News from Central High School -- Philadelphia

So now we arrive at the end of the school year with this being the year's last newsletter. 269 has graduated and off they go to all over the place. They have achieved a great milestone and yet in many respects their lives are really just beginning. To the 269 graduate these words from Dr. Seuss -"You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You are on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the guy who'll decide where to go." To the parents of 269 whose kids are not so much kids anymore, from the great Kahlil Gibran, "Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself. They came through you but not from you and though they are with you yet they belong not to you."

To see the next stop for the members of 269, grab a copy of the Centralizer.

The 269 yearbook is out and it is fantastic. Families: If you know bright students who may be Central material, please show them the yearbook. We try to keep track of goings on here, but when you see the yearbook you will understand what a great place Central really is.

273 is on its way and it is going to be a truly great class. Check it out in the article below.

As our seniors leave and a new class approaches, we say goodbye not only to some of our students but also to some of the wonderful teachers who have devoted so much to our community. We will miss them and wish them all the very best and they leave with our heartfelt thanks. Like our incoming 273, we welcome some very fine new teachers and staff to Central.

The newsletter is a volunteer effort with the Central Home and School Association, and we hope that you enjoy keeping in touch with Central this way. If you have stories, ideas, or comments, or if you want to have a lot of fun and join us in this effort, don't be shy! Write us at centralhighschoolnewsletter@yahoo.com right away!
Last but not least - enjoy the summer and see you next year!

Thank you for reading,
Dave Kalkstein - Editor

269 Graduation

In front of the Kimmel Center last Wednesday afternoon, one encountered a turbulent sea of black caps and gowns, interspersed with family members and passersby. The sea gradually surged inside, students off to some hidden place, 2,031 ticket holders slowly but steadily taking their seats. At 3 p.m. sharp Alexis Jenkins, president of the 269 class, rang a bell, the doors closed and a stream of 269 students paraded to their seats, ready to graduate. The bell, by the way, dates back to the original location of Central High School and has been used to start commencements since 1845.

Five hundred and ten members of 269 graduated on June 16 and have become alumni of Central High School. After a welcome from Alexis, attendees heard from Penny Nixon, a representative from the School District. Aimee Goldstein, 269, delivered the salutatory, student government President Fadwa Kingsbury, 269, addressed the class and William Feldman, 269, presented the valedictory. Outgoing and incoming presidents of Central's Associated Alumni, David Kahn, 220, and Harvey Steinberg, 209, assisted by past president Richard Prinz, 212, distributed over 125 alumni prizes, scholarships and awards to students -- an abundant and astounding show of ongoing support for the school. Additional awards were distributed by assistant principals Jackie Betof, Lori DeFields and Lynada Martinez. Alumni and assistant principals worked fast to hand the students their awards and keep up with the reading of the names of the winners. And such winners they are! Dr. Pavel announced that the value of scholarships to 269 graduates was about $22,000,000, which works out to be a bit over $43,000 per student.

Following the awards, Dr. Pavel spoke most eloquently to the class, and the tassels were moved to the right side of the caps of new Central graduates. After a fine rendition of the school song (including the second verse), the graduates filed out, shaking hands and hugging teachers along the way.

"Central took us from all over the city, put us all in one place, and taught us to appreciate each other," from the address of Alexis Jenkins, 269.

Public League Championship for LADY LANCERS

Raise another banner to the gymnasium wall please! Congratulations to the Central High Girls Varsity Basketball Team for winning the Public League Championship. The Lady Lancers capped off a brilliant season with playoff wins over Dobbins, Northeast and Frankford leading up to a victory over Prep Charter in the Public League Championship Game. "That Championship game was a very special win. They were a team that was returning all their starters from the year before, and we went out there and beat them!" head coach Frank Greco said. Coach Greco has been coaching the girls' team at Central for the past 11 seasons, winning eight Public League titles. This year's squad included starters Jazmine Hall, 269; Alina Gaffney 269; Jasmin Rodgers, 269; Najah Jacobs, 270, and Isabella Ross, 270. Significant contributions off the bench came from Rae'Shelle Drayton, 269; Tracy Curtis, 269, and Brittany Wilson, 270.

The Greco style is fast-paced, smart, with aggressive ball movement. "He wants the ball out of the net, push it up, but be smart with it," Jazmine said. "He wants to see this on both sides of the ball, offensively and defensively." Hard work and dedication to the team are trademarks of the squad, shown during a regular season game against Dobbins. "We had three starters out and two of our bench players injured during the game, but we fought hard and with two minutes to play, we pulled out the victory. This was a very special win for us," Greco said.

"Everyday after school, for two hours, coach leads us through practice," Jazmine added. "He prepares for our games by reviewing game film. He does all this despite having surgeries to his wrists and maintaining a wonderful family life. Coach Greco's dedication is contagious and it makes me want to work even harder and to become successful in whatever I pursue."

