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We're here to support Central students, parents, and staff with our time, talents and dollars. Let's help each other make Central High School an even greater place for our students to learn and grow.
Click HERE to read more about the Association. Click HERE to download a membership form. Your student can take the completed form to the main office.
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Library:Knowledge
is Power
Central High School's Barnwell Library and Dr. William M. King Communication, Media and Research Center is rich with resources. Free search engines like Google and Yahoo are great for finding simple answers to simple questions, but when students want to do accurate research, librarian Loretta Burton recommends using our password protected subscription service, ProQuest, a company that has agreements with more than 9,000 publishers worldwide. Access the five ProQuest databases from home or school at proquestk12 , then use Central High School's username and password. While we are not permitted to print the username and password in the newsletter, Loretta tells us that students have been given the information. |
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Bring Your Photo ID Just a reminder:
When you come to visit Central High School, you must have a photo ID.
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Telephone
Main Office
215-276-5262
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Welcome to the Home and School Newsletter  As the school year picks up momentum, we find more and more exciting goings on at Central. College applications for 269 are looming large, the football Lancers are winning, 272 students are finding their way, StudentNet is live, and the school website is being re-designed. Central's Associated Alumni are about to induct 16 illustrious graduates including Thomas Eakins, 38, one of America's foremost artists and Larry Fine, 132, of the Three Stooges. This newsletter is a volunteer effort brought to you by the Home and School Association with help from the Associated Alumni of Central High School. We hope that you enjoy reading the newsletter and that you will never hesitate to send your comments, suggestions, ideas and stories to us any time at centralhighschoolnewsletter@yahoo.com.
Thank you for reading
Dave Kalkstein - Editor
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New Coach, New Season for Lancers Football
The Lancer offense features veterans Siddiq Cornish, 269, wide receiver and Ervin Johnson, 269, at running back. On the defense the lancers rely on Ryshan Manning, 269, Khalil Smith, 269 in the line, backed up by Kevin Pfifer, 269, at linebacker, and DeVonne Boler, 269, at safety. The team is looking forward to the return from injury of Shaun Marshall, 269, at both offensive and defensive end. During his time away from the playing field he stayed focused and positive and did not let his situation get him down, according to Coach Drayton.
Now that the losing streak is broken the teams' focus is to play to its full potential, limit mistakes to increase the opportunities to win, and to "play fast, play hard, play together".
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Awesome Robolancers-Robotics Engineering at Central
Central's cutting edge Robotics program consists of three components. The Fall competition is starting now (Best Robotics). In the spring, the students will create a 120 lb, 5' tall metal robot. The robotics course is a junior/senior elective throughout the year. The Fall program kick off was at Villanova University, and winning schools will go to the University of Alabama for regional competition. The Robotics Engineering course, the brainchild of Kelly Norris, is recommended for students considering mechanical or electrical engineering careers. This year the course is taught by Daniel Ueda. The course utilizes physics concepts and teaches basic engineering strategies through a series of design projects. Students cover mechanics, electronics and programming.
Thanks to a very generous gift from Central alumni, students can learn and use solid modeling CAD, mathematical analysis, and programming software on 12 Del Latitude E6400 Desktop computers. "Basically, this is an awesome course", according to Mr. Ueda.
The Robotics club and course help students to understand how exciting science, technology, engineering, and math careers can be, and the robotics program allows them to truly see how science and math can enable them to do things they never dreamed of. The coaches and teachers don't just motivate, they prepare the students for real careers. Students are involved in every step of the projects, from brainstorming to building to marketing. Students learn a lot about teamwork, logical thinking, project completion, among other life skills, through the competition and the class. Fallon Kidder, 269, attended the Pennsylvania Governor's School for the Sciences in the summer. Shakarr Hawkins, 271, tells of another great attribute of the program: "When I first joined the team, I did not know what to expect. Now I see why I am always excited to come back. Through the team, I have made friends with people whom I normally wouldn't have spoken with." Recent graduates attend Drexel, Temple, Penn State and the University of Pennsylvania.
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The Bus Stopped Here C-Span's Civics Bus' local stops included the University of Pennsylvania, Villanova and Drexel's law schools, St. Joseph's University, the National Constitution Center AND Central High. About 90 students in Social Science classes toured the bus which comes equipped with the latest television production equipment designed to engage viewers and visitors in the civic process. Social studies teacher and Central grad Michael Horwits arranged the two-day, mid-September visit. C-Span offers a free membership service to educators who can download video clips and other resources to augment their lessons.
