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Philadelphia Youth Getting Ready for the Future

Last month, there was no question that a group of soon to be graduates of the Philadelphia public schools were getting ready for their future. Seven (7) students, representing a cross section of the city's student population, were awarded scholarships by the Mayor's Telecommunications Policy Advisory Commission and The Workforce 2000 Advisory Council to continue their education in information and computer technology.

At the awards ceremony in City Hall in the Mayor's Reception Room, Dianah L. Neff, Philadelphia's new Chief Information Officer, and Ron Daniels, the School District's Chief Information Officer congratulated scholarship winners Eric Rapisan, America Qunitella and John Giles of Bartram High School Academy of Finance, who successfully competed in a Regional Computer Competition; and Camille Campbell and Joshua Young from George Washington Carver High School of Engineering & Science, Randy Steward, Furness High School, and Jiaho Ma, South Philadelphia High School, the winners of an essay contest on the "Significant Contributions of Africans Americans in Technology."

Councilwoman Donna Reed Miller, Chair of the City Council Education Committee and Sharon Franklin, Director of Government and Community Relations, Comcast Cablevision of Philadelphia, one of the scholarship sponsors, joined me in awarding the scholarships. Augusta Clark, Secretary, Boards, Commissions, Authorities and Agencies, encouraged the scholarship recipients, who will be graduating next week, to strive for excellence and sharpen their skills to be ready to meet 21st century workforce demands. And, Ursula Willis, Director, Learning Technologies Support, School District of Philadelphia, emphasized the School District's focus on technical education, and highlighted the types of programs currently offered and what's planned for the next school year.

Other scholarship sponsors there to encourage the winners were Ted Dorand, PECO Energy, Ed Coppinger and Chris Owens, representing IBEW Local #98, and Susan Chang, the Ben Franklin Technology Partnership. TPAC representatives in attendance included Bill Weber, WHYY and Bernadine Hawes, University City Science Center. Susan Albertine, Leslie Mitts, and Pat Hecht, members of the School District's Computer & Technology Stakeholder Partnership, also in attendance to give the winners a great send off, as was Carol Austin, from the Office of Education for Employment, who was instrumental in coordinating the competition in the high schools.

As another incentive for the graduates, I was pleased to announce the new Ben Franklin/ITT Technology Innovation Scholarship. The two first place winners of this competition will each receive a $10,000 scholarship to attend the new ITT Technical Institute in Bensalem, PA, beginning September 2001. One award will be presented to a candidate pursuing a career in information technology, while the other will be given to a candidate pursuing a career in computers and electronics. If you're ready to get ready, you too can download the scholarship application at the www.techphila.org. Applications may also be picked up at the ITT Technical Institute in Bensalem at 3330 Tillman Drive, Bensalem, PA 19020 or by calling 215-244-8871. Information on the new e-Commerce Certificate Program at La Salle University was also distributed. For more information on this and other scholarship programs, call 215-951-1826 or log onto their web site at www.lasalle.edu/academ/ecommerce.

What are you doing in your town to help your young people get ready? Email us your accomplishments so that we can share them on the site. Who know, your idea just might inspire others.