What is most impressive about Frank Greco's "girls" is their accomplishments after Central. They have excelled academically and athletically at Temple, Villanova, St. Bonaventure, Wesleyan, University of South Florida, New York University and dozens of other institutions, according to Harvey Steinberg, 209, incoming president of the alumni association. All of team's seniors will be attending college in the fall.

"Coach expects us to continue our success in life and college is the next step," Jazmine said.

Seniors Continue Win Streak

It's the time of year for the Junior-Senior Challenges. In the annual Junior-Senior Softball game played June 2, boys and girls from each class combined to have fun, and, in some cases, play a sport they had never played before. No player may be a member of Central's varsity softball or baseball teams - instead, varsity athletes act as coaches for their teams. Aware of the tradition of dominance by years of winning senior classes, members of 269 were determined not to be the first senior class in years to fall to the juniors. They could be seen practicing on the baseball diamond before school each day for more than a week before the game. After losing a very close game to the senior girls in the Powder Puff game, the class of 270 also practiced and hoped to redeem themselves by beating the seniors in this annual event -- but it was not to be. Although the final score of 8-2 gave the seniors the win, it did little to reflect how much fun was had by all. A loud and rowdy crowd of over 100 gathered to cheer on the two teams, which had some 30 players each. The seniors were attired in Central maroon and the juniors in Central gold, and each student selected a name for their shirt-backs - some interesting ("Man-Beast" - Jon Edelman, 269), some funny ("Megatron" - Megan Whelan, 270), and some inspirational ("Nguyenin' " - Brenda Nguyen, 270 - get it? phonetically pronounced "winning"). Good-natured heckling was the order of the day. 269 class sponsor Steven Kolman gave periodic inspirational challenges to his players; one example, calling out to an approaching batter, "If you miss this ball, I am going to laugh my head off!" There were spectacular home runs with balls hit well past any conscious player, and some equally spectacular strike-outs with players swinging at balls well over their heads. Teachers Bob Barthelmeh, 228, William Graham, and Stanford Levy were the game umpires, and despite some good-natured booing of their calls, did not need to resort to the traditional senior-skewed umping to aid the seniors in their win. At the game's conclusion, the seniors dumped the traditional Gatorade container of water on opposing team's class sponsor, Mike Horwits, 251.

Picture credit: Lauren Rowland, 270, manager of girls' varsity softball

Incoming Tide -- 273

As the 269 tide ebbs out, the 273 tide flows in.

Members of class 273 were selected from 4,331 applicants. A record class of 739 will attend Central next year. Applicants came from 196 schools. 512 incoming students come from Philadelphia public schools, and 227 from private schools throughout the city. 24 will be joining 272. More girls than boys in 273 - 395 and 344. The incoming class boasts an average English score of 91, and the Math average score is 95 - a smart crew this 273.

As is the Central tradition, incoming freshmen and women were enthusiastically welcomed to their May orientation by cheering upper class students, which came as a surprise to the newcomers and their startled (and thrilled) parents.

Cell phones actually fell silent during the orchestra's performance during orientation!

Among the speakers was Harvey Steinberg, 209, incoming president of the Alumni Association whose words are well worth repeating here: "Central is not a melting pot -- you will not leave here all the same. Rather Central High School is a tapestry, a stained glass window, where each of you will reflect your glitter while becoming part of something much bigger than any of us."

So as 269 departs the school for the greater world, we have a great incoming tide in 273 and we can't wait to see what they will accomplish in the next few years. Welcome to Central High School!

What's the Question?

As they scribble fact after fact in their notebooks, students can be overwhelmed with the amount of knowledge they are expected to absorb. But longtime Central High School teacher and this year's Christian R. and Mary F. Lindback distinguished teaching award winner John McMillian offers a way to conquer information overload. When taking notes, try to anticipate the question these facts answer and then write in question in the tiniest of letters next to the facts. "It's like Jeopardy. What is the question?" said Mr. McMillian, who earned a $3,500 prize with the award. "Students have memorized the answer," he said, "but not the correlation to the question." A former coach of Central's robotics team, Mr. McMillian teaches AP Biology, Honors Microbiology and General Biology to ninth graders. He also teaches science at Community College of Philadelphia. His career included stints at Edison and Kensington high schools before coming to Central in 1993. He finds immense satisfaction in watching students improve under his guidance. "I know for a fact that I've made an impact on their achievement levels."

