The 11th-grader begins each day at Shallcross Academy attending Townhouse, a social gathering in which students from different grades come together to discuss their issues and brainstorm on how to make the day successful.

Like most of her schoolmates, Reed, 18, was sent to Shallcross because she was acting out at her previous school, Woodrow Wilson. By the time the tumultuous teen hit the 10th grade, she was infamous for disrespecting her teachers, fighting and throwing paper balls in class. Reed says her friends constantly urged her to misbehave. And she gladly obliged.

“I felt as though I was the class clown,” she says. “The class used to laugh with me, but I soon realized that they were just laughing at me.”

When it became clear that Reed couldn’t make it in a traditional school setting, she was removed from Wilson and enrolled at Shallcross Academy, one of the city’s four Camelot schools. For more than 30 years, the Camelot Schools of Philadelphia have built a reputation making positive contributions to the lives of students who would otherwise fall through the cracks. Camelot’s outcome-oriented residential treatment centers, therapeutic day schools and alternative-education programs seek to help children dealing with autism and mental-health and behavioral problems. The Camelot schools also work with kids who are in danger of dropping out of school, and those like Reed, who can’t or won’t achieve academically because of disciplinary or learning challenges.

Reed says it was hard adjusting to the structure and discipline affiliated with Camelot schools, but it was just what the rowdy teen needed.

Read the full story here…

Jamal Nasir was 15 the first time he sold drugs. It was an easy choice for the gullible teenager: As a Baltimore high school student in the late ’80s, he watched many of his peers arrive at school sporting flashy clothes, showcasing new cars and brandishing huge wads of cash.

“It was eye-catching,” says Nasir, who lives in North Philadelphia. “These guys had all the girls and made the football and basketball players seem obsolete. I wanted to be part of the team.”

Being a player on the drug-dealing team was as easy back then as it is today: Nasir and a friend were recruited and given a package of crack along with instructions to bring back half the money they made.

“I would go out there on the corner and within 20 minutes that stuff would be gone,” he says.

Before long, the teen had enough cash rolling in to keep him hooked in the lifestyle. But the game has a way of turning on its players, and within a few years Nasir’s choice started him down a 20-year path of crime and prison stints. He got caught in his first undercover sting at the not-so-tender age of 17, and served 30 days in a juvenile detention center.

Read the full story here…

I actually got my books signed by Mrs. Black this past Saturday, lucky me. Presently I am reading “The Hobbit” and a few graphic novels on the side, so I have not had the chance to read this one. This semester at CCP just ended for me so I’m getting back into the swing of things…

Sponsored by Power 99 FM, the panel will be moderated by Dr. Marc Lamont Hill of Columbia University.

Panelists include the first African-American District Attorney of Philadelphia, Seth Williams, Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas Judge Renee Cardwell Hughes, actor Hosea Chanchez, better known as Malik from the sitcom “The Game”, bestselling author Terri Woods, Jamira Burley of the Philadelphia Youth Commission, and Kevin Harden, Jr., a student at the Temple University Beasley School of Law.

Doors open at 4 PM on December 10, 2009. The townhall meeting will begin at 5 PM. The South Philadelphia High School is located at Broad & Snyder Streets in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Philadelphia Community Access Media (PhillyCAM) began cable casting on Comcast 66/966 and Verizon FIOS 29/30 on Friday, October 23, 2009.  This is a momentous event in a city that struggled for over 27 years to launch a public access television channel to allow citizens the democratic right to communicate with each other.

PhillyCAM will provide Philadelphia residents and organizations with the opportunity to communicate with each other through the creation and distribution of non-commercial media and access to media-making tools, training and opportunities for interaction between diverse communities.  All Philadelphians, not just the influential, will have the opportunity to make and watch programs about themselves, their lives, and interests, as well as utilize other new technologies.

It’s on! If you live in Philadelphia you can see PhillyCAM on Comcast 66/966 and Verizon Fios 29/30.

 Get in the Picture

 Calling all Philadelphia media makers, PhillyCAM is seeking programming of all genres to show – documentaries, shorts, music videos, narratives, news programs, educational videos and youth-produced work.

Download a Programming Submission Form or email us at programming@phillycam.org.

Public access serves as an “electronic park” where people from all communities have the opportunity to share their views and information on just about anything. But it’s only as strong as its membership. Plus in the coming months PhillyCAM members will be able to take advantage of training, equipment access and other production opportunities.

 PhillyCAM

4212 Chestnut Street, 3rd Fl,  Philadelphia  PA  19104

 Contact us: info@phillycam.org

I cannot write and say that I didn’t notice something was a little off with my companion. She was getting tired very quickly during our weekly Sunday walks, I could feel her spine, and there were even times when she lost her balance. However, she seemed perfectly fine, and was acting like herself.

