The Independent
SPRING 2021
Cardinal Chatter
Despite a challenging year, SPS students still found many bright spots, opportunities for growth and things to be grateful for!
Silver Linings During a Pandemic
“ I felt fortunate to be able to come to school every day, and find some sense of normalcy and fun amidst the Pandemic.”
“ I still got to see my friends in school this year.” MATEO, THIRD GRADE
“ I had to learn to be more flexible.” MAYA, FIFTH GRADE
“ It has made me be more independent, learning how to be on my own more.” MILLA, FIFTH GRADE
ALEXANDRIA, EIGHTH GRADE
THIRD GRADE GIRLS (above):
“ I learned how to plan me free time better - coming up with more ideas for activities.”
Sofia, Isla, Izzy, Olivia, Angelina, Mila, Annisa, and Sophia
“ I still found ways to connect with friends.” SOFIA “ The face masks keep my face warm in winter.” ISLA “ Our school still got to celebrate special events like Celebration of Light and May Day.” MILA & IZZY
IAN, FIFTH GRADE
“ We could still have visitors, like new families, visit our classrooms virtually and we could still enjoy field trips through Zoom.” OLIVIA & SOPHIA
“ We got two cats Elsa and Linus.” ANYA, FIRST GRADE
“ Google classroom made it easy for me to keep track of assignments, and ask teachers questions directly through an assignment.” JAMIE, SIXTH GRADE
“ We could still play with our friends.” ANGELINA “ It was nice to be in school this year, and not all kids in the city were able to.” ANNISA
Equity Committee
Guiding SPS’s Work around Inclusivity and Anti-Racism When the SPS Equity Committee formed and began to meet this year, members set out to create meaningful change and implement action steps to achieve a more inclusive experience for all members of our community, doing so from a place of positivity, self-reflection, and growth. Once our community established its top priorities, subcommittees were formed to begin work in the areas of Implicit Bias, Racial Literacy and our Hiring & Retention Practices.
Implicit Bias The overall goal of this subcommittee is to incorporate yearlong implicit bias reflection and accountability tools for all faculty. This includes Professional Development programs, summer reading and identifying other resources and tools to support the faculty in this work.
Racial Literacy The overall goal of this subcommittee is to extend and expand the existing Pollyanna program by gathering supplemental materials for teachers, providing introductory information for new teachers, and creating self-reflection tools for faculty and parents at the end of the year.
Hiring & Retention Practices The overall goal of this subcommittee is to build more equitable and inclusive practices in hiring new faculty and maintaining current faculty, such as creating standard procedures in the hiring processes and building practices that illustrate a supportive space for BIPOC and LGBTQ+.
Welcome Min Derry Our New Education Program Director
Newly created for the 2021/2022 school year is the Education Program Director, a leadership role to oversee the academics of the school and specifically Grades 1-8. We are thrilled to welcome Min Derry to our community in this position for next year. Min comes from UPenn’s Graduate School of Education where she has been a teaching fellow, researcher, and learning fellow in the Learning Resource Center, and previously had been a Fifth Grade teacher here in Philadelphia. She has been working with teachers in the area of pedagogy, instructional practices, and special education for many years. We look forward to her joining SPS and bringing her experience to this new role.
The SPS Fund As the Administration looks to the future of SPS and the school’s place in an ever-changing world, adaptability will continue to be critical. The Administration has chosen the Auction to initiate a new path of fundraising at St. Peter’s School, with the introduction and establishment of the SPS Fund. This fund will provide crucial support for teaching and learning at St. Peter’s. The SPS Fund will centralize all fundraising efforts at the School, creating one sustainable and adaptable funding source for the needs of our school, students, staff and community. It will continue to prioritize and provide the means for innovation to our space and classrooms, as well as support professional development and tuition assistance, while allowing SPS the versatility to meet what the future may bring. By establishing the SPS Fund, we will create a solid foundation which we can continue to build upon. This investment in the future will help ensure the longevity of St. Peter’s School for many years to come. As we look ahead, we encourage our community to give to the SPS Fund in the ways that are most comfortable to them — whether through auction participation, annual giving, planned gifts, tax credits, or another path. High levels of participation in giving programs is an important indicator of a strong school, and that is our hope for SPS.
