On June 4, the K-16 Partnerships Network met for our 3rd Annual Summer Institute. The Institute was attended by over 75 participants who represented dozens of colleges, universities and non-profits from the greater Philadelphia area. The goal of the Institute was to learn about the formation of the newly formed Office of Strategic Partnerships of the School District of Philadelphia and provide feedback on its initial plans. All attendees were viewed as experts in school-community partnership and were asked for ideas, goals and strategies for partnership building with Philadelphia schools. We closed out the day with a panel of School District principals from W.D. Kelley School, Kensington Health Sciences High School, Cooke-Wissahickon School, University City High School and Kensington Creative and Performing Arts High School. These school leaders provided invaluable insight to our Network members regarding the personal importance of partnerships to their school communities and the innovative approaches principals have had to adopt in order to meet student needs.

During this day we established:

· Optimal conditions for successful partnerships and realistic goal setting

· New venues for partnership incubation

· How to align new partnerships with the SDP strategic plan

· The role of the partner, the school, and the District

The day provided new insight and showed our commitment, as the K-16 Partnerships Network, to ensuring excellent programs and services for young people in Philadelphia. Stacy Holland, the director of the Office of Strategic Partnerships, reinforced the need for all K-16 Partners to continue to support their schools and to do so through coordinated efforts. With the start of the school year in full swing, there are innumerable needs of schools and communities. This year, the K-16 Partnerships Network will focus on connecting University network members to local initiatives.  We will also continue to bring everyone together to share best practices and make new connections and to build a robust community of organizations and institutions dedicated to maintaining partnerships with Philadelphia schools. Our meeting schedule is below. In addition to these meetings, I look forward to visiting your campuses, schools and organizations to promote and learn from all of the great work you are doing this year!

K-16 Partnerships Meeting Schedule

Save the Date! Tuesday, October 22, 3:00-5:00PM
K-16 Fall Speaker & Reception for School-Community Partnership VISTAs,

Ongoing meetings & events:

o December K-16 Partners Meeting: TBD

o February K-16 Partners Meeting: TBD

o April  K-16 Partnerships Spring Forum, 12:00-5:00PM

o June K-16 Partnerships June Institute, 9:00AM-5:00PM

]]> https://phennd.org/update/an-interview-with-kevin-zook-dean-of-the-school-of-education-at-holy-family-university/ Tue, 17 Sep 2013 17:15:01 +0000 http://updates.phennd.org/?p=24956 Kevin Zook is a short three months into his position as the Dean of the School of Education at Holy Family University. He took time out of his busy schedule to speak with me about his goals as dean, partnerships with local schools, and perspectives on teacher education. Dean Zook comes to us most recently from the School of Education at Gannon University in Erie, PA with extensive experience as an administrator, professor and field supervisor. He is excited to be starting his new role as dean with a dedicated faculty and staff, strong partnerships with local schools, and a diverse student body. We at PHENND are happy to welcome Dean Zook to the K-16 Partnerships Network and to Philadelphia.

Q: What makes you most excited about your new position at Holy Family?

A: I’m excited about the opportunity to lead a group of really talented, dedicated faculty and staff who have a proven track record as well as a lot of potential for continued excellence. With the current challenges facing teacher education as well as small private colleges, strong faculty are essential to progress institutionally and serve our students. There are incredible faculty here to help re-envision what teacher education is going to look like, not only for Holy Family, but for the region. I have the sense that I’m on the ground floor of opportunities to create new and exciting initiatives with my faculty colleagues.

Q: What experiences in education/teaching led you to this position?

A: I’ve been in teacher education and higher education for about 25 years. My undergraduate background is elementary education, and my graduate degrees are in the field of educational psychology.  I began my career in higher education as a professor teaching a variety of courses and supervising student teachers. Beginning in 2000, I began to do more administrative work in my role as the chair of the Department of Education at Messiah College.  Through this work, I discovered that I enjoyed supporting faculty, working on curricular issues, and administering programs. I aspire to be an administrator who strongly supports faculty and facilitates the great work they are doing.

Q: What new teacher education strategies are you excited to support?

