Tag: Northeast Times

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Frankford Civic Association

The Northeast Times projects the agenda for the meeting of the Frankford Civic Association this Thursday.

Developer Vaughan Buckley wants to build 16 rental units at 1710 Pratt St., a few blocks from Frankford Avenue near Duffield Street. Buckley came before the civic association May 7 because he wants members’ OK for a zoning variance he needs to build on the property. The parcel currently is zoned for one structure.

Also at the June 4 session, members expect to hear more about city inspections of neighborhood drug rehabilitation facilities and recovery houses.

Sounds like another meeting that everyone will want to attend.

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Frankford High School Culinary Academy

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A few weeks ago the Frankford Business and Professional Association had a meeting at Frankford High and we had lunch courtesy of the Culinary Academy.  I had heard about this part of Frankford before but had not had the up close and personal look see.  The students put on an impressive meal.

This week in the Northeast Times, John Loftus writes about the Academy and the movie that has been making the rounds of the film festivals.  Titled Pressure Cooker, it will open June 12 at the Ritz Bourse theater in Center City.  The film was shot during the 2006-97 school year and was done much like a reality TV show.  It captures the action as the students learn what it takes to work in the restaurant business.

Most impressive was their no nonesense teacher, Wilma Stephenson.

In the movie, Stephenson asks new students if they’ve heard about her. As they raise their hands, she tells them whatever they heard, it’s 500 times worse.

And she get amazing results.   This is a triumph in an urban school.

This year’s graduates have tallied $672,000 in scholarships, Stephenson said. According to the movie’s publicity material, 53 of her students have received more than $3 million in scholarships to attend culinary schools as well as four-year and community colleges.

Watch for the movie when it comes and a DVD is soon to follow.

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Faithfully Fresh Community Produce Market

Some folks, myself included, did knot know we had a community produce market in Frankford.  All the best neighborhoods have one.  It takes a group of dedicated volunteers to run something like that and I found those volunteers last Friday at the Allen M. Stearne Elementary School on Unity Street.  I was tipped off by Tracy O’Drain at the Frankford CDC and decided I had to have a look.

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Mrs. Taylor, Janice Gillyard, Mrs. Williams and the student volunteers

I was checking in at the school office where I met John Loftus of the Northeast Times.  Be sure to read his story this week.  He is a much better writer than I will ever be and has a professional photographer following him around too.  After I was cleared, I met Minister Janice Gillyard, Administrator of the Word of Faith Christian Center.

The event of the day was to see two sixth grade classes honored in a special assembly for the work that they have done working with the Faithfully Fresh Community Produce Market. The project was started in September of 2008 with this group of 27 students bagging produce, setting up displays and providing customer service for the market. The customers are their fellow students and teachers and some neighbors who take advantage of the mission of Faithfully Fresh which is to make healthy eating affordable for all.

The complete line of fruits and vegetables are sold for under $2.00. The hours are from 10:30 AM to 1:00 PM on Fridays.  Individual pieces of fruit are sold to kindergarten through sixth grade students at prices ranging from a dime to fifty cents. With all of the talk about childhood obesity, this may help.  At least  the young students have an opportunity to make healthier decisions about the foods that they eat.

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Volunteers setting up the market

I was impressed with these kids.  I’ve been in a few very good elementary schools over the last few years and this group was as well behaved as the best that I have seen.  Kudos to their teachers and Mrs Vaughn the principal for a great job.

The Faithfully Fresh Community Produce Market Operates under the auspices of A Work of Faith Community Development Corporation, a faith-based private, nonprofit corporation also known as Work of Faith. It was established in 2002 with a mission to improve the quality of life for families in the Delaware Valley by providing access to social and educational services through collaboration with neighborhood schools and community and city agencies.

The market also operates at the Word of Faith Christian Center, 4355 Paul St. on Saturday from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM and in front of Womrath Park on Friday from 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM.

If you would like more information about this story you may contact: Minister Janice Gillyard, Administrator, Word of Faith Christian Center, 4355 Paul St. at 215-288-9690.

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Center for Northeast Philadelphia History

The Center for Northeast Philadelphia History met last week at the Tacony Music Hall and afterward took a tour of the Victorian-era structure.

The center, which is sponsored by the Historical Society of Frankford, visited a structure that is the only property in Tacony listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Read the rest of the story in the Northeast Times here and also a good story about Mary Disston here.

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Frankford High’s new principal visits Northwood Civic

Ed Koch, the new principal,  also spoke briefly at the Frankford CDC board meeting before going over to St. James.

Plans were in the works for Koch, a 34-year veteran of the School District of Philadelphia, to become principal at the high school.

When he arrived for the visit, he saw students hanging outside.

“I thought they were there to valet park,” he said.

Inside, he saw students roaming the hallways like they were at a mall.

“I thought I was at Macy’s and missed a sale,” he said.

Read the entire story on the Northeast Times.