MITCHELL SCHOOL LIBRARY REOPENS – AND NEEDS VOLUNTEERS!

Libraries and librarians in the 215 public schools of Philadelphia are an endangered species. There are fewer than ten fulltime librarians and perhaps 30 libraries staffed by volunteers. One of the Wayne Presbyterian Church (WPC) Faith in Action CityLights partners is Mitchell Elementary School (K-8) located in the Kingsessing neighborhood of Southwest Philadelphia. Mitchell School has one of those volunteer libraries because WPC members and their friends have worked hard for nearly 20 years to create and manage the 10,000-book collection.

During the pandemic the library became a warehouse for supplies. Now students are gradually finding their way back. Kindergarten through 3rd grade classes visit one Tuesday a month to find and check out good books with the help of “personal librarians.” Currently, five WPC volunteers help on Tuesdays. In addition to helping select books, volunteers sit at tables with about five students and read with them.

Mitchell School could use twice as many volunteer “personal librarians” on Tuesdays. The young students love the focused attention. The goal is to open the world of books and reading for pleasure for all K-8 students at Mitchell School.

When older students heard that the K-3 classes were coming to the library, they started asking teachers when they could come. The library is now open for business every Tuesday for visits from the upper grades. Teachers send small groups or individual students to talk about books and find good books to read and check out.

If you would like to donate funds for new books or join other WPC volunteers on a Tuesday once a month to encourage readers, please contact WPC member Rita Fisk at ritahfisk@gmail.com or 484-744-9535.

Mitchell School Chess Team Update

Chess coach and teacher Jason Bui and his young Mitchell School chess players are very appreciative of Wayne Presbyterian Church’s generous support of $5,875, which has enabled them to travel to three big chess tournaments! They have already completed the first stop at the State Championships in Harrisburg. We wish the 10 competitors great growth and success as they make their moves in the upcoming tournaments.

About The Wpc Partnerships With Mitchell School

Twenty-three years ago, Mitchell School became a mission partner of the WPC CityLights program. CityLights is an urban ministry through which WPC partners with existing organizations in the Kingsessing area of Southwest Philadelphia. Scores of WPC members over the years have volunteered at Mitchell School as reading partners, read to large groups on Dr. Seuss Days, raised over $75,000 for playground equipment, created the Mitchell library, helped to build a violin program, raised funds for the Mitchell Chess Club, donated computers for graduation, and much more. In addition to the library, there are many other volunteer opportunities. Please contact WPC Liaisons for more information: Jane Beatty: 610.688.7529 (home), 610.220.7814 (cell) or jnbeatty@verizon.net; Rita Fisk: ritahfisk@gmail.com; or Wendy Norman: wnormanpa@yahoo.com.

After School Scholars At The Common Place Explore Black History And Art

byHuanBaum,DirectorofProgramming,

The Common Place

2023 has brought new beginnings for the TCP scholars! We have hired a new Art Specialist, Ms. Alesha, who is also part of the general staff. She has helped the scholars create their own art portfolios. Each week they have been working on projects such as landscaping, silhouettes, and mosaic art.

Along with the general art projects, scholars have been introduced to and become involved with the 1619 Project, which launched in August 2019 with a special issue of The New York Times Magazine. It includes essays and creative works by journalists, historians, and artists illuminating the legacy of slavery in the contemporary United States and highlighting the contributions of Black Americans to every aspect of American society. Our scholars created the “What America Means to Me” project to express their ideas of American society.

Along with the 1619 Project, scholars participated in Black History Month, learning about the contributions of African Americans such as George Crum, who invented the potato chip. Scholars engaged in making their own chips from peeled potatoes under the supervision of the staff.

The Common Place After School Scholars Program began in the fall of 2014. Today there are forty scholars enrolled in the program, which runs Monday through Friday from 2:30 - 6:00 p.m. The scholars come from three different neighborhood schools – Mitchell Elementary, Independence Charter School West and Cornerstone Christian Academy. The program serves students in kindergarten through eighth grade.

HELP HOST LOCAL FAMILIES IN NEED OF SUPPORT – RIGHT HERE AT WPC!

Are you looking for an opportunity to volunteer right here at Wayne Pres? Please consider helping out with one of WPC’s longstanding mission initiatives, Family Promise of the Main Line. Every few weeks, families who are homeless and receiving help through the Family Promise program reside each evening at various churches and synagogues along the main line. WPC and St. Katharine’s partner to provide volunteers who help during their week stay at WPC. Volunteer help includes setting up rooms for families to stay in, joining the families for dinner and fellowship, staying overnight in a private room, preparing and delivering dinner one evening, doing laundry after their stay, and so much more. Please consider joining us in this fabulous and meaningful mission of WPC.

Families can help make warm beds, serve dinner, play with kids and help make them feel supported while they are experiencing homelessness.

Our next host week is scheduled for May 14 - 21. We can always use new volunteers! It’s an easy couple of hours when friends can gather, families can volunteer together, and teens can earn service hours, all while knowing you are doing a good thing. Please contact one of the coordinators directly or email WPCIHN@ gmail.com for further information or to get on the distribution list.

