Focus on Education at PottsTown Talks Forum

Fuzzy inadequate photos by Evan Brandt

From left, Federation of Pottstown Teacxhers Vice President Robert Decker, president Beth Yoder and Vice President Mike DiDonato discuss the challenges faced by the Pottstown School District and why they have the best students on the planet, at least according to Decker.

The next in Pottstown School Board member Emanuel Wilkerson's ambitious PottsTown Talk series was held Tuesday night with moderate turn-out and maximum enthusiasm.

The subject this month was education and a series of speakers talked about the advantages of each of their educational institutions and efforts.

Representatives from the Federation of Pottstown Teachers, the Pottstown School District administration, Pottstown Early Action for Kindergarten Readiness and Montgomery County Community College were present.

Montgomery County Community College teachers presented at

Tuesday night's PottsTown Talk.

There was a decided public education flavor to the presentations given that The Hill School and The Wyndcroft School, both of which are also in the borough, were not represented.

Much of the college presentation was focused on its arts programs, music, dance and theater; how successful careers are built in those fields; and how the community college prepares students for success in four-year colleges.

Valerie Jackson, PEAK's new community engagement coordinator, talked about the many initiatives the nationally recognized early education partnership have undertaken.

Newest are the effort to deal with the impact trauma has on children and families, and their ability to learn, as well as a brand new program that aims at helping healthy brains grow in children before they are even born.

Stephen Rodriguez, acting superintendent

of the Pottstown School District.

The teacher federation focused on its outreach efforts to better connect with the Pottstown community. High school math teacher Robert Decker emphasized that many of the district's teachers are there because they want to be.

"I would not want to teach anywhere else," said Decker. "Our students are the most polite, most respectful I have seen, compared to some others I have seen from wealthier districts."

Fifth grade teacher Michael DiDonato emphasized the important the federation places on fair funding for education, and its attempts to advocate for change in Harrisburg to enact it faster.

Last up was Stephen Rodriguez, the acting superintendent of Pottstown Schools.

He talked about the many ways in which Pottstown is an excellent school district, how often that excellence is recognized; the thriftiness it exercises with taxpayer dollars and the many opportunities the district offers.

Wilkerson said the purpose of Tuesday night's meeting was to highlight the partnerships in the community and to demonstrate a foundation on which future education forums would be built.

There were no questions taken from the audience.

Here are the Tweets and video from the meeting