A Half-Million the Hard Way

So I didn't win the Powerball, so I am not a millionaire, or even a billionaire.

Nor did the office pool tickets win anything either.

But this month, I did become a half-millionaire.

In hits that is.

I'm talking about The Digital Notebook which you are reading right now, and at some point in the last week, it passed an artificial milestone.

It passed 500,000 hits.

Given that half the time, this blog is quite obviously a cut-and-paste job of press releases and photos sent in from local organizations, that's something worth noting.

As I have been contemplating the significance of this, it is also worth noting that those cut and paste jobs, with a few exceptions, are not big drivers of the numbers we're discussing here.

The exception which proves the rule is John Armato, the irrepressible, ever-adaptable and UNPAID director of community relations for the Pottstown School District

His releases have everything you want -- photos, photos, photos -- IDs for photos and a short, pithy run down of the event in the schools he is promoting.

In the interests of total disclosure, one of the reasons they drive hit numbers up is he then shares the posts I have culled from his submissions with the entire school community in a mass e-mail.

Everyone wins.

The staff and parents see the school efforts being showcased, efforts for which there is not always room in the pages of The Mercury, and my hit numbers go up.

So thanks John.

Those who know him know that as a wrestling coach, he likes to push the envelope and he was hoping, as the
numbers got close, I would reach the half-million mark before the year was out, so I could crow about that.

But I was content to let it happen when it happened.

And it did happen sometime in the first week of January.

It didn't happen over night.

My first post was on Nov. 9, 2011 and I did not hit the 500,000 mark until about 1,400 posts and four years later. (This is post 1,415 for those of you who are counting.)

The significance of all this, to me at least, has been watching what posts attract eyeballs and which don't.

I singled out Armato's posts precisely because they go against the trend I otherwise see.

The posts which I have observed invariably attract the most eyeballs are the posts with, what my profession now calls "original content."

You would not think, particularly if you've sat through as many as I have, that school board meetings and council meetings, would attract that kind of interest.

But almost without fail, that is what is driving those numbers.

Most recently, the live Tweeting of meetings, combined with the collection of those Tweets in something called a "Storify," (which I will forever insist is some kind of a Harry Potter spell), seems to have caught the attention of a segment of readership.

What makes this observation so satisfying to someone in my business is that these hit numbers confirm exactly what we have said all along.

People say they want positive stories about their community, and this blog has provided them in spades, and we're happy to do so. But the numbers don't lie.

What attracts the most eyeballs are the goings on of local government, how tax dollars are spent, and the idea that someone is keeping an eye on these things.

Which works out for me, because that's what I do for a living.

So, thanks for the eyeballs, stay with us because that's what you'll keep seeing here.

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.

It's Family Fest Time

Blogger's Note: The following was submitted by the organizers of, you guessed it, Family Fest.

The Annual Pottstown Family Fest will be held on Wednesday, March 12, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Pottstown Senior High School.

This free family-focused event will feature information/resources from more than 30 area organizations, activities for the entire family, roving entertainment, mini sandwiches, drinks, Rita’s water ice, and a variety of door prizes.

Informational booths will be open from 5 to 7 p.m. Door prizes will be awarded at 7 p.m. (must be present to win). Children must be accompanied by an adult.

“Family Fest was developed to enhance, celebrate and explore family dynamics, development, growth, and unity,” said Jenn Brown, director, Pottstown Family Center. “This year’s theme, Stay Healthy, Play More, focuses on buying local and encourages families to find volunteer opportunities they care about so they can ultimately give back to their community.”

This annual event is sponsored by Family Services/Pottstown Family Center, Pottstown Parks and; Recreation, and the Pottstown School District with funding support from the Pottstown Area Health and Wellness Foundation.

For more information on Family Fest, contact Jenn Brown, director, Pottstown Family Center, at 610-326-1610 ext. 347 or jbrown@fsmontco.org.

A Warm Feeling

Barth students in Mrs. Wolfel's and Mrs. Blute's classes get an unexpected gift from a generous parent.

When Barth Elementary School parent Melissa Caballero found out about students who come to school cold, she decided she needed to do something about it.

According to school principal Ryan Oxenford, she organized "Operation Keep Me Warm for the Holiday" for two classes at Barth. 

She coordinated efforts using Facebook and was able to provide each student in those classes with a bundled package consisting of a hat, scarf, blanket, book, stuffed animal, and gloves or mittens. 

The students were extremely excited by this surprise gesture. 

"This idea was brewing in my head after going to a PTO meeting," Caballero told Oxenford. 