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Central Alumni Add Hall of Famers
The Associated Alumni of the Central High School of Philadelphia will hold the 15th Hall of Fame Induction Gala on Thursday, October 15th. The Hall of Fame includes exceptional Central graduates from throughout the long history of the school. This year's 16 inductees illustrate not only the fascinating capabilities and achievements of Central graduates but a very impressive variety of successful endeavors as well.
Bernard Spain, 198, founded Spain's Gifts and Cards and was named Temple University's Entrepreneur of the Year, not to mention his well known gift to Central, and Ralph Schlosstein, 227, co-founded the investment firm Black Rock Inc. and served as an advisor to President Jimmy Carter. Distinguished alumni in the field of the law include William Brown III, 185, and Hon Lawrence Margolis, 199. Medicine is represented among the inductees by Dr. Cato Laurencin, 235 and Dr. Carlton Young, 238. Dr. George Campbell, 220, is President of the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art.
Samuel Fels, 72, who manufactured Fels Naptha and funded the construction of the Fels Planetarium is among the better known alumni being inducted posthumously. On one side of the Arts spectrum we have Thomas Eakins, 38, one of America's foremost artists (who was not hired to teach art at Central, but was the creator of The Gross Clinic). On another side is Larry Fine (Louis Feinberg), 132, famous as the middle stooge of "The Three Stooges" and an accomplished violinist.
Central High School has been and remains extremely fortunate in having on going support from the alumni. To learn more about the Associated Alumni of the Central High School of Philadelphia, visit www.centralhighalumni.com.
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Up on the Roof
Dressed in their school colors, 269 seniors trooped out of the building earlier this month for their class picture, lining up on the lawn inside the numbers 269 carefully edged out in tape. "The yearbook staff laid it out. They are like engineers," said Frank Spitale, the account representative from Herff Jones, the Bensalem-based photography company that does the shoot. "Every class feels they are special," but he said, Central is the only school among hundreds of Herff Jones clients that uses a class number instead of the graduating year. Mr. Spitale had a great view from Central's roof where the photographer takes the photo. Beyond the students, the city stretched out to the south, with Center City's skyscrapers visible over the trees. The roof is a fabulous place, with so much space. It would be great if somehow it could be used. Down below, the students were exuberant, even as yearbook advisor Patricia Cameron herded them into place. "They are giddy," Mr. Spitale said, smiling. "This is very important to them."
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NEW-Parent Committees
Central is creating school-based consultative committees in the numerous areas. The goal of each group will be to work with the staff member designated to discuss mutual areas of concern, determine possible new directions, anticipate future trends, develop advocacy activities, and basically make that area better.
It is an opportunity for parents to join with staff in a partnership on a professional level to make the school better. There will be 10-15 parents selected for each group based upon parent interest. For an exciting opportunity to join with school staff in making Central High School an even better place for our students, check for the link on the school website.
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Out for Blood Each year, Central students hold a blood drive organized by the senior class. Class rivalries are intense with each class pumped up to to beat the previous record. It should continue in that vein on Friday, Oct. 16 at this year's blood drive. No one will be able to top 272 when it is its turn to run the show, because it is one of the largest freshmen classes in years. The nurses who collect the blood describe the whole scene as organized chaos, i.e. Central-style. Only age-appropriate students in good health are allowed to donate.
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Mark Your Calendar -
Freshman Tea & Club Fair and College Night
Our first Home and School Meeting of the year will be held on Wednesday, Oct. 14 at 7:30 p.m. in the Spain Conference Center on the second floor. We will just take some time to get acquainted and Dr. Pavel will speak about what's going on at school. Refreshments will be served. Some of you may be attending (or want to attend) an Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate meeting on the same night at 6:30 p.m. When you are done, come on up to our meeting. We'll be happy to see you whenever you arrive! To find out more information about the AP/IB meeting, call the school. You don't have to be a member to attend the Home and School meeting, but we'd like you to join!
