January 24, 2008 Issue                                       

©2007 The Chestnut Hill Local

Germantown High was hub of MLK service day projects
by Kristin Pazulski

Kira Williams, left, and her brother Tanner, both traveled from Maryland to join scores of others who participated in the Martin Luther King Day Of Service by helping to paint a mural of the Civil Rights leader at Germantown High School. The project was sponsored by the Mural Arts Program. (Photo by Erin Vertreace.)

Normally, on a federal holiday, the halls of Germantown High School are like most other school and office building hallways — quiet, empty and devoid of activity while students, teachers and staff take the day off.

But that was not the case this Monday, Jan. 21.

Germantown High’s halls were bustling, even more so than on a typical school day as students, teachers, staff and visitors volunteered on various projects to commemorate the efforts of Martin Luther King Jr.

“We’re giving people who don’t know what today is all about a better understanding,” said Ashley Cheatom, a student from Randolph Career Academy who was volunteering at the Wellness Fair at Germantown High.

This transformation of a day off into a day of service was the goal of Todd Bernstein and U.S. Senator Harris Wofford when they discussed starting the Day of Service back in 1988.

As reported in last week’s Local, Bernstein said, “The irony was that so many people fought for the recognition of King as a federal holiday, yet for millions it was just another day off with little or no recognition.”

The Martin Luther King Day of Service, which began 13 years ago and has since grown across the country, now helps Philadelphians and others remember the importance of community involvement and cooperation. The projects at Germantown High School, which was the hub of this year’s Greater Philadelphia Day of Service, focused on long-term involvement.

There were mentoring workshops and CPR training. Eye exams and the Wellness Fair promoted good health practices that could begin that day and last throughout the year.

Zakiyyah Abdul-Raheem, executive director of East Mt. Airy Neighbors, had the right idea about the day. She attended a session with Project Warm Heart about helping people winterize homes. She said it was good to participate today, but she wants today’s lesson to spark a yearlong project.

“I would love if West and East Mt. Airy could do it periodically, as the need arises,” she said. “A lot of times when you set one date, you either miss out on a lot of volunteers or you miss a lot of people that need the help. This is something that needs to be done all year long.”

Philadelphia Reads was recruiting reading coaches at the high school.

Anne Galbally, a former teacher who lives in Chestnut Hill, came to the high school’s service day just to sign up to be a coach.

“I have skills that I need to share to help Philadelphia kids grow more literate,” Galbally said. “It honors Martin Luther King’s message by caring for the community and joining together to work for change.”

Galbally and her daughter, Sarah, who already works for Philadelphia Reads, said teaching children to read and encouraging reading helps spread King’s message simply by creating a literate citizenry.

“You can’t truly be equal and participate in civic government unless you are literate,” the younger Galbally said.

Other events throughout the day celebrated cooperation, education and freedom of expression and were fun for participants.

The kid’s carnival offered popcorn and a long table of chess games. The Pennsylvania SPCA brought cats available for adoption, and the Franklin Institute set up a booth to teach younger children about electricity and energy — an odd addition on a day focused on civic engagement — but Paul Taylor, manager of the institute’s traveling education show, explained.

“Today is about being a good citizen and what that means to the world and its resources as well as to each other,” he said. So the lesson focused on comparing an incandescent light bulb to a fluorescent, energy-saving bulb, for example.

There were also musical performances in the classrooms. Germantown Friends School’s poetry club spent time singing, rapping and performing poetry together.

GFS junior Maya Williams was one of the performers and said that making music and poetry can be one of the best ways to send a message.

“If you feel a change needs to happen, people will listen more when you speak up,” she said, connecting King’s message with the group’s work.

Similarly, Brianna Hnath, a 7th grader from the Reading area visiting with Girls Today, Leaders Tomorrow, said that King to her represented a role model who spoke out for what he believed in and helped to teach her to be a leader.

“Martin Luther King was a big person,” she said. “He knew how to speak in front of a group and influence people.”

Donte Manning, who was at the high school on Monday with EducationWorks and was a spectator at its Peace Concert, said the biggest challenge was not just standing in front of a group, but influencing people with that effort.

“If people express feelings for change in music and poetry, that’s good because you need to let people know how you feel about things,” he said. “But the hard thing is getting people to listen to poetry and alternative styles of music.”

But whether the message came through music, poetry or simply by learning the history of Martin Luther King Jr., students and volunteers spent their “day off” serving their community instead of sitting around the house or sleeping in.

Contact staff writer Kristin Pazulski at 215-248-8819 or kristin@chestnuthilllocal.com.