The sound of percussion rang out at the Center City headquarters of the School District of Philadelphia as the youth drumline Mad Beatz Philly opened a celebratory press conference in early March. The Black-led, parent-driven organization Lift Every Voice Philly (LEV) was celebrating a major victory: after 18 months of advocacy by parents across the
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At the turn of the 20th century, Philadelphia was one of the largest textile manufacturing cities in the country. Since the 1950s, the region’s ongoing deindustrialization has led to a sharp decline in textile mills, as well as in the number of farmers and artisans supporting the textile industry. Knowledge of how the industry operates
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On Saturday, Oct. 26, North Philly-based artist and children’s books author Alyssa Reynoso-Morris hosted a DIY water purification event at North Philly Peace Park. This was the final event of a three-part series called Stories Grow Here, organized by the Barnes Foundation. The series is a part of Barnes North’s Everyday Places Artists Partnerships, which
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Moving to a new home is a chore. Now imagine relocating an entire farm. That’s what the folks at Truelove Seeds did in March — for the third time in nine years — when they moved to a two-acre plot at the Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education in Roxborough. Owen Taylor, cofounder of the Philadelphia-based
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In early September I dropped by the West Philly Tool Library to return a detail sander I had borrowed for a canoe I’m working on. I can’t remember the last time I used a detail sander before that, and I imagine it will be a while before I need to use one again. The same
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After nearly two decades, Henry Got Crops, the farm at the W.B. Saul Agricultural High School, still doesn’t turn a profit. But that doesn’t bother senior farm manager Ali Ascherio. The partnership between the school and Weavers Way Co-op pays off in other ways. The vegetable farm takes up two acres behind the school. A
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For a quarter of a century, PA Cyber alums have been making an impact in Pennsylvania and beyond. Graduates from every county in the commonwealth have chosen this cyber school as a foundation for their lifelong plans. We’ve had students like pop star Sabrina Carpenter, “Dance Moms” alum Nia Sioux, and country singer Gabby Barrett.
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On a windy March afternoon, Mark Berman poured a pile of sugar onto a piece of newspaper to feed one of his 13 bee colonies. Berman was providing the sugar supplement because the night temperatures were still dipping into the 30s, but there were signs that spring — and honey production — had begun. One
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On the first warm Saturday of the year, Taylor Bakeman organized a seed packing event to restock The Discovery Center’s new native seed library. Just a few weeks after opening, its seed supply was already running low. A dozen volunteers spent the day counting and sifting tiny seeds of New York ironweed, anise hyssop and
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A half dozen three- and fouryear- olds wave “adios!” to their moms and younger siblings, then pile into the little bus, “el Busesito,” parked on a street corner in Frankford. Inside the 24-foot van, repurposed as a mobile preschool classroom, the Spanish-speaking children grab puzzles, blocks, stuffed animals, papers and crayons and settle on a
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On most weekdays, Tariem Burroughs takes his first grader to school on the Route 21 bus, so his husband, Nick, gets their son dressed and ready. Nick manages the moods of the six-year-old, sure, but it’s Burroughs who deals with the piece of the morning puzzle that’s both unpredictable and beyond the family’s control: SEPTA.
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