Coming up on January 27th a free empowerment workshop. See the details below.
Empowerment workshop
Time to Get Empowered
Category: Education
New Business for Oxford Avenue
Nana’s Day Care is going to open up in the old state store building at 4721 Oxford Avenue. It was once the Hub Arcade and then a State Store took up some of it. Oscar’s alley was popular for a time there. During the 30’s if briefly housed WFKD, Frankford’s own radio station.
It has slowly gone down hill since the glory days. Now it enjoys a fine view of the drug dealers who patrol Oxford Avenue between Frankford Avenue and Griscom Street.
Nana has another location at Torresdale and Frankford Avenues. The question is will this new site be a replacement or an addition. So far no comment from Nana.
They bought the building a few years ago and have been doing a lot of work over the last 2 months to get it fit for use.
Nana’s Day Care new location at 4721 Oxford Avenue
The first thought many people express about a new day care center opening is why can’t a better business get into these buildings. Well if there was a demand, they would but right now there is not, so its economical for the day cares to move in. While they are there, they keep up the building and that is much better than a dilapidated wreck.
This will be a tremendous improvement to the block, bringing a formerly blighted building back from the brink.
Frankford Library Winter Programming
Winter Programming at Frankford Library from January 2018-March 2018
Teen Third Thursdays – Crafts, games and fun for Teens Only. – 3rd Thursday of the month | 4:30 p.m. -January 18, February 15, March 15
Adult/Teen Laptop Lounge – Brush up on your computer skills using our in-house laptops with our Digital Resource Specialist. Space may be limited. – Mondays 5:30p-6:30p – January 8, 15, 22, 29, February 5, 12, 19, 26, March 5, 12, 19, 26
Resume Open Lab – Need help with your resume. Come to our resume open lab with extended laptop time. – Thursdays 11a-1p – January 4, 11, 18, 25, February 1, 8, 15, 22, March 1, 8, 15, 22
Wii Wednesdays with Vince – Come play your favorite Wii games with Mr. Vince. For Teens and school-aged kids. – 4th Wednesday of the month | 4:30 p.m. – January 24, February 28, March 28
Frankford Library Minecraft Club – Come build and play Minecraft with other kids, ages 8 to 12. Your host will be librarian Mr. Pagán. We’ll be playing in peaceful mode only! Call or stop by to sign up. – Saturdays at 2:00 p.m. – January 13, February 10, March 10
Preschool Storytime with Mr. Pagán – Preschoolers and their caregivers are welcome to come to listen to stories, do finger plays and sing songs with children’s librarian Mr. Pagán. – First and third Tuesdays of every month at 11:00 AM – January 2 and 16, February 6 and 20, March 6 and 20
Frankford’s Wednesday Movie of the Month – Come the second Wednesday of every month and watch a fun family movie hosted by librarian Mr. Pagán. Come one time, or all the time! – Wednesdays at 5:00 p.m., January 10, February 14, March 14
Frankford’s Lego Playtime – Come to build with our Lego collection along other kids ages 6 to 12. Your host will be children’s librarian Mr. Pagán. Call or stop by to sign up. – Saturdays at 2:00 p.m. – January 27, February 24, March 24
Block Building Parties – Block Party!? Wooden Block Party in the library. – On the first Wednesday of the month, join librarian Mr. Pagán to build whatever you want with our collection of over 2,000 blocks, signs and figures! Children ages 4 and up are encouraged to build, create, and play! Come one time, or all the time. – Wednesdays at 5:00 p.m , January 3, February 7, March 7
Lectura bilingüe de cuentos infantiles – Spanish/English Bilingual Storytime
For children and their parents. Read by librarian Mr. Pagán. The third Wednesday of every month. Come one time, or all the time. – Wednesdays at 6:00 p.m. – January 17, February 21, March 21
Para niños y sus padres. Leido por el bibliotecario Sr. Pagán. El tercer miercoles de cada mes. Vengan una vez o todas la veces que quieran. – Miercoles a las 6:00 p.m., 17 de enero, 21 de febrero, 21 de marzo
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
Frankford’s “New Academic Opportunity”
Once you work in the education field, you never ever retire because teaching and learning becomes a part of who you are. It was a real pleasure as well as refreshing to meet Jessica Hasben, the CEO of Qor Charter School. Once you meet Jessica, too, you’ll find that she does indeed have that passion for children and their education that you, too, become a believer and hope that she does indeed succeed.
Jessica has taught in many different academic settings and in most of them, she has found lacking a real commitment to encouraging the growth of the whole child. When Jessica was growing up in Southwest Philadelphia, she was a good student but there was a lack of support, too, and I would venture to say a lack of expectations as well. Jessica wanted to be seen for who she was – that good student but also for someone to recognize her other talents but she felt invisible. She was just sitting in a desk – just another somebody to be taught. That experience can be so hard to overcome.
But Jessica did overcome those obstacles and once she graduated, she felt her future possibilities included teaching and maybe, one day, having the power and position to run a school of her own. So Jessica continued her own education. She earned a B.S. in Psychology from St. Joseph’s University and is presently enrolled in the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education: School and Mental Health Program. Jessica’s focus in her studies has also been how to equip students not only with the learning skills they need but also with the other skills needed for success and so often forgotten, such as self-esteem, a sense of belonging, how to communicate and resolve issues, teamwork, setting goals for themselves, etc. which can motivate them during challenging times. So many young people are at risk today and need a “champion”. Jessica wants to be that champion and create a school culture of acceptance, respect and a focus on each student and his/her particular needs.
Qor Charter School has submitted their application to the School District of Philadelphia. They will be making a presentation very soon so that their dreams and plans become a reality. Already reaching out to the community, there was an information event planned for Saturday, Dec. 16, 2-4 PM at Simpson Recreation Center, 1010 Arrott St. in Frankford with some giveaways. Several families attended. Earlier, Jessica and her family came to the Padre Pio Prayer Center’s “Christmas Extravaganza” to speak with any interested families there.
If approved, Qor Charter School would open in the old St. Joachim School and eventually serve children in grades K-4 with a total of 312 students. St. Joachim is located at 4290 Penn St.We also met her husband, Lamar, who is in real estate and construction, which is a real asset to someone running a school. You can tell that this couple supports each other and cares about our community.
As you can imagine, an endeavor of this type takes a great deal of time to put together. 2018-2019 will be a planning year with school opening for the 2019-2020 year. For the most impact, Jessica believes Qor must start with the primary students – the young students as this is where you can do the most good. The curriculum is geared to students known as “at risk” – those who need those extra supports that really every child needs. Each classroom will have a Lead Teacher and an Assistant. You can read more of their application that was submitted to the School district here.
This is an ongoing story that we will happily follow for you. We are rooting for Jessica and Lamar and the Qor Charter School because we believe that each and every child deserves the best education they can get because so much depends on it – their own feelings of success and happiness and the community’s as well. We need our young people; we are counting on their ideas, energies and passion to take us forward.
Jessica has had an in initial meeting with the School District of Philadelphia. Based on the positive response and support she already feels from the community, Jessica would like us to take a moment and email them and tell them that you support Qor Charter School’s application and write a sentence why. Be sure to mention “Qor Charter School” so they know who you’re talking about. All you need to do is to “click” on this link – SRC@philasd.org Thank you!
If you would like more information regarding Qor Charter School, please contact Jessica Hasben at jhasben@qorcharterschool.org