Junior-Senior Powder-Puff Game

Class pride was on vivid display Monday, May 24 when junior and senior girls competed in the Powder-Puff Football game. The term "powder-puff" could lead one to conclude that these girls daintily ran around the field, grabbing at flags, careful not to mess their make-up -- but one would be wrong. These girls were ready to play and ended up on the turf, with grass stains on their jerseys, far more than you might expect for a flag-football game -- and the girls loved it. Despite a five-minute downpour early in the game, the girls played on -- with the support of dozens of classmates, teachers, and parents who came to cheer them on. The seniors, wearing maroon "269" Central football jerseys, were led by quarterback Fadwa Kingsbury, 269, and the juniors, wearing white "270" Central football jerseys, were led by co-quarterbacks Brenda Nguyen, 270, and Angelica Parrilla, 270. The seniors took a 6-0 lead early with a handoff from Fadwa to Ashley Neth, 269, who ran it in for a touchdown. The juniors battled back, scoring a touchdown in the second half with a pass from QB Angelica to Jill Winter, 270. (This was one of few passes completed in the game; as noted by fan Patty Fox, 270, "It's all about the running game.") Then QB Brenda gave the juniors the lead by faking and running the ball into the end zone for the extra point. But in the end, the seniors won with a late game second touchdown. Teachers Bob Barthelmeh, 228, and William Graham were the game refs. Mr. Graham explained that traditionally the seniors win these contests. Apart from claims of senior-biased refereeing, Mr. Graham said that the seniors always have that one-game prior experience from being beaten the year before that the junior girls lack, enough to give them the winning edge. "Next year, the juniors will get their payback when they beat 271," Mr. Graham said.

Free To Be Me

Senior class president Alexis Jenkins, 269, attended very diverse elementary schools in California, so when she moved to Philadelphia in fifth grade, she was stunned by the segregation in her schools. When she got to Central, with its incredible array of people and cultures, "I felt like I was home. I felt more free to be me because everyone was free to be themselves," she said. In addition to leading her class at Central, Alexis participated in the Pep Squad and played violin with the orchestra. Next year, she'll attend Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh to major in business, probably finance. Her goal is to work as a financial advisor. Why? So she can help people one-on-one. "I'm really squeamish," she said, "so being a doctor is completely out."

National Honor Society Induction

Parental pride was on obvious display on Tuesday, May 25th when 51 students, most from the class of 270, were inducted into the Barnwell Chapter of the National Honor Society. In addition to proud parents, the class of 271 watched as student speakers discussed the importance of the National Honor Society emblem and the four facets of society membership: character, scholarship, leadership, and service. Dr. Sheldon Pavel urged the 271 guests to play close attention to the speakers and to aspire to join their ranks next year. Chapter President Cris Ebby, 270, and guest speaker, David Kahn, 220, president of Central's Associated Alumni, spoke movingly on the concept of "honor" and giving back to the community. "Honor" was a recurring theme. Dr. Pavel noted that Central "honors the parents, they honor their children, and all bring honor to the school." National Honor Society sponsor Samantha Lite, 264, a first-year teacher at Central, administered the pledge to the inductees. The ceremony ended with the lighting of candles held by each of the 51 new National Honor Society members and the singing of the school song.

Summer Reading

Central's summer reading program works to augment ongoing themes in the school's English curriculum. For example, the 10th grade theme is "social justice" and one of the books is "The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother," by James McBride. This year the ninth grade list includes "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian," by Sherman Alexie, a book that fits perfectly with the grade's theme, "Search for Self." The protagonist grew up on a reservation, but ends up in a posh school on the other side of town, with the necessity of making adjustments. "Finding yourself is something that comes with maturity as you develop physically, mentally and socially," said English department chairwoman Marian Geiger. "You see the world is bigger than where you came from. This book is excellent for Central because of our diversity." There are three required books for each grade and study guides are available online at CentralHigh.net. Ms. Geiger urges students not to rely on online guides. Their teachers have read the guides as well and will generally require more complex analysis, essays and tests during the first week in September. For the guides, click on Summer Reading

A Tale of Courage

By the time she was 13, Heirl He, 270, had lost both her parents -- her mother to breast cancer and her father to liver cancer. Raised by an older brother and an aunt, she resolved to honor her parents' memories by working as tirelessly in school as her parents had in building a life for their family, despite tremendous hardship. Her parents barely survived the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia. Her father had been forced into a labor camp and her mother was nearly executed in Thailand. They managed to escape separately to the United States and reunite in Philadelphia. Heirl He's remarkable story of courage and determination made the front page of the Philadelphia Inquirer, but more importantly, her passion and poise led officials from the Leonore Annenberg College Scholarship Fund to award her a full scholarship when she graduates from Central next year. A straight-A student, she is one of five national recipients of the award, which is bestowed on someone with the capacity to inspire and lead. "Her character uplifts me," her guidance counselor Fred Kowit, told the Inquirer.

