B4 NOVEMBER 25-DECEMBER 1, 2009 YOUTH NEW PITTSBURGH COURIER
Hill District education council suggests school changes
by Rebecca Nuttall
the schools at all. support on every step
The options de- we take so that the
Courier Staff Writer
signed for Miller are council isn’t just doing
At a community con- to keep it African-cen- it,” Monroe said. “We
ference on education in tered and add foreign need some parents at
the Hill District, those language options or to the table.”
in attendance had a make it a foreign lan- Monroe and fellow
chance to vote on three guage partial magnet. council co-chair Sala
models for the future of The third option Udin encouraged the
their elementary would add a foreign group to help get more
schools. The models, de- language option, but people involved as only
veloped by the Hill Dis- change the school into an estimated 40 people
trict Education Council, an African Arts attended the meeting.
recommended the con- Academy. After further meetings,
version of the schools to Under all options for they said they will take
partial magnets or Weil, the school would the agreed upon mod-
adding optional pro- remain an accelerated els to the school board.
grams focusing on tech- learning academy and “Everyone came out
nology and science as add foreign language today and participated,
well as a foreign lan- options. The differ- but it doesn’t mean
guage. ence would be making necessarily you’re com-
“We believe we can de- the school a partial mitted,” Udin said.
PHOTOS BY J.L. MARTELLO
velop an excellent edu- technology and sci- “This is going to be a
LOOKING BACK—Sala Udin opens
cation in the Hill,” said
FED UP—Randall Taylor speaks out
ence magnet or
STAY THE COURSE—Rev. Johnnie
long road for us to get
the meeting with a history of educa-
council co-chair Rev.
against possible school closings.
adding technology
Monroe urges the group to remain ac-
this done.”
tion in the Hill District.
tive.
Johnnie Monroe. “We and science or envi- School board repre-
want to put to rest the with the remaining build- ronmental studies options. health services. sentatives, Thomas Sump- “He mismanaged the
myth that Black kids can’t ing to house an early child- Most of the group was on Overall the community ter, District 3; Randall Tay- school closing process the
learn.” hood center or community board with the proposal to felt priority should be lor, District 1; Mark Brent- first time. If you sit back
The three Hill District el- and family resource center. change Vann into a center, given to Hill District resi- ley, district 8; and future and think he’s not going to
ementary schools, Miller Many members of the but many wanted both a dents for whatever new District 1 representative make mistakes again,
PreK-5, Weil PreK-5 and community, made up of early childhood center for programs were brought Sharene Shealey also at- you’re sadly mistaken,”
Vann K-5, could undergo parents, teachers, pastors all Hill District Pre-K stu- into the schools. They said tended the meeting. Taylor Taylor said. “We need to
several changes in light of and other education profes- dents as well as a commu- a partial magnet would di- was especially critical of come together as a city.”
a report recommending the sionals, wanted more infor- nity and family resource vide the students and tier the school closing recom- A meeting to discuss pos-
closing of the Vann build- mation before they voted center with programs such systems wouldn’t give all mendations and Superin- sible school closings across
ing. For this reason the on the models. Some of as, adult education, after students the same opportu- tendent Mark Roosevelt’s the district is scheduled for
council designed models for them were not ready to ac- school programming, fam- nities. handling of past school Nov. 23 from 6-9 p.m. at
two elementary schools cept the closing of one of ily support and mental “We’re going to need your closings. the Reizenstein building.
Family, friends gather to honor ‘one of a kind’
Tribute to
Kyle Wilson
Family and friends paid
tribute to a “one of a kind,”
young son, teammate,
grandson and promise of
hope, Kyle B. Wilson, at
the Heinz Field East Club
lounge. The talented saxo-
phonist Derek Redd, enter-
tained family and guests in
the Grand Hall.
The evening began with
cocktails and greetings as
many selected their items
to bid on during the silent
KYLE’S NO. 23 JERSEY AUGUST WILSON DANCE ENSEMBLE
auction. The 17-year-old
student at Central Catholic
High School, Kyle B. Wil-
son, who would have been
a senior this year, died on
Oct. 28, 2008 when an
artery in his brain rup-
tured and caused a stroke.
Although saddened by his
passing, his life was cele-
brated with loving memo-
ries and a moving tribute
of poetry, by Pittsburgh
native poet Laurette,
Vanessa Germane, a spiri-
tual mime performed by
Davar Ferguson and a bal-
let performance by the Au-
gust Wilson Center Dance
Ensemble, choreographed
by Greer Jones.
Several items were dis-
played for the silent auc-
tion such as, a painting by
Pittsburgh born artist,
Douglas J. Webster, Kyle’s
number 23 jersey and sev-
eral baskets filled with a
variety of items, however,
the item that particularly
tugged at every one’s heart
was a 12- week-old
Labrador puppy named
“Tori,” which at final auc-
tion, was purchased for
GRANDPARENTS—Kyle’s grandparents, Shelly and Roosevelt
$750 by Everett McElveen,
Jones.
who incidentally, bid by
proxy over the phone, for a
family with a young son
who is suffering with a tra-
cheotomy who wanted
FAMILY—Derrick Wilson, father; Derrick Knox, Lisa Wilson, step mother; Chace Knox, Amaya
their son to have the dog
Faulkner, Aubrey Wilson and Ashleigh Wilson.
after he recovers. The
evening was topped off
with special presentations
to those who meant so
much to the Wilson and
Faulkner families. The
first of many to come were
scholarships awarded to
three students of Central
Catholic High School. They
were: Jumbe Phiri, who
now attends St. Vincent
College majoring in inter-
national business, David
“DJ” Myers, a current
Central Catholic High Stu-
dent who transferred from
Aliquippa High School and
maintains a 3.5 GPA and a
leader on the football field
and Stephawn Feather-
stone, who grew up in
Homewood but now lives
in the West End. Feather-
stone is a senior at Central
Catholic and received
Rookie of the Year honors
in 2008 for wrestling. He is
PHOTOS BY ROSSANO P. STEWART
also the captain of the foot-
ball team and maintains a
SCHOLARS—Scholarship recipients, from left: David “DJ” Meyers, Jumbe Phiri and Stephawn
3.0 GPA.
PARENTS—Stephanie, mother, and Floyd Faulkner, stepfather. Featherstone.
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