thursday night was the big one for a lot of the students at Frankford High School as family, friends, alumni and the public streamed into the main entrance to take in the presentations.  The Program was well organized and used all of the first floor of the main building for every kind of display and performance starting at 5 PM.

This was the first of what is to be an annual event for the school.  I took a walk about for a half hour and recorded the videos below.  Alums who have not been to the school for a while might enjoy a walk down memory lane. The video does not show everything that would have taken the full 2 hours and I had to be at another meeting but I think I got a feel for it and recorded the Frankford Voices doing 2 songs, Shekynah Martin, Bre Reyes and Lalla Weems doing their songs.

There were video productions in the auditorium, more Frankford Voices, and other solos that I missed.  There should be other videos recorded by others out on social media.

Congratulations to Doctor Michael Calderone on a great job and to all those who worked so hard to put this together.

Looking forward to next year.

Part 1

 

Part 2

 

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THE COFFEE HOUSE at Frankford High School

Frankford High School will be holding its 1st Annual Coffee House on Thursday December 14th from 5:00 to 7:00 PM.  The night will consist of work from all classes from the Arts Department. These works of art will include screening of short films, photography assignments, drawings, ceramic pieces, musical performances, and short skits.

There will be light refreshments being sold by the Culinary classes, which will include: cookies, fried Oreos, coffee and tea. Mugs designed by the Ceramics classes, will be available for purchase to have your beverage served in!

This is a great opportunity to see what the students have been up to and if you have not been to Frankford High in a while, stop in and have a look.  Use the marble staircase on Oxford Ave side to enter the building for this event.