A: The education faculty at Holy Family are extremely hard working. They embrace change and are not afraid of it. They are able to be flexible and are always focused on what is best for students. This group of faculty is also effective at creating new and creative teaching strategies. For example, Holy Family is beginning to utilize blended courses that are offered through a combination of face-to-face class sessions and online classes. I’ve seen our faculty begin to embrace that mode of teaching. In addition to opening up new avenues for effective instructional techniques, blended courses also will make our classes more accessible to non-traditional students who have heavy family demands and work schedules.

As we move into online learning, we are focusing at Holy Family on making sure we utilize technology in ways that ensure the quality of student learning.

Q: What is a goal you have for the Holy Family School of Education?

A: Pursuing the possibility of arrangements that would allow our students to study abroad for a semester, which is often challenging for education students to do with extensive certification requirements. I would like to expand study abroad opportunities for education students to help develop their understanding of teaching in a global context.

Overall, I envision my job primarily as advocating for and supporting faculty. They are the ones who bring our programs and curricula to life. I believe that administrators need to support faculty and then, “get out of the way!”

Q: What future would you like teachers to have in the United States?

A: I have an enduring fundamental belief that teachers need to be treated and viewed as professionals and that they should be educated to think for themselves so that they can truly function as decision-making and problem-solving professionals. When it comes to teaching, there are no shortcuts, kits, or recipes that will be effective for 100% of our learners 100% of the time. What good teachers need to do is understand learning processes and principles of instructional design, and then make decisions based on what is best for their particular students. I believe that professional teachers should be able to implement plans that are not created by other people. They should be able to design their own curricula, learning goals, teaching strategies, and assessments.

Q: How do you plan to work with schools in the Holy Family neighborhood?

A: I’m excited about this area because there are so many different types of schools right at our doorstep including suburban, urban, and parochial schools.  All of them are important to us because they serve a wide variety of students and families. There are rich opportunities to form partnerships which will aid our students and enable us to give back to schools in our area. I will be working to create mutual relationships, win-win situations where we can give back to our local schools and open up authentic learning opportunities for our Holy Family students and faculty . I know we have productive partnerships with many schools already and I am looking forward to developing relationships with new partners as well.

]]> https://phennd.org/update/2013-2014-phennd-vista-biographies/ Tue, 17 Sep 2013 16:22:17 +0000 http://updates.phennd.org/?p=24898 Hillary, Eden and I are delighted to welcome the newest members of the PHENND Team. Below you can read about their positions, skills and enthusiasm for working with us this year. After a month on the job and only one week in to the school year, our VISTAs are already becoming vital assets to their schools and offices. The contact information for each member of our new team is included. Please feel free to contact them as needed!

Julia Boyer

is the Community Partnerships Coordinator serving at Kensington Creative and Performing Arts High School (Kensington CAPA). Julia is a devoted educator and passionate advocate for the rights of students and individuals with mental health concerns and learning disabilities. She is especially excited to be working in the District at this crucial time, when her knowledge of education systems and desire to see fair and equal education for all can be leveraged to better the school she is working in. Julia hopes that through her time with PHENND and Kensington CAPA, she can bring her school together with programs that align their skills and talents with social justice initiatives so that students can see how their talents can truly impact the world they live in.

Her past experience includes community outreach and development at both a nonprofit focused on low-income families and an expanding educational nonprofit, a short stint teaching a class of 40 3rd-graders in a school slated for closing in Baltimore, a public relations internship at a world-renowned firm, and one previous term as an AmeriCorps with a state program. She holds a BA in English Literature from Goucher College. Julia is also working with the PHENND team to create the Millennial Youth Worker Network for young educators and youth workers in Philadelphia.

Julia can be reached at juliafayeboyer@phennd.org

Malarie Grace

is the Community Partnerships Coordinator serving at W.D. Kelley Elementary School. Last year she served as a City Year Corps member at the Woodrow Wilson Middle School. She is also an MFA student at Arcadia University. Her field of study is creative writing with a concentration in poetry.  With this, and her interest in education reform, she hopes to motivate young writers to find their voices and their influences so that they might find their words cathartic.

