The doors of St. Hubert's and the other 16 Archdiocese of Philadelphia high schools will be open this week for prospective students. File photo/Shannon McDonald

High schools around the Archdiocese of Philadelphia are opening their doors this week and inviting prospective students to “see our schools.”

Part of the Faith in the Future Foundation’s marketing effort, the open houses will give future high school students and their families a chance to tour schools and speak with students and faculty.

Events began last night at Pope John Paul  II High School, and will continue through Sunday at all 17 high schools.

• St. Hubert’s High School: Thursday, March 22, 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
• Archbishop Ryan High School: Saturday, March 24, 2 p.m to 4 p.m.
• Father Judge High School, Sunday, March 25, 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Holmesburg Library. Image/Google Maps

If the Friends of Holmesburg Library had a mantra, these days it would be, “Help us help you.”

President Karen Lash was at Tuesday night’s Holmesburg Civic Association to recruit volunteers, seek creative fundraising ideas and promote several upcoming events at the library.

Complete with a new boiler but still waiting on roof repairs, the library has some of the highest circulations numbers in the city. And though city budget cuts forced the branch to eliminate its Saturday hours – peak days for fundraising – the staff is determined to let the neighborhood know about the library’s resources. The Friends of Holmesburg Library is one of 52 Friends groups in the city and is made up entirely of volunteers. continue reading »

Contestants dig their faces into pies during Holy Family University's Pi Day contest. Photo/Matthew Flowers

What better way to celebrate Pi Day, than diving head-first into delicious pudding pies?  That is exactly what math enthusiasts from Holy Family University did March 14 (National Pi Day), to share their love for the history of the mathematical symbol .

Pi, the symbol for the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter (3.14), was recognized as a national holiday by the House of Representatives in 2009, and has been celebrated annually ever since.

Using this day as a chance to explore the fun side of math and science, teachers and students across the United States hold different activities. The Pigers, Holy Family’s Math Club; and Kappa Mu Epsilon, the Math Honor Society, hold a pie-eating contest every year to celebrate Pi Day.  This year, 10 Holy Family students participated in the contest, with a $25 Wawa gift card as the prize. continue reading »

Danny Quinn playing and singing "Danny Boy" for WEL Pennypack residents. Photo/Michelle Alton

Tuesday Wesley Enhanced Living Pennypack held a Community Irish Festival with a live performance by musician Danny Quinn.

Residents of the retirement community had a chance to sing and dance to their favorite Irish tunes and feast on Irish foods and drinks.

See our slideshow below for more photos from the event. continue reading »

Ryerss Museum and Library. Photo/G. E. Reutter

Do you enjoy the Antiques Road Show? Have an item passed down from generation to generation or picked up that unique piece at a flea market?

The Friends of Ryerss Museum and Library are hosting a antiques appraisal day on March 17 from noon to 3 p.m. Appraisers from Barry S. Slosberg will be available to those desiring to find out if that heirloom or found item has a monetary value. All items are welcome except books, coins, stamps and weapons. Photographs of items are acceptable. continue reading »

Mayor Michael Nutter (hat) meets Heavy Hitta's boxing coach Lonnie Haile at the 2011 Philly Spring Cleanup on Rising Sun Avenue. Also pictured on left are clean-up organizers Kathy Wersinger of 9th District Councilwoman Marian Tasco's office and Matt Taubenberger of the Rising Sun Avenue Business Association. Photo/Ian Romano

The countdown is on for the fifth annual Philly Spring Cleanup, and residents can now register to volunteer for projects in their neighborhood.

“Thousands of volunteers, hundreds of projects and millions of pounds of trash and recycling have been collected over the last four years,” Mayor Michael Nutter said in his announcement yesterday in Kensington. “We’ve accomplished a lot, but I know we can do better this year.” continue reading »

The scope of tonight’s Mayfair Town Watch meeting has changed. What President Milt Martelack originally intended to be a meeting about the upcoming Shamrock Shuttle will now be a meeting to address the recent acts of vandalism residents have experience.

For the past few weekends, Mayfair residents have woken up to find their cards had been vandalized – side panels graffitied, tires slashed or missing.

“Mayfair is not a bad neighborhood,” Martelack said, despite the attention it’s been getting for the recent crimes. Martelack will host tonight’s meeting at the John Perzel Community Center [map] at 8 p.m.

Students were the winners at the 2012 Northeast High School Talent Show. Photo/Christopher Wink

Organized it wasn’t, but that mattered little to the crowd that packed the Northeast High School auditorium Thursday night to see students, teachers and Tony Danza perform in a talent show.

Danza spent the 2009-10 school year teaching an English class at the school for his A&E reality series “Teach.” It was then that he helped the students put on an “ExtravaDanza” talent show, which he came back this year to repeat.

Students and teachers took turns performing while Danza teamed up with senior Nakiya Robley to emcee and keep the crowd entertained as the crew worked backstage to get the next performers ready with their mics. continue reading »

Flickr Photo/tom_allen

Interstate 95 is a much-used highway in Philadelphia. It also happens to separate parts of neighborhoods like Wissinoming, Tacony, Holmesburg, Upper Holmesburg and Torresdale from the Delaware River waterfront. It’s a commonality many of Philadelphia’s eastern-most neighborhoods share.

As plans to develop and revitalize the city’s waterfronts move forward, the conversation has shifted toward the highway and the intrusion it’s become.

Thursday, the Center for Environmental Policy at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University and Next American City will host “Reimagining Urban Highways.” continue reading »

Holmesburg Prison, as seen from Torresdale Avenue. Photo/Christopher Wink

Like in any prison, the walls of Holmesburg Prison tell its story. Two Spanish artists are bringing those tales to life with their Doing Time | Depth of Surface  exhibit at The Galleries at Moore College of Art & Design.

María Jesús González and Patricia Gómez will display large-scale prints, photographs and related videos from their time working in the prison. They use a technique to preserve surfaces by detaching the paint with glues and fabric and transferring the paint to a new canvas. They detail that process in an interview with Philagrafika. continue reading »