CLOSE UP by Brian Rudnick

Little Time for Citizen Voices at Pennsylvania State Rep's Town Hall Meeting

I often listen to BBC radio on WHYY in the wee hours of the morning and one of my favorite programs is “From our own correspondent,” reports from foreign correspondents but with a personal perspective.

In a similar vein, this is my subjective account of Pennsylvania State Representative Cherelle Parker’s 9th Ward Town Hall meeting at the Jenks public K-8 School last Thursday. It was the first in a series of five such meetings to be held in Parker’s 200th legislative district between now and March 25th.

Woodmere Art Museum showcases Green Woods student art

“The exhibit represents work by every student at the school from kindergarten through eighth grade. Most of the children have two pieces here. A few of them have up to four pieces I try to tie into the academic curriculum at Green Woods as much as I can. There’s a big environmental science curriculum. That’s the focus of our school. So, for first grade for instance, they studied the pond all year so a lot of work we do involves the pond, insects you might find around the pond, frogs… Siobhan is our eighth grader and her work is on the mailer and she did a primate. They were studying endangered species…..Right now I have seventh graders who have been studying protozoa. They had to design their own protozoa for science but then they bring their designs into art and we turn them into 3-dimensional sculptures…Sixth graders are studying ancient Egypt and they designed canopic jars. They are mostly animal heads. They were used in ancient Egypt to hold the organs before mummification took place.” Barbara Mail, Green Woods Charter School Art Teacher at the Woodmere Art Museum reception for student exhibit, “Stewards of the Earth.” Watch video here.

MLK Day Unitarian Society volunteers advocate for housing

"Dear Governor Rendell, I am a resident of Philadelphia and I see and hear about numerous families that have been broken and displaced because they have lost their homes and cannot afford housing I brought my daughters to MLK day and I have explained to them that although we are fortunate to have a roof over our heads there are a lot of families who are not as fortunate. Please find funding for affordable housing. We need to have a Pennsylvania Housing Trust Fund. Every family needs a home. Happy Valentine’s Day.” Phyllis Woods with daughter Tyra, Unitarian Society of Germantown, MLK Day of Service.

"We’re making a banner for Hearts for Homes and it’s going to go to Harrisburg, I think, in front of the governor." Linda Cherkins, left of Mount Airy, with Hannah Kanze-Eaton and mother, Jenn, of Royersford. Unitarian Society of Germantown, MLK Day of Service. Watch video here.

Primary Care Doctor: Patients should have a medical home

ANY OPINIONS ON HEALTH CARE REFORM? “I think any health care reform bill that helps people have a primary care doctor would probably be an improvement. It would be nice to see the whole bill in writing before it gets voted on so we can see exactly what’s in there. I think if it limits access to specialists or to other doctors, that would probably be a bad thing. So hopefully it will be a balance between lowering cost without restricting access to doctors… I think it would be an improvement for patients to have a medical home where there’s one doctor who knows all their conditions…” David R. Smith, MD, Chestnut Hill Family Medicine. Watch video interview here.

Alan and Nathan lament Borders Bookstore closing

YOU GUYS GOING TO MISS BORDERS? Alan: “Hugely, big-time.” Nathan: “Yeah.” Alan: “It’s going to be hard to live without Borders.” Nathan: “I’ve been coming here, since I was- five?” Alan: “For us, because we live at the bottom of the Hill, it’s a great destination so it gives us a place to go when we want to come somewhere. It’s a great place to walk to. We come here to do homework sometimes. I come to do some schoolwork And we see our neighbors. I mean, it’s really nice. It’s going to be tough. We don’t know where to go after this, especially to get all the good free samples. It’s going to really be missed. ”MAYBE ENOUGH OF US WEREN’T BUYING ENOUGH BOOKS? Alan: “I think that was it although I bought a lot of books here. Half of them I haven’t read yet but you start reading a book and get interested in it, then you buy it.” Alan Siegel and son, Nathan, Borders Bookstore café. Click here to watch video interview.

Kids Learn Circus Arts at Philly Circus School

IS CIRCUS GOING TO BE PART OF YOUR 2010 NEW YEAR? Tasha: “Yeah,” Princeton: “My kids love circus stuff” Tasha: “He thinks he knows how to juggle.” HAVE THEY DONE IT BEFORE? Tasha: “No this is their first time.” WHAT AGE ARE THEY?” Both: “Three and Ten” WHAT KIND OF STUFF DO YOU DO AT HOME? Princeton: “Juggling, all kind of weird stuff.” Tasha: “We have a circus at home” Princeon: “They just like to do tumbling and all kind of stuff.” Princeton and Tasha Davis at Philadelphia School of Circus Arts, Germantown.

Watch video here.