News

Three SLA Teachers Achieve National Board Certification

December 9, 2011 by lpahomov Leave a Comment

By Natasha Ashby

Staff Writer

On Tuesday, November 22nd, 2011, three SLA teachers were certified by the National Board: Science Teachers Stephanie Dunda and Tim Best, and English Teacher Meenoo Rami.

National Board Certification strengthens a teachers’ teaching credential. It is valid for 10 years. To achieve the National Board Certification title, one must complete an assessment program that is designed to acknowledge successful teachers who excel in the classroom.

As part of the certification process, candidates complete 10 assessments that are reviewed by trained teachers in their specific areas. The assessments include four portfolio entries which consist of examples of teaching practices and six response exercises that assess content knowledge.

” I am hoping that this achievement will allow me to have a voice in the national dialogue around education.” said Rami.

“There are many discussions currently taking place around role of schools and teachers in our society, I hope to be part of these discussions as a National Board Certified Teacher.”

Dunda had four portfolios to complete for the Adult Young Adult Science area in topics like whole class instruction and classroom inquiry.

“The process itself is really educational, as you take a good look at your teaching,” said Mr. Best. “I figured it would make me a better teacher.”

“Also, it allows you to teach in any state, which is great if I move somewhere in the future. The school district of Philadelphia has a good stipend for national board certified teachers, too.”

” I decided to apply because I was looking to challenge myself as a teacher,” said Rami. “I wanted to reflect on my practice and see how my efforts to meet my students’ needs would measure up against the National Boards standards. “.

The process towards applying takes a lot of commitment considering how much work needs to be put in before submitting a well thought out finished piece.

“ I had to complete 4 entries starting in September and ending the process in March”, said Rami. “Each entry related to an aspect of my teaching such as how I led whole and small group discussions, how I helped my students become better readers and writers and finally reflection on my role as learner and a leader.”

“The process was lengthy, but I didn’t really start until December,” said Dunda. “I made a big wall in my bedroom from paper. The wall had on it all the standards and then all of the portfolios and what they expected. I added a hundred sticky notes to it as I brainstormed all of the ideas and all of the students I thought about when I reflected on my teaching”

The three teachers join three who have already achieved National Board Certification in previous years: English and History Teacher Josh Block, History Teacher Diana Laufenberg, and Spanish Teacher Melanie Manuel.

“ I’m actually extremely proud of my teachers to be able to teach anywhere they like in the U.S,” said Junior Imani Johnson.

“It’s amazing to know that I’ve been taught by such amazing teachers and that their greatness is seriously official and recognized.”

Just Blood, No Gore: SLA Seniors Host Blood Drives

December 9, 2011 by lpahomov Leave a Comment

By Jenn Wright

Staff Writer

It’s red and makes people faint. It stars in movies and is in every body.

American Red Cross website with info for First Time Donors

Blood is an afterthought for most people, unless you are in extreme need of more of it.People with diseases like Sickle Cell Anemia or victims of disaster and accidents depend on getting more of it.

This year, SLA will host two Red Cross blood drives of it’s very own. Seniors Uyen Ngyuen and Gisela Giolafina will host one on December 13, 2011 as well as Senior Shalia Wallace’s on May 22, 2012, all as their Senior Capstone Projects.

In conjunction with the Red Cross, SLA provides the people to donate and the space as well as a few student volunteers.

Wallace, already a certified blood drive volunteer, is hoping to spread the word about Sickle Cell and plans on having an information meeting to raise awareness.

Right here in Philly, The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) has one of the largest Sickle Cell treatment and research programs in the country.

According to their website, “sickle cell disease is the name of a group of inherited blood disorders that is characterized by chronic anemia, periodic episodes of pain and other complications.”

Blood drives are becoming something of an SLA tradition. Last school year former Senior Aimee Long (‘12) organized one with the Red Cross. Unfortunately, nurses from the Red Cross declared a strike on the day the drive was supposed to take place.

Despite the setback last year, these seniors all hope the tradition continues.

“I want to get more donors than the past years,” Wallace said.