Coordinators:

Leslie Dudt 610-256-2301

Susan Hirshman 610-563-4235

Nancy Monahan 610-248-6405

(from left Program coordinators and volunteers Nancy Monahan, Sue Ellen Larkin, Debbie Reiner and Susan Hirshman)

LOCAL MISSION: WPC AND BAKER INDUSTRIES SUPPORT GEMMA SERVICES

Gemma Services’ (formerly Rosemont Presbyterian Village)

Faith-In-Action

Council of supporting churches, which includes Wayne Presbyterian, learned that Gemma needed “stress relief putty” for the children and youth in all their programs. It just so happened that another of WPC’s local mission partners, Baker Industries, a nonprofit workforce development program serving hard-to-employ adults in our community (founded in 1980 by WPC members Charles and Weezie Baker to provide fulfilling work for their son Justin) has had a client relationship since 2011 with Aaron Muderick, CEO of Norristown firm Crazy Aaron’s Puttyworld (crazyaarons.com) that makes “Crazy Aaron’s Thinking Putty.” They make Thinking Putty® and “other creative, innovative products to inspire curiosity and wonder and to educate and delight our customers all over the world.”

So our local mission committee arranged to supply Gemma Services with 300 small tins of Thinking Putty. The putty was purchased at a discount, and we arranged for Baker Industries to print labels saying “Gemma Services” and apply heat seals on all the tins. This is the type of service Baker has provided Putty World in the past. The putty was delivered in July—in time for the start of classes at the Martin Luther School in Plymouth Meeting as well as for use in programs at the Preheim Center in southwest Philadelphia. The staff at Gemma especially liked the smaller tins because they are pocket-sized and the putty can be squeezed without being obvious and interfering with their concentration to the important tasks at hand.

Both Baker Industries and Gemma Services have opportunities to serve as volunteers in ways they welcome.

With locations in Malvern and Kensington, Baker Industries (bakerindustries.org) participants perform a variety of assembly, packaging, fulfillment and other services for business customers while participating in programs to build skills and find meaningful work providing a living wage. The organization welcomes groups or individuals to work alongside their workers on the job, providing positive interaction and teamwork. Baker is also always looking for businesses that need the services they provide.

Gemma Services (gemmaservices.org) operates the Martin Luther School in Plymouth Meeting where both residential and daytime students get academic and behavioral teaching because they were referred there for this help by their home school districts. Opportunities to volunteer include organizing a Sunday afternoon party for residential students, doing garden work on campus, and Thanksgiving and Christmas support.

For more information about these and other opportunities, contact Scott Laird (hslaird@aol.com).

Music

Sunday Music At Wayne Pres

Let “sweet hosannas” ring! The Children’s Choir is returning! Children in grades 1-5 will process with palm fronds and sing in the 9:30 worship service on Palm Sunday, April 2.

The Chancel choir sings nearly every Sunday. During Lent, we also enjoy sharing music at Ash Wednesday and Maundy Thursday services, as well as preparing for Easter, April 9, when we invite you – the congregation – to join us in singing the mighty “Hallelujah” Chorus. Looking for fellowship on Thursday nights? Even after a long day, singing in choir can boost your mood and open your eyes to God’s beauty all around us.

Youth in the Westminster Choir (grades 6-12) are currently preparing for Youth Sunday, April 16 – don’t miss it! If you’re not already part of Westminster, come join us for singing, fun, faith, and fellowship. And bring a friend! We rehearse Sundays from 5-6pm.

Our instrumental ensembles regularly share gifts of music in worship. Handbells ring on March 19 and on Easter Sunday, April 9. The Orchestra plays on March 26 and April 30. Stay tuned for more on Bell Sunday (June 4) and Orchestra Sunday (June 11).

Want to be on the email list for upcoming Music Transforms concerts? Email kirsten@waynepres.org.

Meet Paul Fleckenstein: Paul is assisting with organ music and choral accompanying from mid-January through mid-May. Recently retired from a long and distinguished career as Organist and Director of Music, Paul now enjoys assisting other churches in the Wilmington-Philadelphia area as interim/ substitute organist.

New members are welcome in our Sunday ensembles. Please contact Kirsten at kirsten@waynepres.org or (610)688-8700,x227formoreinformationonour vocal choirs, orchestra, and handbell choirs.

The Wayne Oratorio Society Presents

BEETHOVEN: MASS IN C & WILL TODD: MASS IN BLUE

APRIL 22 AND 23, 7:30PM

Please join us for a special concert that blends the interpretation of one sacred text by two gifted composers from different centuries and musical genres into a one glorious and intriguing musical event.

These two works for choir, orchestra, and jazz ensemble, use the same text, the Mass Ordinary (Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Benedictus, Agnus Dei) but fashion the music in completely different and intriguing ways. The first work is Beethoven’s revolutionary Mass in C, composed in 1803. This was his first attempt to write a piece of sacred music and one of his most dynamic and inspiring compositions. The second work for this concert is Will Todd’s Mass in Blue composed in 2003. Todd seamlessly weaves together the musical duality of his world – he’s an accomplished jazz pianist/composer but also writes using a post-modern classical choral language. While the instrumentation and choral writing are rooted in jazz harmony and rhythm, the choir and soprano soloist perform largely with traditional classical tone. This pairing allows both musicians and audiences to discover how these two very different settings of the same text equate to parallel expressions/ feelings of reverence, joy, and spirituality for both the performers and listeners.

Between them, Todd and Beethoven have delighted hundreds of thousands of concert goers. They are sure to do the same once again, April 22 and 23, 2023 with John Grecia conducting the 100+ member Choir, Orchestra and Jazz Ensemble. Put this on your calendar now. You don’t want to miss it! The concert is free. Your donations and free will offering benefit this concert and future concerts by The Wayne Oratorio Society. Scan and give here.