The year prior Ikea (kea, I often called) had surgery, her breast had enlarged and needed to be cut off. The veterinarian told me that she had breast cancer and that they were ready to operate if I was ready, I said “I’m ready”. During this time I decided to let the veterinarian do the basic test that they either needed to do or suggested. After the surgery Kea seemed perfectly fine, a little drugged, but fine.

Yesterday as I prepared to take her for a walk she came out of her dog house slowly and it was then that I noticed the cancer had returned, perhaps it never really left. Kea had lost weight dramatically, so much in fact that her skull could be felt. She was unable to walk, trouble breathing, very thirsty, and a strange odor, some symptoms of dog cancer.

As my mom, myself, and everyone in my house scrambled to find a ride to get her to the hospital Kea rested her head beside me, sometimes resting it on the floor. Finally around 3 p.m. my mom found someone to take me and my sister’s father to the hospital on the way there I held Kea while telling her that I was not going to let anything happen to her, that I was right there with her.

We arrived at the hospital where my sister’s father hopped out and ran to get the veterinarians. I’m not sure what he told them specifically, but they already had the option of putting her to sleep open. I filled out the paper work, not knowing where my friend was, or how scared she must have been.

“Do you want to be present?” the receptionist asked.

“Yes” I replied.

I waited in a small room, boxes of tissues were already waiting, and Kea was pushed in too weak to really put up a fight with these unfamiliar hands touching her. The entire story was told to the doctor, who had already had the needles, and told me what it was he was going to do.

“First injection will put her to sleep; the second will stop her heart.”

I held Kea’s head and patted it repeatedly as I told her how sorry I was, how her pain was my fault, and how I should have paid more attention to her. How we had good times chasing the squirrels and cats and as I went on with these funny tales, the doctor uttered the words that I didn’t want to her…

“She’s gone.”

My house is quiet now, Ikea is gone, and it hurts so much.

The rally had spurred from two shootings that had taken place that week. The second shooting that happened, last Wednesday, left eight bullets entering the home of one of my co-workers , Ms. Yvonne, damaging her walls and nearly striking her 5 year old daughter.

For the web article my initial plan was to get an account of Ms. Yvonne’s day leading up to when she arrived home from attending Project HOME’s 20th anniversary celebration,  to when the bullets began firing. I was unsuccessful in talking to her first, a journalist from either the Inquirer or some other publication beat me to it.

Though after the rally was over Ms. Yvonne wanted to be left alone and have some time with her family, after the ordeal who could blame her. I had tried calling her over the weekend but still was unable to talk to her, she was either asleep or just didn’t feel like talking at the moment. I was really feeling the pressure of getting the piece done, not only to meet the word count (600-800 words) but to make it something that the reader could get into, even if it was just a short coverage.

That Sunday I worked all that on the article, visiting the Project HOME website for info on Rowan Homes where the rally took place, to calling the co-executive of Project HOME and community leader, Helen Brown. From the lenght it doesn’t seem like it was a lot to be written, but it took time, and I wanted this article to be near perfect.

At around or near 9 p.m. the article was finished and sent off to the weekly, that Monday I received a call from their web editor, and later on in the day it went up.  Perhaps not so much of an exciting process towards getting an article done, but its a great feelinig having people actually read your work, from a wider audience than that of the NPM I should say.

I am working on another peice for the weekly, its proving a little harder than anything I had worked on previously…

Check out the link in the News section of the site.

Yikes!, school is back in session already, where have I been these past few months? I would like to say that a lot was done this summer, working with a group of loverly third graders, sleeping in later, working at a loverly cafe’ with loverly co-workers, and  having the chance to help out with the Philadelphia Public School Notebook’s Fall Guide, the first and hopefully not the last.  The ‘guide will be out the first day of school (September 8), so make sure to grab a copy, I’ll have a link up to the actual publication if one is set up in the ‘News’ section of the site.  A post  about my experience at the Notebook, as well as a few others will be up soon, so stay tuned.

By the way, for some reason there is a special connection being felt with the cover photo taken by Mr. Harvey Finkle

UPDATE: The Guide is up, and I have the link posted in the ‘News’ section

One of the things that make the summer season worthwhile for me, is having the chance to sell Alex’s Lemonade. A few years back I had the chance of meeting Alex’s father, Jay Scott, when dropping of a donation to the organization. He was so thankful that he gave me and those who had accompanied me some souvenirs, hats, keychains, and the story of Alex and her lemonade mission.

It felt great donating to such a worthy cause such as Alex’s, so much in fact that each summer season I have been selling Alex’s Lemonade, attempting to raise a good amount of money that can be donated like before. So far this summer, $176.00

Despsite these rough times, we can still help each other out and what’s the worst that can happen when we do, feel bad about doing something good?