All tagged 2020/08

Lisa Palmer, the WSSD School Board,* and Our Civic Leaders Are Failing Us

Lisa Palmer, the WSSD School Board,* and Our Civic Leaders Are Failing Us

Todd Strine, Robert Borgstrom, and Gregory Hoy
Publishers' Comment

As September looms, we find ourselves on the verge of a new public crisis. The Wallingford-Swarthmore School District and its superintendent, Lisa Palmer, are sacrificing our kids’ educational and psychosocial wellbeing under the guise of keeping our community safer. The school board’s recent decision to start school virtually – a state of affairs that looks likely to continue indefinitely even if Delaware County’s case count data remains steady — will have adverse consequences for a generation of children. Specifically, it will worsen inequalities in ways that may reverberate for decades.

Cory Long: Making a Change in Chester

Cory Long: Making a Change in Chester

Rachel Carp

Inspired by his then 9-year-old daughter, and undergoing a spiritual awakening, Cory Long founded Team MAC — a grassroots mentoring program — in 2004. MAC stands for “making a change,” and over the last 16 years the program has evolved into an effective and far-reaching nonprofit, now called Making a Change Group (MAC Group). Its goal is to mitigate the challenges of growing up in a city with high rates of crime, poverty, unemployment, and underemployment. Through mentoring sessions that focus primarily on social and emotional learning, Long and his team aim to prove to Chester’s youth that they are more than a reflection of the troubled city where they’re growing up. Free to read and share.

Victory Gardens 2.0

Victory Gardens 2.0

Sara Kelly

The pandemic may be keeping Swarthmoreans at home, but it’s certainly not keeping all of them in the house. New vegetable gardens are showing up in backyards, patio containers, and community plots all over town, giving many COVID-weary locals reasons to linger outside, while also providing fresh food and abundant beauty.

Zoom Group Weighs the Future of Policing

Zoom Group Weighs the Future of Policing

Guest User
Criminal Justice

“The demand of Black Americans is clear: ‘Stop killing us.’” This assertion by state senator and Swarthmore resident Tim Kearney (D-26) framed a July 28 Zoom discussion on ending systemic racism and reimagining public safety. Attended by about 80 people, the conversation was part of a “racial equity tour” sponsored by the Pennsylvania Senate Democratic caucus and co-hosted by Kearney and State Senator Anthony Williams (D-8). Swarthmore resident and civil rights lawyer Jonathan Feinberg and Swarthmorean contributor Stefan Roots, among others, also participated.