Flunking Retirement

At age 69, guidance counselor Marilyn Gordon is the oldest member of Central High School's faculty to retire. "I have a lot of mixed emotions," said Ms. Gordon, standing in her office last week. On the door, a student fan pasted a tribute: "People are always jealous that they do not have you as a counselor," it said. School president Sheldon Pavel described Ms. Gordon as a "consistent fighter for young people." Ms. Gordon said she loves teenagers. "That's my favorite age," she said. "They can express themselves in ways that younger students can't and older students won't. I love sitting and talking to the kids. They are wonderful people." She hopes to "flunk" retirement and get a chance to substitute, if needed. All together, seven faculty members are leaving. English teacher Richard Adelman, with his characteristic bowtie, ran the Central Broadcast Network and taught film. "He is absolutely loved by his students," Dr. Pavel said. English teacher Lenore Early was one of the main sponsors of the African American Student Union. History teacher Sylvan Kesilman, 215, told Centralizer staff writer Fahmida Sarmin, 271, that every year, from the moment he began teaching, he applied to return to his alma mater as a teacher. In his retirement, he plans to continue singing with his barbershop chorus and to pursue a love of theater. Science teacher Kelly Norris, a relatively new faculty member, is leaving to move back to Pittsburgh. She coached the robotics team, participated in teaching technology and was key in creating curriculum for the ninth grade science foundations class, Dr. Pavel said. Former chemical engineer Beth Gallis "changed her career and taught mathematics. She is an incredibly bright woman and a wonderful teacher," Dr Pavel said. French and Spanish teacher Lou Giosso is also retiring. "He is the epitome of a dedicated and professional teacher," Dr. Pavel said, describing him as someone who "came in very early and stayed late." We want to thank all the faculty members for their service and dedication to Central's students and wish them the very best of luck in coping with life without Central.

Roster Run Amok

If you want to experience Central in all its wild wackiness, show up as a volunteer for orientation for new ninth graders during the second week of August and brace yourself for the roster-run. The program consists of three sessions, one on Monday and Tuesday, August 10 and 11, the second on Wednesday and Thursday, August 12 and 13, and the third, a condensed version, on Friday, Aug. 14, all from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Parents are invited for a separate session on Tuesday, Thursday or Friday. Parents learn how to help their children navigate the school and receive advice from veteran parents. Orientation "gives the freshmen the chance to know kids in their classes and in the upper classes," said freshman advisor Fred Brannon. "They also learn time management so they can successfully handle two hours of homework and still do a sport," said Mr. Brannon, who coaches soccer and gymnastics. Maybe he should coach track, because the roster run has to be a qualifying event. At the sound of the buzzer, students race through the halls trying to follow a sample class schedule. There are other requirements, some of them a little weird, but a lot of fun. Advice for parents: If you are there, for your safety, hug the walls and get ready to laugh. To volunteer, just arrive around 8:15 a.m. on any of the five days and you'll get a job. Tuesday, Thursday and Friday are the days help is needed the most.

Final Deadline

The Centralizer's graduation issue leads with a sports story detailing Central's championship spring, with boys' tennis, girls' soccer and boys' baseball grabbing Public League Championships. The other front-page story describes the Philadelphia Immigration Conference sponsored by Central teacher Ken Hung. Inside are editorials on the BP oil fiasco and the problems at South Philadelphia High School. Profiles of the retiring faculty members share space with lists of award winners in the sciences, the arts and moot court competitions, among others. Other articles in the 12-page edition include reviews of three drama productions, a story about the orchestra's 2007 trip to Hungary, a recounting of a Philadelphia Inquirer workshop and a feature about Napol Wills, 269, a remarkable young woman who serves the community by knitting and farming. This year's editors-in-chief were Daniel Lipsman and William Feldman, both 269. Incoming editors will be Jordon Konell and Jake Lerner, both 270.

Click here to read past issues. The Centralizer

Help Wanted

Newsletter staffers: Interested in working on the newsletter? We'll be having a staff meeting in July. Contact Dave Kalkstein at centralhighschoolnewsletter@yahoo.com. Even if you can't make the meeting, you can still participate.

Thank You

Thanks to all the parents who work on the newsletter: John Newcomb, Johnette Miller, Tony West, Nancy Winter, Tamar Magdovitz, and Jane Von Bergen for their fine reporting and the time they give to this effort, and to Diane Luckman who makes us all look good. Most importantly, thanks to Dr. Pavel and teacher Ben Walsh for their continuing assistance. Any parent who would like to have a really great experience with the Central community should get with us to take part in the newsletter.

Got news? Want to let others know about special achievements? Have an idea for an article? Tell us about it at centralhighschoolnewsletter@yahoo.com.
All the best to all hands!

Sincerely,

Dave Kalkstein, Newsletter Editor
Central High School - Philadelphia