Things potential donors should know are, they must be 16 or older to donate and if taller than 5’4 at least 110 pounds. Sixteen year-olds need a signed parental consent in PA.

Ngyuen advised that all donors should “have a lot of fluids, drink a lot of water and eat a lot of iron food like spinach, red meat and raisins.”

Walk-ins for students over seventeen are welcome, but you might not get your preferred time to donate. If you’ve donated before you are encouraged to bring your Red Cross Donor Card to speed up the registration process. Any questions can be answered by Uyen or Gisela by email or in person.

Donors for December 13 are encouraged to recruit donors for Wallace’s drive in the spring.

SLA Students Under-Informed About Code of Conduct

November 21, 2011 by lpahomov Leave a Comment

Screen shot 2011-12-06 at 11.27.22 AM — A page from the 2011-2012 SDP Code of Conduct.

By Sam Lovett-Perkins

Staff Writer

At the beginning of each school year, students at SLA are given–and supposed to review–the Philadelphia School District’s Code of Conduct packet (COC). This code explains the district’s expectations for student behavior and consequences for when those expectations are not met.

The code is usually read an discussed in advisory. For English Teacher Alexa Dunn, this is a key part of students learning expectations about their behavior.

Zero tolerance items are most important because, “if kids violate them, SLA can not do much about what happens to you,” Ms. Dunn explained. “So every year in advisory we talk about examples of what would be zero tolerance and what happens to you when and if you decide to violate that.”

According to the code, student infractions are judged on a scale of severity and repetition of the offense. An example from the code of contact of a minor level once is a threat. This can result in short term suspension or an after school detention. An example of a higher offense, level 2 for example, could include the possession of a weapon or vandalism which can result in expulsion or a long term suspension of four to ten days.

These codes are placed to preserve the safety and security of a school environment. The COC also says what access students have such as “being treated fairly and honestly in the resolution of grievances and complaints.”

Unfortunately, many students are unfamiliar with the code or the details of the consequences.

When asked to describe what the Philadelphia school code of conduct requires, Senior Emma Hersh responded, “That you have to be respectful and your not allowed to fight, to have respect for school property.”

She thinks that students pay little attention to the code. “It’s too boring to read, they give it to you every year but no one wants to read it. I think if [students] knew the expectations they’d be less likely to do bad things.”

History teacher Diana Laufenberg described how does SLA tries to inform students about the code. “The three rules that we have are the manifestation of the Code of conduct the way we image behavior expectations of kids is to give them a broad expectations and use that to encourage a positive behavior.”

She explained that the “rules” at SLA are meant to make the ideas of the code more direct to students. “Respect yourself, respect the community and respect that SLA is a place of learning; those are really the essence of the Code of Conduct but are worded in a more positive manner.”

What the SLA guidelines don’t do, however, is explain what the consequences are for certain actions. For smaller issues, SLA can manage punishment on their own. For major infractions, however, they are required to report to the School District and must follow all protocols for disciplinary action–suspensions, hearings, and expulsions included.

If students don’t inform themselves about the harsh realities of school district discipline policy, it can give them a false sense of security about their wrongful actions.

SLA Discusses Safety in School, City

November 20, 2011 by lpahomov Leave a Comment

By Mike Dea

Staff Writer

Every morning students walk into school and pass through the doors, knowing an alarm will sound a dismissal from the school and an immediate suspension…
This is the typical experience of almost every student in the School District of Philadelphia.

Every public school is required to have metal detectors at the entrance of their school buildings. They are put in place to prevent students from carrying knives, guns, or other weapons into the school and possibly hurting their peers or themselves.

Science Leadership Academy is a rare exception to the rule. The school negotiated to have a building without the metal detectors.

In an interview with Engineering and Science Teacher Matthew VanKouwenberg, he explained how difficult it was for SLA to remain without metal detectors. “From the very beginning, TFI (The Franklin Institute) has had to use their social and political capital to prevent the institution of metal detectors.”

However, violence in the city remains an issue, which makes traveling to and from school an issue. For students at SLA, this situation can be a special concern, since many students make long commutes with multiple transfers in many different neighborhoods.

