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If there’s one thing in this city that needs, it’s improved public schools. (And a waterpark in Fairmount.)
Making the schools better will, obviously, be a slow process. The most deficient areas should be addressed first. And if there’s one thing that the schools are lacking, it’s classes teaching kids how to cook:
A South Philadelphia community activist, author, and grandmother of five says she wants home economics classes back in school.
Shahrazad Ali arrived in South Philadelphia in 1985 from Atlanta and has been working tirelessly for her adopted home ever since. Her latest campaign is to reinstate home economics classes in the Philadelphia school district.
According to Ali, the classes not only help kids (many of whom are raising kids themselves) take care of a home, but also teach life-management skills to survive in the real world:
“Put them in the kitchen. Let them bake and sew and cook. And learn how to do consumer shopping, work appliances, and use a measuring cup and a measuring spoon. And I thought it would just be so wonderful for our girls — and our boys. Some of the best chefs in the world are men.”
Mrs. Ali is circulating petitions and gathering signatures to present to the School Reform Commission.
Like with the laptops at the Microsoft School, the schools should also be sure to instruct that if someone attempts to steal your measuring cup and spoon, you should just give it up.
Philadelphia Activist Fights for Return of Home Economics Classes [KYW 1060]
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