Philadelphia Orchestra Members Perform for String Students
Instrumental music teacher, Michael McGarry, reports that string students from all three Pennsbury middle schools attended a performance by a quartet of musicians from the Philadelphia Orchestra. “Students listened to pieces from the classical repertoire by Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven in the newly-refurbished Pennwood auditorium,” said Mr. McGarry. Performers included Yu-Ting Chen and Jonathan Beiler, violins; Renard Edwards, viola, and Richard Harlow, cello.
“An interesting question/answer session followed the 35-minute performance,” added Mr. McGarry. “This is the third time tremendous string musicians from this world-class orchestra have come to Pennsbury. I’m honored to call Mr. Harlow a colleague and friend.”
Pennsbury Elementary Schools Recognized by character.org
Congratulations to all ten Pennsbury elementary schools! As a group, they earned a 2018 Promising Practices Award from Character.org for conducting the inaugural Pennsbury Day of Service activity on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. This was one of just 258 Promising Practices awards granted by Character.org nationwide to schools, districts, and youth-serving organizations in the United States and abroad. “Our objective was to establish a collective goal of honoring service in and among the Pennsbury community,” said Edgewood Elementary Principal, Stephanie Hultquist. “Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service is a way to transform his legacy, life, and teachings into community service, which helps empower and strengthen local relationships. In the words of Dr. King, ‘Life’s most persistent and urgent question is: What are you doing for others?’ In an effort to promote civic engagement and model the importance of serving community, we arranged for a variety of activities across partnering schools to make this ‘day off’ school a ‘day on’ in servitude.”
According to the organization, recipients of Promising Practices awards are recognized because they planned and implemented unique initiatives that foster collaboration and good character building. The initiatives this year were diverse and ranged from peer mentoring to random acts of kindness. Character.org sponsors the annual program to showcase innovative best practices that are having an impact and to encourage educators to learn from and even replicate these successful initiatives. Character.org will honor the recipients at the 2018 National Forum on Character Education.