Senior Natalie Sanchez said that though she commutes via SEPTA rarely, when she does “It takes about half an hour to 45 minutes to get to school,” during which time she needs to travel through some of the more unpleasant neighborhoods in Philadelphia.

She isn’t the only student facing this challenge. This story is similar for those of the SLA student body who live in the depths of South Philadelphia, North Philadelphia, Northeast Philadelphia and other neighborhoods that don’t border Center City.

In the minds of some students, their self-defense is the most important thing, willing to risk the weapon’s discovery and the subsequent suspension, if not expulsion. A recent suspension along these lines lead SLA administration to iniate a school-wide discussion about safety.

Mr. Lehmann addressed the student body Thursday, October 27th, dissuading SLA students from bringing weapons to school, as it would require radical changes in SLA operating policy.

“We understand that neighborhoods are getting more dangerous,” Mr. Lehmann conceded, “but that doesn’t mean you can bring weapons with you to school.”

Mr. Lehmann went on to talk about how, if students continued to bring weapons to school, then there would have to be changes in SLA’s day to day functioning, such as the institution of metal detectors and bag checks.

“I think one of the most important things is I need to feel trusted in a working space, and asking kids the first thing they do everyday is walk through a metal detector sends a powerful message to kids that they aren’t trusted” Lehmann said in an interview with reporter Sam Lovett-Perkins.

However, if repeat incidents such as the one that happened the week of Oct. 16th do occur, then metal detectors will become a part of the SLA daily life.

Mr. VK reinforced this point in his interview, stating that between the “incident a while back and the recent incident, it will probably take only one more before metal detectors are instituted at SLA.”

SLA Juniors Visit the Polls

November 18, 2011 by lpahomov Leave a Comment

By Jennifer Wright

Staff Writer

Most of SLA’s students can’t vote, so is election day just a day off from school?

This year, many students treated November 8th as a day to sleep in. For the students in US History Teacher’s Diana Laufenberg’s classes, however, it was much more. Each junior in her classes visited their local polling place and interviewed voters to gain insight about the knowledge and experience of the voter.

The results of the election are up and that of course is the main event but some other interesting things also took place on November 8th. Junior Sam Lovett-Perkins said, “I actually ran into a council woman [Cindy Bass] who was just saying hi to voters at the polls.”

In previous years, the assignment has gotten several students into controversial situations. In the Presidential election of 2008 students in Laufenberg’s class were hassled for attempting to take photos and interviews at the polls in their area.

“Some polling places were really not keen with kids having recording devices or people not valid voters being anywhere near the polling places because it was so chaotic,” Laufenberg said.

Laufenberg gives her contact information to everyone in the class so they can contact her with any questions or issues. She related the story about a student in her class who participated in the 2008 election.“He calls me in the morning and is like ‘Uh, so I was at a polling place and they asked me to leave’. …They basically told him he didn’t have the right to video or record.”

This got the class and Laufenberg wondering what to do. She called in to a representative at City Hall as well as searched through the city statues for some specific language stating this. Turns out, there was nothing making this type of video recording illegal. “We were right. Sometimes it doesn’t matter. I told all the kids if you get hassled at all, just walk way.”

Many of the interviews from this year, videos and recordings, live on SLA’s public webpage for public consumption. Laufenberg is working on putting links to each on a map so one could click on the polling places around Philly and see the interviews. She also got in contact with teachers on Twitter around the country and encouraged them to do the same project. A classroom in New York did the same project as the SLA juniors. She hopes to expand this in the future.

As Junior Sophia Henniger put it, “Hearing it from an actual person was a good experience because it helped me remember that people should form their own opinions about elections and voting.”

This year the feeling toward the project was positive from people at the polls. As opposed to other years, the volunteers and the voters reacted well to the questions. “We got many compliments on how interesting the project was,” said Perkins

This time next year will be the next Presidential election and some of the students doing this project this year will be able to vote. The hope is that they learned something this year to put into action for November 2012.