A short follow-up to earlier articles about voting from the Swarthmorean.
Humans of Swarthmore: Stories of Belonging
Humans of Swarthmore is an effort to help us get better acquainted with the people who make up this place we call home. What actually makes us a community and not just people who all happen to live in the same place? What is it that binds us together? This week, we feature Ptah Osayande.
Subdivision Gets the Green Light
After hearing from neighbors, developers, and engineers, and deferring to the legal expertise of borough solicitor Robert Scott, Swarthmore Borough Council voted to approve the subdivision of 686 N. Chester Road at its October 5 work session. The council had the choice between voting for one of two proposed plans for the property, or of voting to reject both.
Forest Primeval, Landscape Suburban: Springfield Trail Hidden in Plain Sight
One morning not long ago, I parked my car less than half a mile from Swarthmore town limits and embarked on a wooded loop hike of about five and a half miles. I crossed countless brooks and encountered four humans and 16 bird species. The route was the Springfield Trail, a rare mix of the forest primeval and the landscape suburban. Free to read and share
Let the Good Wines Flow
Mushroom strudel. Citrus-cured salmon. “Duck duet” risotto. Those were some of the dishes on the menu when Village Vine, Swarthmore’s first-ever wine bar and bistro, celebrated its grand opening last week. On the wine list: selections from Italy, Turkey, Chile, and upstate New York, among many other places. For owners Lori Knauer and Jill Gaieski, opening day was a long time coming. Free to read and share
Voting Q&A
We’ve been hearing a lot of questions about how to vote in the November 3 election. The Swarthmorean has assembled some information that we hope will help you choose your voting method (in-person, by mail, using a drop box, or at a new Voter Service Center), and then vote efficiently. Free to read and share
Schools May Reopen Soon
Will school buildings reopen later this month? Maybe. The Wallingford-Swarthmore School Board discussed the possibility — and what a reopening could look like — at a three-plus-hour meeting on Monday night. Also: concerns about screen time, sports, and more. Free to read and share
Girls, Food, and Body Image: A New Book and an Old Problem
Issues around eating and body image are complicated. But the evidence is clear. Charlotte Markey, a psychology professor at Rutgers University-Camden who lives in Swarthmore says, that people with a poor body image are particularly vulnerable to anxiety, depression, and eating disorders — including anorexia, bulimia, and binge-eating disorder. Markey had recently received advance copies of her book “The Body Image Book for Girls: Love Yourself and Grow Up Fearless” when she visited my porch one afternoon last month for a conversation with another visitor, Emma Borgstrom, a 21-year-old Temple University student and Strath Haven High School graduate, who struggled with an eating disorder for years. Free to read and share
New SHHS Principal Is All Ears
The new principal of Strath Haven High School has been a teacher, a basketball coach, and an assistant principal, as well as a school counselor. But the counseling feels central to his 20-plus years as an educator. “As a leader, you need to understand people,” Hilden says. “People need to be heard.” Free to read and share
Lisa Palmer, the WSSD School Board,* and Our Civic Leaders Are Failing Us
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
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
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
“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.
Rallying for Black Lives in Swarthmore
Neighbors from Swarthmore and surrounding areas made their way to Umoja Park for a rally and march in support of Black lives. The rally was held on July 19 in part to commemorate the July 16 birthday of Ida B. Wells and her life-long commitment to activism, abolition, and education. Amy Beth Sisson, writer and former attorney, spoke about Swarthmore’s intimate history with racism, from segregated schools to discriminatory policies at the swim club. She left the crowd with these words: “We need to own our considerable history of racism, so that we can do better.”
A Place to Call Home
Underneath the newspaper’s name, the Swarthmorean banner reads “Serving Swarthmore and Surrounding Communities Since 1893.” This publication seeks to support and lift up the community it represents. I find that a noble mission and ambition for a local paper. When I learned that the position of associate editor was available, that mission drew me in.
Empathy and Exploration: A Journey to the Holy Land Offers Immersive Lessons in Understanding Conflict (Part Two)
This is the second part of a two-part article about the immersive 10-day Swarthmore College study trip that concludes a course on Israeli-Palestinian conflict taught by Assistant Professor Sa’ed Atshan. An alumnus of the college, Atshan lives in Swarthmore.
Empathy and Exploration: A Journey to the Holy Land Offers Immersive Lessons in Understanding Conflict
Hebrew University of Jerusalem anthropologist Guy Shalev encourages the 36 Swarthmore College students visiting the region with their eight faculty and staff chaperones not only to ask questions, but to ask “the right questions.” A 20-plus-year member of the college’s communications office, I audited the class and joined the trip as a chaperone with the intention of writing about it for the community.
District Ponders how to Mitigate Risk
The Wallingford-Swarthmore School District plans to open schools for in-person instruction this fall, Superintendent Lisa Palmer wrote in a July 3 email to the school community. “However,” she continued, “we know school must look different.” Palmer went on to discuss the district’s tentative plans, which seek to balance the district’s preference for in-person instruction with concerns about the spread of COVID-19.
Board Adjusts Calendar, Approves ‘Teaching Tolerance’
School in the Wallingford-Swarthmore School District will start one week earlier than originally planned. The school board hopes this modest but significant measure would mitigate effects of a second wave of the coronavirus by keeping people out of school buildings for longer periods this fall and winter. Also, the anti-bias organization Teaching Tolerance will conduct a series of professional development workshops for WSSD teachers and staff next year.
The Bosstone Who Came to Town
Since 2000, Swarthmore resident Lawrence Katz has been a guitarist for the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, a group you most likely know for songs they recorded before Katz joined them, such as 1992’s “Where Did You Go?” or 1993’s “Someday I Suppose.” The band’s sound is sometimes punk overlaid with ska horns, sometimes straighter ska but with rock-and-roll guitar solos. This is a story of his musical journey, including how he found Swarthmore.