The Eighth Grade Independent Study Project A Focus on Personal Identity & Community Activism The goal of this class is to empower students to investigate their identities and more deeply understand how our identities interact with the greater issues that surround us in our communities. This class focuses on empowerment, youth activism and connection to surroundings. The curriculum is divided into three parts: (1) personal and group identity, (2) community social issue investigation, knowledge building, and expert talks, and (3) student selection and deeper investigation of one community issue including action/inaction steps. The class is very much student-led and discussion-based, guided by what our eighth graders see and experience through the lens of a teen in Philadelphia. Students investigate community topics such as homelessness, LGBTQ+ equality, police brutality and incarceration, food availability, and environmental racism, among others. Students learn from community experts (Zoomed in this year!) who lend their knowledge and experiences to help build the Eighth Graders’ understanding of the complexity and multifaceted nature of these topics. Throughout, students connect back to their own identities, relating what they hear to their own opinions and experiences. Additionally throughout, students learn about activism, particularly the importance of activism within your own community and analyze historical examples of youth activists. As a culminating project, students will present their research on their chosen topic in a school-wide forum. “In this way, I hope for students to see that their personhood matters in the context of these community issues and discussions. I hope for the students to feel connected and empowered and to
see themselves as able activists… to feel that they have a space in creating just and equitable communities around them,” explains Ms. Bader, the program’s creator, who teaches it along with Ms. Rago. This program was created and developed through analysis of similar programs and curriculums, in addition to pulling from educational resources such as Teaching Tolerance, Facing History and Ourselves, and the Pollyanna Racial Literacy Curriculum.
Class of 2021 ISP Topics Jiaray Asian American History & Lack of Education Surrounding It Maisie Police Brutality Against Minorities Gavin Environmental Justice & Electric Cars of the Future Emma Homelessness Evie Global Child Health Crisis Julia LGBTQ+ and the Importance of Understanding William Gun Violence Bruno Homelessness Evan Environmental Justice & Hurricane Maria Alex Breaking Code Silence & Troubled Teen Industry Eleni Divestment Activism Sophia Including LGBTQ+ History Into School Curriculums
Class of 2021 High School Matriculation EVAN COHEN
Germantown Friends School
GAVIN EWING
Friends Select School
EMMA GIORDANO Friends’ Central School JULIA JALLO
Germantown Friends School
WILLIAM KESSLER Germantown Friends School SOPHIA LE
Friends Select School
BRUNO MICOLUCCI Saul High School of Agricultural Sciences ELENI MURPHY
St. Andrew’s School
EVIE PEASE
Quadrat Academy
MAISIE QUINN
Germantown Friends School
JIARAY SHI
Germantown Friends School
ALEX STEPHENS
Germantown Friends School
National History Day Accomplishments & Awards
The NHD 2021 theme was Communication in History: The Key to Understanding, and we are proud to announce that SPS Eighth Graders took home top prizes in several Junior categories at this year’s citywide contest in Philly. Of those who advanced to the state competition in early May by placing in the top three of their category, four students placed at the state level, and Emma & Jiaray and William all qualified for the National Contest. Congratulations to our Eighth Graders on all of their hard work and successes! CATEGORY: GROUP DOCUMENTARY
1st Place Citywide & 1st Place Statewide: Jiaray Shi and Emma Giordano, The Sting of the Wasp: Communication Through Political Cartoons During the Chinese Exclusion Era CATEGORY: INDIVIDUAL DOCUMENTARY
1st Place Citywide: Sophia Le, Psychedelia: The Visual Language of The Psychedelic ’60s 2nd Place Citywide & 2nd Place Statewide: William Kessler, Communication Through the ARPANET: the Key to Email CATEGORY: PAPER
1st Place Citywide & 5th Place Statewide: Eleni Murphy, Power and Communication: The Influence of Elite Philanthropy on Higher Education During the American Eugenics Movement 2nd Place Citywide: Evan Cohen, Hidden Histories in Today’s Children’s Literature: How Nursery Rhymes Preserve the Voice of the Common People in History 3rd Place Citywide: Alexandria Stephens, The Crisis Magazine: African-American Representation Through Communication Julia Jallo, Squashing Dissent: The FBI’s Attack on its Own People Maisie Quinn, Rise Up: Communicating Dissent and Gaining Power through Protest During the Stonewall Uprising CATEGORY: INDIVIDUAL WEBSITE
Pennsylvania NHD Teacher of the Year Ms. Cronin-Connolly won the Patricia Behring Teacher of the Year award in the junior division of the statewide contest, in recognition of the pivotal role she plays in the lives of students. Congratulations on this tremendous honor!