"We were talking about taking up donations for hats and gloves. And who we should donate them too. After the meeting I was talking to a teacher. She told me that for years children would come to school cold and ask if there were any hats and gloves that they could have. This made my decision final. I had to do something," Cabbalero said. 

"I sat down and talked to my husband about this and he was super supportive of my idea. And I knew that I could not just give them hats and gloves. I wanted to give more. So we thought and thought what else. Then that is how I came up with 'Keep Me Warm for The Holiday' name." 

"What else would keep them warm? Heads , hands, how about their brains (a book). How about their hearts( a teddy bear and blanket to cuddle) also went with it would be a snack bag with hot chocolate," she said.

She got an outpouring of support in this effort.

"I knew I was not financially table to pull off this idea alone. So I facebooked my friends and family," she explained.

"Each of us bought items here and there when we could. We pulled it off in three weeks; 80 children from three different schools."

And why would anyone undertake such a project during the holiday season? Precisely because it is the holiday season.  

"Pottstown is my home town. And I am willing to try to do whatever I can to make a difference in our town, our children's lives," Caballero said. 

"They are our future. I want to show them that no matter how tough life gets. There are ways to work them out. That WE Pottstown stick together we can make a difference to make our town the best place to be," she said. 

Is this the beginning of a new tradition? It could be...

"I hope I can do another project like this next year. I have a lot of my friends and family who are willing to help me again. I can't thank my husband, family and friends enough for their help and support," Caballero said.
Both Caballero and her husband, Alex, are graduates of Pottstown Schools and they have four children; Alex Jr., 13, who attends Pottstown Middle School, Mia, 8 and Jade, 5, both of whom attend Barth and Ethan, 3, who is a future Pottstown student.

Mia is in Kelli Wolfel's class and Jade has Colleen Blute.


"The kids were super surprised and super excited by the generosity of Operation Keep Me Warm," Wolfel said! "They looked great in their new hats and gloves reading their new books."

"Operation "Keep Me Warm For the Holidays" was an incredible undertaking by one person," Blute said. "She, along with other community partners, demonstrated to the children how important it is in this day and age to understand the true meaning of Christmas. The excitement on the faces of each and every child made the message clear to every person present."

As for Oxenford? He said simply, "I continue to be amazed by the spirit of people."

You're right about that Mr. Oxenford.

These Routes Were Made for Walking (Now with video from today's walk at Lincoln)

Last year, students at Edgewood Elementary School joined a walking club.

As Pottstown continues its effort to promote fitness by, among other things, encouraging children to walk to and from school, this morning will park a special milestone.

Today is International Walk to School Day, so students from the middle school and all four elementary schools will be walking to school today.

(Please drive carefully.)




Walk to School Day was established in the United States in 1997 by the Partnership for Walkable America, a national alliance of public and private organizations committed to making walking safe, easy and more enjoyable.

"While walking to school was commonplace just a generation ago, traffic jams around schools are now the norm," according to a letter sent home to parents from the Pottstown School District Wellness Council.




By riding to school in cars, "students are losing an opportunity for regular physical activity that is

Walking is good, low-impact exercise and can help fight

childhood obesity.

good for their health." the letter read.

According to David Genova, the Pottstown School District's Wellness Coordinator, Rupert, Barth and Franklin schools are being helped in their efforts by Michele Barrett, Berks County's Safe routes to School coordinator.

Lincoln Elementary School teamed up with the Montgomery County Health Department, which provided students with pedestrian safety education and a three-week walking challenge.




Each school has a staging post for buses and parents to drop off their children and have a specific route they will use to walk to school, accompanied by police officers, teachers and parents.




For example, Lincoln students will meet at the spray park in Memorial Park this morning, do some stretching and then proceed along Second Street to North York Street to the school.




Each of the five schools received a $2,000 grant from the National Center for Safe Routes to School and "we decided to put that money towards supporting Walk to School Day," Genova wrote in an email to The Mercury.

Walk to School day takes on particular significance in light of the ambitious $3 million proposal to repair sidewalks and install bike lanes throughout the town as part of an effort to establish “Safe Routes to Schools”




The idea, presented to borough council in June by Superintendent Jeff Sparagana, is to combine state transportation funding and seek funding from the Pottstown Area Health and Wellness Foundation as a match to undertake the upgrades, which would include repairing numerous damaged borough sidewalks at no cost to property owners.

At the same time, the district is incorporating the idea of physical fitness into its curriculum and also encouraging students to walk or ride a bicycle to school and home again.