Malarie can be reached at malariegrace@phennd.org

Abby Schottenfels

is the Community Partnerships Coordinator serving at Sayre High School in West Philadelphia. Previous to this position, she was a City Year Rhode Island Corps member in Providence, Rhode Island at Gilbert Stuart Middle School. City Year works to target students who are at risk of dropping out by working on the one on one level through attendance, behavior and course work. At City Year, she held the position of “Behavior Coordinator” who is responsible for increasing the culture and climate of the school through various community events and initiatives.  Prior to City Year, Abby received her BA in Arts and Humanities with an emphasis in Urban Education and Comparative Religious Studies at Michigan State University.

Abby can be reached at a.schottenfels1@phennd.org

Caitlin Roman

is the Community Partnerships Coordinator serving at Penn Treaty School in Fishtown throughout the upcoming school year. Caitlin is a recent Temple University graduate and Philadelphia native. While pursuing her Bachelors in Sociology, Caitlin developed an interest in public education through volunteering with the AVID College Readiness Program at South Philadelphia High School. As a tutor and site coordinator, she worked to promote a college-going culture among students in the “academic middle” from historically under served populations. Following the completion of her undergraduate studies Caitlin worked briefly with Urban Roots, a local community development organization (awaiting 501c3 status) seeking to transform blighted urban spaces into dynamic and multipurpose community hubs. Following her VISTA term Caitlin hopes to go on to serve in the Peace Corps before eventually returning to school to pursue a Masters in Social Work.

Caitlin can be reached at cait.roman@phennd.org

Devon Hawkins Anderson

is the Strategic Partnerships Coordinator serving at the District’s newly created Office of Strategic Partnerships. Devon is passionate about learning and “living out loud”, infusing energy and exuberance into everything he does. After earning bachelor’s degrees in government and politics and general biology from the University of Maryland, College Park, Devon explored a wide range of fields before renewing his commitment to social justice and social impact work.  With experience in voter and consumer engagement, retail campaign management, brand management and strategy, direct marketing, and social media coordination, Devon pulls from an array of partnership and coalition-building roles.

More recently, as Community Education Outreach Advocate for the I-LEAD program at Harcum College, Chester, PA campus, Devon observed firsthand the human and economic costs of failed local higher education systems. This, he believed, would soon be acknowledged as one of the most pressing problems facing the region (and our country) today. Devon is eager to work with PHENND and District Chief of Strategic Partnerships Stacy Holland to help build and strengthen District-level partnerships to provide excellent educational experiences for Philly’s K-12 students by marshaling the abundant resources in our educational ecosystem.

Devon can be reached at dander09@phennd.org

Schinae Selah Peterson

is the School Advisory Council Liaison serving the Charter School Office at the School District of Philadelphia. Preceding her VISTA year of service, Schinae attended The Lincoln University of Pennsylvania, double-majoring in Print Journalism and Religion. Schinae went on to serve as a City Year Corps Member with the Ballard Spahr team at Young Scholars Frederick Douglass Charter School in North Philadelphia as a role model, coach and mentor to the amazing students in her 7th and 8th grade literacy classes. Schinae is motivated to do great work as a part of the Renaissance Charter School initiative with the SAC and the Charter School Office.

Schinae can be reached at naeselah7@phennd.org

Dedra Totin

has been working as an AmeriCorps VISTA for the Greater Philadelphia Corporate Volunteer Council since February. She has been assisting the GPCVC with infrastructure and programming work. In addition, she is working part-time out of the Office of Strategic Partnership in the School District of Philadelphia in attempt to create an on-ramp for volunteers in the school district. Dedra is from Pittsburgh, Pa and is a recent graduate of the University of Pittsburgh Johnstown where she studied Political Science and History.

Dedra can be reached at dtotin@uwgpsnj.org

Margaret  McLaughlin

is the Community Partnerships Coordinator serving Kensington Health Sciences Academy. Margaret is an organizer and conversationalist. She graduated with a B.A. in Linguistics from the Temple University Honors Program and has spent much of her time working with youth organizations in the U.S. and in Nicaragua. Margaret is working on allied health vocational programs and getting parents more involved at Kensington Health Sciences Academy.

Margaret can be reached at mclaughlin.marge@phennd.org

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