Honorable Mention Citywide: Gavin Ewing, Closing the Distance: The Invention of Morse Code
George Washington Carver Science Fair Congrats to our Seventh Graders for all of their hard work in preparing their project submissions for this year’s city-wide Science Fair. Special recognition to Lily and Liam, who advanced onto the second round of competition by placing in the top three of their categories! Lily Hearing, Misophonia, and Age – 2nd Place in Medicine Liam Wing Types and Plane Aerodynamics – 3rd Place in Engineering & Naval Science Award Bailey Crystal Creations – Phact Critical Thinking Award & Honorable Mention in Chemistry Connor Human Reaction to Pressure-filled Situations – Honorable Mention in Behavioral & Social Sciences Kiran Hydroponic vs. Soil-based Plants – Honorable Mention in Botany
Addie The Floating Egg – Honorable Mention in Chemistry Max Plant Growth & The Light Spectrum Jared Lima Bean Growth & Water Types William Age-Related Spiciness Reactions Noah The Power of Dish Soap Lydia Longer-lasting Whipped Cream Quinn Cloud Chambers & Particle Physics Deyon Soap Explosions & Heat Reactions
Kindness Poems
Written by SPS Fifth Graders Earlier this spring, the Fifth Graders read Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai as part of their Poetry Unit but also as part of the attention on the AAPI Experience and the Vietnam War. Led by US English Teacher, Mr. Abramowitz, the essential quest for this unit was to explore how we balance the public and private memorial of those affected by conflict. Students discussed some action steps they can take to spread more kindness, and read one of the most read poems in 2020, “Kindness” by Naomi Shihab Nye. Afterwards, each student wrote a poem in which they grappled and illustrated ways that the “tender gravity of kindness” (Nye) threads through the fabric of their lives. These poems demonstrate the resilience and meaningful work our students are doing with their learning. Each of their poems is unique to their life. Please enjoy these two examples of the students’ work. KINDNESS
KINDNESS
By Zach Ermey
By Milla George
There are many types of kindness. There are big kinds And small kinds.
I didn’t understand much. I sat on the cold, rough tree, watching my Siblings play like fools. Why would they want to chase around a squirrel? They’re brown hair floats in the wind, Around and around the park They go.
The big kinds can be understanding with empathy To people going through a hard time. Sometimes just even a simple smile. The small kinds can sometimes be better than the big. Like just waiting, waiting, and waiting for someone or giving somebody a soft pat on the back while holding a door. Or if someone is asking you to try a food they find delicious and you simply do even though you know you do not want to but still do. To watching a show they find intriguing. Being kind usually means people will be kind to you. That is not the reason to do it. Tell me that watching somebody smile because of something you did is not pleasant. There is stuff you need to do, to be kind. Like reaching into your heart, To find. Your beautiful self. Just remember not to be tart.
BAM! Haven fell. I immediately got up and helped him. “You-!” I was trying to find words. “You shouldn’t be playing that rough!” I ran back into the tree. A few minutes later, a voice comes behind me. “Wanna play with us?” I reject. Elliot goes out, sad. Little did I know that was an action of kindness. I go join them.
“ Poetry is language at its most distilled and most powerful.” RITA DOVE
Q A
With Mrs. Selzter And Two SPS Lifers
Two of our longest tenured students, Evan Cohen and Julia Jallo, who have been at SPS since Preschool, ask Mrs. Seltzer to reflect back on her 20 years at St. Peter’s School, as she bids farewell to the School. Q Julia Jallo: What are some of your
fondest memories with past students and classes at SPS?
A
Mrs. Seltzer: They all have to do with chance meetings I have with past students, especially the ones that were in ECD during my early years. When I’m out and about in Center City, when I hear my name called and I turn to see an alum who wants to stop and chat, not just say “hello,” my “bucket” is filled (as the kids in ECD would say). What a gift that they remember who I am and are interested in knowing about the school and how I’m doing!
Q
Evan Cohen: What was the most interesting thing you ever did at St. Peters?
A
Mrs. Seltzer: Since I’ve been here for 20 years, I have more than one... My 20 years are bookended my two major world events - the World Trade Center bombings on 9/11/01 (my first full week at SPS) and the pandemic.
It’s been a privilege to be part of some children’s lives for 11 years, watching them learn about life and themselves. Each April for approximately 14 years, Mrs. Susan Moore (past teacher and parent) and I took two kids to the Phillie Phanatic’s Birthday party at a Phillies game. This was our annual auction teacher treat!
There was a devastating fire in the PS and PK area in July of 2013 and all the PS and PK children, teachers, and I spent from September to December in a triple wide trailer with no running water and no bathrooms.
Q Julia Jallo: Could you name a few things about SPS that instantly bring a smile to your face?
A
Mrs. Seltzer: So many things about SPS!
Hearing the sounds of laughter, conversation, and learning in the halls and classrooms
The ECD Holiday Celebration.
Having proud Kindergarteners who just learned how to read ask me if they can read a book to me.
Dancing to “Little Red Caboose” and “Eliza Jane” with the PS and PK on May Day.
And last but not least GRADUATION! which brings smiles AND happy tears.
In 2003 I taught a PK homeroom (the Bunnies) full time while I was also the ECD Director.
Q
Evan Cohen: What was the best thing a student has ever said to you?
A
Mrs. Seltzer: My memory is full of so many, many wonderful things that have been said to me. I received this framed print (right), “Words that describe Mrs. Seltzer,” from the kids who are currently in 4th grade and were in PK in 2015-2016, and for me, sums them all up!
Preschool (Age 3) through Eighth Grade 319 Lombard Street, Philadelphia, PA 19147 | 215.925.3963 | st-peters-school.org