The spring 2016 issue of the Educator, the magazine of the Temple University College of Education, features the extensive partnerships the college has forged with the two Philadelphia School District elementary schools that are closest to the university’s North Philadelphia campus. The partnerships are funded by a federal grant awarded to the City of Philadelphia–with Temple as the grant’s lead educational partner–to improve the lives of the residents of the nearby Norris Homes.

To research the partnerships, which include services offered by the College of Education and by outside vendors selected by the college, such as an after-school science, technology, engineering, art and math program, I spent one morning and one afternoon at Tanner G. Duckrey School. The most serendipitous moment occurred when a young girl who had celebrated her sixth birthday the previous day asked me to read a book with her during the first-grade Reading Hour–which involves trained Temple student volunteers reading with small groups. Pointing to an illustration of a freshly baked apple pie, with a great smile she told me that her mother had just baked one for her birthday.

I’ve been the chief writer for the College of Education’s publications, including the Educator, for the past decade. The magazine’s other feature story focuses on graduates who pursued careers outside the classroom, including an executive head hunter, Aetna’s chief technology officer and the global head of web and online platforms for J.P. Morgan Wealth Management.

Besides handling most of the writing, I also edit the rest of the copy and provide project management services.

To view the latest Educator, please click here.