All tagged 2020/03

History Coming to Life: A Teen’s Perspective on Social Distancing

History Coming to Life: A Teen’s Perspective on Social Distancing

Sophia David

Just three months ago, I sat at my desk brainstorming potential topics for my junior paper, a notorious ten-page history paper written by every eleventh grader at my school. I sifted through various possibilities, such as Roosevelt’s New Deal and 1940s internment camps for Americans of Japanese descent, but it did not take me long to settle on the influenza epidemic of 1918. I was immediately drawn in by the strangeness of the situation, how the entire world shut down in a matter of days. As I read old newspaper articles, listing school closure after school closure, I thought, “Wow, that’s crazy.” I never imagined that I would be experiencing something like it just three months later.

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People Before Profits: How One Phone Call Launched a Movement to Deprivatize Pennsylvania’s Only Private Prison

People Before Profits: How One Phone Call Launched a Movement to Deprivatize Pennsylvania’s Only Private Prison

Rachel Pastan
Criminal Justice

Kabeera Weissman, who founded the Delaware County Coalition for Prison Reform (Delco CPR), expressed concerns at a 2017 phone-banking event about the George W. Hill Correctional Facility — the only private prison in Pennsylvania — to Delaware County Council members. The county payed GEO Group, the organization that manages the prison, approximately $50 million a year — about a sixth of the county’s total operating budget. At the time, she didn’t know much about private prisons, but she knew she didn’t believe in companies making profits by incarcerating people. That was the moment that sparked a movement.

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District Prepares for Coronavirus, Parents Deplore Book Removals

District Prepares for Coronavirus, Parents Deplore Book Removals

Rachel Pastan
WSSD

Board president David Grande emended usual procedure to open the meeting with a statement. Over the past week, he said, the community had been dealing with a number of challenges — coronavirus, field trip anxieties, questions about sleep and school start times, and concerns over what the district is doing around diversity and inclusion. Many people had been in touch with the board about these and other issues, Grande said. “I want to make sure everyone knows that we receive your messages and read each and every one of them.”

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Where I’m From

Where I’m From

Jeannine Osayande

The Wesley A.M.E. Church in Swarthmore held its annual Black History Tea on Saturday, February 29. There was food, singing, prayer, poetry, dancing, and a fashion show featuring African clothing. The tea was in part a fundraiser for the small, Bowdoin Avenue church, which will be celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2021. As part of the program, Jeannine Osayande read her poem, “Where I’m From,” which describes her experience growing up in the historically black neighborhood of Swarthmore, where the church is located.

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The House Behind the Undergrowth

The House Behind the Undergrowth

Rachel Pastan

When you drive down Chester Road in Swarthmore these days, you may notice a house you haven’t seen before — or at least not for a long while. 211 S. Chester Road has been hidden behind thick trees and overgrowth for years. In December, a great crane drove onto the property and began taking down the trees. Now, two months later, not only has the ground been more or less cleared, the house itself has been emptied. This is its story.

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