The Freshman Tea & Club Fair is coming up on Thursday, October 22! This is the best opportunity for 272 students to learn first hand about Central's rich variety of extra curricular clubs. Central clubs are sponsored by faculty but really run by students. Clubs at Central range from Ultimate Frisbee to Fencing to Debate to Belly Dancing and Mock Trial. Refreshments courtesy of the Home and School will be served. Clubs are not only a lot fun and educational, they are also important for admissions to better college and universities. Speaking of which-
Thursday, November 5th is College Night at Central. This is especially helpful and important for 269 and 270 students and their families. Colleges and Universities from all over will be represented in person by professional representatives and in some cases by local alumni. This is the very best chance to take a good close look at some of the best colleges in the country. Students and parents will have a rare opportunity to ask any questions they may have about admissions policies, academic offerings, tuition and financial aid. Colleges and universities attending College Night are looking for the best applicants they can get and they know that they can find them at Central.
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Ready-Set-Apply
Deadlines are important when it comes to college applications, but there is one non-deadline that is tricky. Always check to see if the college has "rolling" admissions. If so, apply as soon as possible, no matter what deadline they give. "Rolling" means that the colleges fill the slots as they receive qualified applicants. Therefore, it is easiest to get into the schools early when they have the most places to fill. The schools become picky when they have fewer openings. Another timing trick: Before you polish your essay, go through every college application and make sure you provide the necessary paperwork or Internet connections to the counselors and teachers so they can make their recommendations in a timely way. Make their jobs easy. Fill out your part of the form. Provide envelopes and address them. Make sure they have plenty of stamps. Keep track of whom you've asked to do what and follow up, nicely. Your consideration of their time might lead to better recommendations. It wouldn't hurt to write a thank you letter. It's just plain nice, and you might need them again. |
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Help Wanted
1. An reporter or two for the newsletter. Should be a 270, 271 or 272 parent that enjoys meeting with teachers and students with good writing skills. This is more fun than most any other volunteer activity at Central. Contact Dave Kalkstein at centralhighschoolnewsletter@yahoo.com2. Please bake! The Home and School Association hosts ALL the 272 freshmen on Thursday, Oct. 22 for the annual freshman tea and club fair. They stop in during their lunch periods for juice and treats, then visit the club fair next door to see how they can get involved. Obviously, with more than 700 freshmen, we need LOTS of treats. Please send in baked goods with your students that morning. It's helpful, if the brownies and cookies are already cut in portion size. Purchased yummies are fine too.
3. Please help! We also need parents to set up, serve and clean up for the Thursday, Oct. 22 freshman tea. You can stay as long as you like, starting at about 7 a.m. and ending shortly after 3 p.m. Contact Teri Ranieri, the membership vice president, at terir@comcast.net. 4. Class advisor Steve Kolman, 269, may still need last-minute volunteers to chaperone the seniors on Museum Day, Wednesday, October 14. That's when seniors spend the morning in area museums or the zoo so the other classes have a quiet atmosphere for standardized test taking. The job involves going to a museum as assigned, helping the teacher in charge take role and monitoring the kids. You don't have to be a parent of a senior to volunteer. It may be possible for you to be where your student is, or you may choose to avoid that. The school will cover your admission and you will have a lot of fun. Hours are roughly 10 a.m. to noon, but Mr. Kolman will provide more information. Contact him at skolman@philasd.org |
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Acme and Target Fundraisers
Acme will give us one percent of total receipts, so please have your student deposit Acme receipts in the Acme box in the office. Target will send us one percent of what you spend on a Target Visa Card or Target Guest Card. Apply online at Target.com or at your local store. Our ID number is 90781. Last year we raised $900 from Target. | |
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Thanks Thanks to all who helped with this newsletter. Editor Dave Kalkstein wrote about the robotics club, the sports program, the hall of fame, the daily bulletin and upcoming events. Staffer Kate Spellissy contributed the library tip and the community service news. Editor emeritus Jane Von Bergen added the items about the C-Span bus, the 269 photo, the college tip and the blood drive. Thanks to Herff Jones for the photo. Thanks also to co-editor and parent Diane Luckman for making this issue look good. Marcella Brown and Tamar Magdovitz helped with the editing. Continuing thanks to Dr. Pavel and Mr. Walsh for their support and assistance.
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Sincerely,
Dave Kalkstein, Newsletter Editor
Central High School -- Philadelphia |
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