Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter Supports Mastery Charter Student "Act of Citizenship" Demonstration
"Act of Citizenship" Demonstration Supported by Mayor Michael Nutter.
- Philadelphia, PA-NJ (1888PressRelease) September 22, 2011 - Mastery Charter Schools' Thomas Campus students participated in an act of citizenship demonstration on September11, 2011, in response to the series of violent flash mobs that occurred in Center City Philadelphia earlier this summer involving three Mastery Charter School students. After Mayor Michael Nutter commenced his remarks at Independence Hall, 40 purple-clad Mastery Charter School students rushed to the stage to recite a pledge to better the City of Philadelphia and to change the negative reputation that their school and students have suffered due to the violent acts of their fellow students involved in the flash mobs.
The group, prepared by Mastery's Dr. Tony Anderson, recited a pledge that began with, "We are tired of the violence, we are concerned about our community, we are tomorrow's leaders!" and closed echoing the event's theme: "We Honor! We Educate! We Serve!" The spontaneous demonstration was the result of collaboration between Mastery Charter School, led by Assistant Director for Community Engagement Erin Trent, and Generocity.org, a new online space for inspiring news and stories about nonprofits and civic engagement.
"We wanted to showcase the passion and determination of Philadelphia's young people and these students from Mastery were already working on a full-scale program of public service. This event simply helped to launch their campaign in which is alignment with the city's work to promote public and community service," commented Dave Raible, Executive Director of Generocity.
Mastery coordinated advance permission from the Mayor's office for the students to display their collective commitment to youth civic engagement through a demonstration.
"While we always have to recognize things from the past, we also have to come to grips with the fact that there will always be a future and these young people are the future of this city and this country," said Mayor Nutter. "So I'm very, very proud and I was very excited to be a part of it. I want to encourage more of this kind of activity in other events the city is a part of."
Mastery ninth-grader Reggie Spencer had this to say about the demonstration. "We need to get the word out to say that's not at all acceptable... youth are not all bad. There are various teens that are doing good in the community, who are all about peace and making a positive impact in the world, not just the community but in the world also."
Video of the group's demonstration is available at www.generocity.org or on YouTube at YouTube.com/GenerocityVideo.
About Generocity: An online space for public interest and civic engagement news and charity donation opportunities. Generocity.org is a place for people to connect around the same interests, concerns and passions and share news about their favorite nonprofits in the region. The website provides the region's most exhaustive guide to organizations making a difference in our community. To connect with Generocity on Facebook, go to Generocity. Follow Generocity on Twitter at Twitter.com/Generocity.
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