Vivian Nix-Early spends her Tuesday afternoons sitting on a bright, blue-carpeted floor surrounded by a handful of singing 4-year-olds. And she literally does not miss a note–singing everything from the participants’ names to the books on the shelf and the thank you’s when the students put their instruments away.
Nix-Early is co-founder and chief operations officer of BuildaBridge, an arts education and intervention nonprofit, located at 205 W. Tulpehocken St. in Germantown.
The organization is a practitioner in the power of the arts, bringing hope and healing to children, families and communities. It is one of the only organizations in… Read the full story »
BuildaBridge, located at 205 W. Tulpehocken St. in Germantown, is aimed at bringing hope and healing into the lives of children, families and communities in tough areas through the use of artistic gifts.
Co-founders J. Nathan Corbitt and Vivian Nix-Early both have musical backgrounds. Corbitt is a musician, music educator and ethnomusicologist, which is the study of music through anthropology. Nix-Early is a music therapist.
When the two met at Eastern University, they were asked to bring a team down to Costa Rica after an earthquake hit to work with a group of congregations of Jamaican decent.
“We did a music… Read the full story »
As the city honors its history of jazz music this month, Germantown’s jazz schedule looks no different than usual. Jazz Appreciation Month highlights what Germantown appreciates every month and even every week.
“I think we need more than a month,” drummer Robert Henderson said. “Since they picked April, you know, we’ll take that for now, but jazz is appreciated all year long.”
The LaRose Jazz Club, located at 5531 Germantown Ave., hosts the regular jazz jam sessions year round, lead by Henderson on Sundays. The club also hosts alto saxophone player Tony Williams’s band on Mondays.
“It’s great to… Read the full story »
Global nonprofit organization Junior Achievement works as a partner with AT&T’s Aspire initiative. Started in 1919, the model Junior Achievement employs connects young students with business professionals, providing students with life skills to succeed in a global economy. With 120 offices in the United States and agencies in more that 112 countries, Junior Achievement focuses on the core areas of financial literacy, entrepreneurship and work readiness.
Read more about the program at our partner’s web site at technicallyphilly.com
“… Read the full story »
Marie Perkins is a Germantown knows all too well the pains of violence in Germantown after living in the community for 42 years. Her 53-year-old son was robbed and gunned down in September 2011, dying from that incident weeks later. Perkins said that her son, a Germantown High School graduate and U.S. Army veteran, always helped her around her home.
“He was always giving a helping hand not only to me but to everyone. Me being a widower and living by myself he was always here. He was helpful in every way that he could possibly be,” Perkins said.
Even… Read the full story »
Maplewood Music Studio, located on 47 West Maplewood Mall, is set up much like an apartment. If you open the first door to your left, you walk down and narrow hallway, which eventually opens up into a living room. The room is filled with only the necessities – a baby grand piano sits in the corner and shelves full of sheet music. The reason why this place resembles a home is simple. Owner and founder of the music school Rich Rudin used to live here.
Established in 1980, the school proudly serves the musicians of Germantown and Chestnut Hill. It… Read the full story »
Every Saturday from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. a math tutoring course is held at the Joseph E. Coleman Northwest Library, located at 68 West Chelten Ave. in Germantown. Reverend Chester H. Williams was the compassionate individual who began hosting this mathematics course.
What makes this tutoring course so special is that anyone is welcome to join the session for no cost at all. Teachers are all state and federal-certified and want to take time to help people enhance their math skills. The class takes place in a spacious room where fruit, snacks and refreshments are provided to keep their… Read the full story »
West Oak Lane Charter School, located at 7115 Stenton Ave. in West Oak Lane, held its first annual Alumni Day this week.
Alumni from 2007 to 2011 filtered through the cafeteria doors, eager to tour through the new expansion their middle school added this past fall. Students currently attending the school were also invited to the event, and several round table discussions allowed alumni to share their high school experiences with the younger generation.
Arrie Bateman, an alumnus who attended the school in 2008, commented on the event.
“It’s definitely strange because it’s not the way it was when… Read the full story »
EducationWorks is a nonprofit organization that serves urban youth in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. One of the Philadelphia branches is located at 3149 Germantown Ave. and provides the youth of the city with in-school and out-of-school programs that encourage education and foster community citizenship. Through partnerships with community organizations, schools and families, EducationWorks is able to reach more than 20,000 urban students each year.
The extensive programming that EducationWorks provides is able to influence students’ lives in the classroom. As reported by EducationWorks, with regard to the 2008-09 school year, 68% of students in elementary school or above made grade… Read the full story »
As a non-profit organization, Mount Airy Learning Tree’s (MALT) educational services are not intended to bring any large profit. MALT Executive Director Jonna Naylor explained the fees attached to each of the organization’s approximately 250 seasonal classes facilitate its ability to continue offering its services.
“The goal of Mount Airy Learning Tree is to make enough money to keep the catalogue coming out,” she said “We cover our expenses for the current season, then make sure we can keep doing what we’re doing.”
MALT is part of Mount Airy Community Services Corp., a 501(c) 3 non-profit organization functioning as… Read the full story »
As Philadelphia schools face a budget deficit of $26 million this year, The Dow Chemical Co. is giving some schools the opportunity to expand their math and science programs this spring.
Scientists and research managers from Dow announced this week to a classroom full of students and faculty at the John L. Kinsey Elementary School, located at 6501 Limekiln Pike in West Oak Lane, that they would be receiving an $850.50 check to fund interactive science activities in the classroom.
Kinsey Elementary is among 14 other Philadelphia schools to receive these grants. The program, which is run by the Philadelphia … Read the full story »
Every Murder Is Real founder Victoria Greene took time this week to recall the 15th anniversary of the murder of her son, Emir Greene.
Greene and her eldest daughter, Chantay Love, typically take the day off, which was Monday, to honor the memory of the man for whom their organization gets its acronym, EMIR.
Upon arriving at their Victim Assistance Center on the 5200 block of Germantown Avenue for our interview, Love, co-founder and program director of the organization, received a call from a client about a navigating the legal system. Healing a community with a high rate of homicides is a never-ending battle… Read the full story »
A program of the Department of Journalism at the School of Communications and Theater at Temple University. Copyright 2012.