Talking About Children's Success

Photo by Evan Brandt

Blogger's Note: The following was provided by the Pottstown School District.

The PEAK partnership and Pottstown School District, supported by the W. K. Kellogg Foundation and the Graduate School of Education at the University of Pennsylvania’s Penn Project for Civic Engagement, is continuing its series of discussions with our parent partners about early education in Pottstown.

All residents are invited to the discussions where lessons from the conversations in May will be discussed, along with plans for moving forward and how additional feedback will be sought.

The next input session is Monday, Sept. 15th from 1 to 3 p.m. at the First Baptist Church or 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Pottstown Middle School.

Or, there is another on Thursday, Sept.18 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Barth Elementary School. 

In relaxed conversational settings, parents will have the opportunity to talk with other parents, enjoy a meal and win raffle prizes. Child care and Spanish interpreters will be available.

Parent engagement is critical for helping all children to succeed

Go to http://www.gse.upenn.edu/pcel/programs/ppce/our_kids_their_future to view the reports from May conversations, along with an interview videotaped at the Barth Elementary School's conversationhttps://www.youtube.com/v/M9PmM-SAqyo%26autoplay=1.

There Be Dragons

Not much to add to this.

Polarization in Politics? Who Knew?

Fuzzy Photo by Evan Brandt's iPhone

The panelists in the "Polarization in Politics" forum at Ursinus were, from left, Montgomery County Commissioners Chairman Josh Shapiro, Democrat, former chair of the PA Democratic State Committee T.J. Rooney; Chester County Commissioners Chairman Ryan Costello, Republican; and former chair of the PA Republican State Committee, Alan Novak.

So not that we need any politicians to tell us that politics is polarized, but in a thoughtful, civil forum Wednesday night at Ursinus College, four politicians did talk about why politics can't be more thoughtful and civilized.

Below are the live Tweets your favorite blogger issued from the forum. Know that there are several mistakes contained in the live Tweeting which were subsequently corrected in the Storify that appears below.

No excuses, just regrets for the errors.

Back to the Future (Planning)

Last night was the first of the final four public input sessions being conducted by the Montgomery County Planning Commission on the draft of the new comprehensive plan, titled, as you can see above, "Montco 2040: A Shared Vision."

Below are the Tweets issued from the meeting by yours truly.

If Tweets aren't your thing, here is a link to the story that appears in today's Mercury and on-line at pottsmerc.com

And, if you're really, really into comprehensive plans, click on this link where I have uploaded the plan and annotated it with notes about interesting parts of the plan that pertain particularly to Pottstown and the surrounding area

It's Like Deja Vu' All Over Again.

Who are these folks and what are they holding? Read on and find out.

Monday's borough council meeting was swift, but a lot happened.

Contained within this here blog post, composed primarily of Tweets from said meeting, you will see reference to many votes:

-- Votes on the proceeds of painting sales;

-- Votes on the controversial new mini-mart at the corner of Washington and King Street;

-- Votes on extending the Pottstown Downtown Improvement District Authority for another four years;

-- Votes on pension plan obligations adding up to more than $1 million.

-- And this, a presentation on an event encouraging Pottstownians to be involved fathers, that will be held this Saturday in Memorial Park.

But you'll have to keep reading to find out what happened....

Looking for a Job? Job Fair at Sunnybrook Tuesday

Looking for a job?

Well your chances will improve Tuesday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. when a job fair will be held at Sunnybrok Ballroom, 50 Sunnybrook Road.

Admission is free and a list of at least 60 potential employers will be on hand to take applications and offer advice.

You can connect with businesses and organizations within the region who are seeking qualified employees.

Information regarding Human Services agencies and Veteran's Services will also be available.

Explore training and educational programs available through local colleges and universities.

Bring multiple copies of your resume.

Job seekers should come prepared to complete applications.

Pottstown Area Rapid Transit (PART) will make special stops at Sunnybrook Ballroom for the Job Fair.

The job fair is presented by Senator Rafferty's Office in partnership with Pennsylvania CareerLink and the TCN Workforce Development Committee.

Here is a list of employers and services which will be at the event:

Abraxas Academy
AlliedBarton Security Systems
American Infrastructure
Aqua America Pennsylvania, Inc.
Avon Products
BAYADA Home Health Care
BlackJax American Pub and Grill
Boscov’s Department Store LLC
Brooks Brothers
CADCOM
CareerLink
Chester County Intermediate Unit Practical Nursing Program
Chestnut Knoll at Home
Creative Health Services, Inc.
DeSales University, Lansdale Campus
Edward Jones Investments
eHomecare
Einstein Healthcare Network
Family Caregivers Network, Inc
Frederick Living
Genesis HealthCare
Greenfield Senior Living of Perkiomen Valley
Hire One
Home Helpers (YCB Inc.)
Home Instead Senior Care
IBEW Local 380 JATC
Innovations Services
InVision Human Services
J. P. Mascaro & Sons
Johnson Matthey
KenCrest
Legal Aid of Southeastern PA
Lehigh Career & Technical Institute
Lowe’s
ManorCare Health Services Pottstown
Mary Kay Consultants
Maternity Care Coalition/Early Head Start
Metro Public Adjustment Inc.
Montgomery County Community College
PA State Civil Service Commission
Pennsylvania State Police
PeopleShare
Phoenixville Public Library
PJM Interconnection
Polo-Ralph Lauren
Pottstown Brick House
Pottstown Memorial Medical Center
Pottstown Regional Public Library
Primerica Financial Services
ResCare HomeCare
Robert Half – Accountemps & Office Team
Score Chapter Pottstown PA
Seniors Helping Seniors
SEPTA
Staffing Plus
The Carney Group
The Home Depot
Transformation Initiative
Tre’SkinRX Skincare
Univest Corporation of Pennsylvania
US Army
Venezia Transport Services
VNA-Community Services, Inc
Wawa
YWCA Tri County Area

OJR Low Brass Travels in Style

Photos Courtesy of Chris Ficca

The Owen J. Roberts High School March Band's low brass section rented a limo to take them and band director Todd Mengel to the most recent game at Daniel Boone High School.

So apparently the low bras section of the Owen J. Roberts High School marching band has a sense of style.

Who knew?

Well band director Todd Mengel knows now.

Apparently there is a tradition at OJR of each of the marching band's section trying to curry favor with the director in order to have the benefit of boarding the bus first.

Traditional means are often employed, such as skits or food.

"Needless to say, Mr. Mengel was beyond surprised."

But this year, the band's low-brass section thought outside the box.

Or in this case, outside the bus.

According info provided by parent Chris Ficca, friend of this blog, the section raised the bar on this tradition by renting a limo for Mengel, his wife and their section to take them to the game at Daniel Boone High School.

"The two young men in the dark suits are actually two
marching band 

members and the masterminds
behind the entire evening," Ficca wrote.

"Needless to say, Mr. Mengel was beyond surprised," Ficca wrote. "It was truly an evening to remember for him."

"In an age when we read and hear so much negative about our youth, I wanted to pass this along to you. I hope it makes you smile like it did for Mr. Mengel, OJR band staff and band students," Ficca wrote.

We very much appreciate and and all submissions to the Digital Notebook, whether about band events or other specialties, particularly when they are accompanied by pictures as fun as those Ficca provided.