Conestoga High School, Berwyn PA, 19312
Volume 73 No. 3
January 17, 2023
www.spoke.news
disproportionate diversity
Impacts of teacher racial diversity on Pennsylvania and TESD schools
Desegregation and the teachers of color shortage Aren Framil
Co-Design Editor
Photo Illustration by Aren Framil and George Zhang/The SPOKE
Racial reflection: Sophomore Senae Harris looks into a mirror and sees English teacher Christopher Brown reflected back at her. A Research for Action study in 2022 showed that teachers of color can make students of color feel represented in their education
By Jui Bhatia, Aren Framil and Soumya Sathyanarayana, Managing Editor, Co-Design Editor and Co-Webmaster When sophomore Senae Harris thinks back to her time at Valley Forge Elementary School, she recalls walking through the hallway and seeing the only Black teacher in the school — one who never taught her.
“In elementary school, I didn’t even have the only African American teacher in the school, Mrs. Hayes, but just seeing her in the hallway made me feel so special,” Harris said. “Seeing somebody that looks like you makes you feel like you can do anything.” In 2017, when Harris completed fourth grade, she was one of the 40% of the 532 students at Valley Forge Elementary School whose guardians identified them as people of color. In the same year, 9% of the 32 teachers at the school self-reported as non-white.
Today, these percentages remain the same at a district-wide level. At the beginning of the 2022-23 school year, 40% of the Tredyffrin/Easttown School District’s student body self-reported as non-white during registration, as did 9% of the staff, according to Dr. Oscar Torres, Director of Equity and Public Programs for TESD. At Conestoga, the pattern is similar to the district as a whole, with 37% of students and 9% of teachers self-reporting as nonwhite (see pg. 3, Fig. 1).
In 2021, TESD ranked second in Chester County in teacher diversity after Coatesville Area School District. Across Pennsylvania, 99% of public school districts have a lower racial diversity rate among their teaching staff than among their student population, according to the nonprofit research education organization Research for Action. In April 2022, RFA released its project “The Need for More Teachers of Color,” which investigated the racial diversity among teachers in Pennsylvania. In
TESD, teachers self-report their race when the district first employs them. The study found that in 36% of Pennsylvania public school districts, there is not one teacher of color, and in 56% of Pennsylvania public school districts, teachers of color make up less than 5% of the teaching staff. In 7% of districts — including TESD — teachers of color make up 5-20 percent of the teaching staff (see pg. 3, Fig. 3). Continued on page 3.
In the 1960s, before desegregation, only 5% of Black students attended integrated schools, according to a study by the National Bureau of Economic Research. By 1970, that number rose to more than 90%. According to Cindy Long from the National Education Association, while desegregation was a major step forward for the civil rights movement, Black teachers in segregated schools had provided much-needed support for Black students. During integration, however, their numbers dropped, as many white parents and school board members didn’t want white students having Black teachers. “With limited professional options, many well-educated Black people became teachers who passed on a thirst for knowledge to their pupils. They developed rigorous curriculum that challenged and inspired them, and though society told Black children that they were second-class citizens, educators taught them that they had the same inner resources and potential as any human being,” Long wrote in an article for the NEA. In the decades after the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education ruling, which declared racial segregation in schools unconstitution-
al, the number of Black teachers in American public schools declined, according to a 2018 research paper by Amber Montalvo, a graduate from Trinity College. Black teachers were an important factor in the drive to desegregate schools, as well. However, according to Vanessa Siddle Walker, author of the book “The Lost Education of Horace Tate: Uncovering the Hidden Heroes Who Fought For Justice In Schools,” which details how southern Black educators fought for justice in schools, they had a different vision for education. “What they wanted was access—to newer school buildings and textbooks, bus transportation, science equipment, and playgrounds,” Walker said in an interview with The Atlantic. “They wanted for Black children what many white people already had for their children.” But this wasn’t the outcome. Pushback from white administrators, parents and teachers who didn’t want Black educators teaching white children led to an overall decline in Black teaching staff. “It was (Black educators’) expectation that integration would retain the aspiration and advocacy, and they would gain access.” Walker said. “Instead, with integration, they closed most of the Black schools and fired many of the Black teachers — there goes the aspiring school climates.”
Wellness Week returns to student body Tanisha Agrawal Staff Reporter
Remington Vaughan/The SPOKE
Handel’s handoff: The ice cream parlor’s old building now sits abandoned. Buck Buchanan, the owner of the shop, moved the community staple across the street last fall.
Handel’s building developments Remington Vaughan Staff Reporter
Handel’s Homemade Ice Cream and Yogurt, a cornerstone staple of the Conestoga community, left its home at 576 Lancaster Ave. last year. The ice cream emporium has since relocated across the street, but the fate of the old building remains uncertain. In December 2019, Todd Pohlig of Pohlig Custom Homes and his team, David Della Porta and Don Tracy of Cornerstone Tracy LLC, proposed their development plan for the strip of now entirely abandoned buildings along Lancaster Avenue Their development would be “a four-story, 150,000-squarefoot mixed-use development with Handel’s and one or two small retailers on the ground floor, luxury apartments above, and a public plaza in the center. The complex also would have a two-story, 228spot parking garage,” according to a Philadelphia Inquirer article written by Steven Falk.
The development team had to acquire a waiver of variance from the Township Zoning Board for the project, as the plan stood to build one story higher than the township’s construction code allows. Pohlig obtained the waiver, but not community support. “The neighbors appealed that decision (of the developers obtaining the waiver) to the Chester County Court of Common Pleas. Now that’s not unusual: people don’t like change to start with,” Pohlig said. The court process took about a year, ending with the judge ruling in favor of the development team obtaining their variance. However, the neighbors appealed the decision a second time to the Commonwealth Court. At this point, those involved with the project were facing a delay for at least another few years. “At that time, Jason Dempsey, who was doing the (Fritz Lumberyard development) across the street approached our group and said he could make it work without the variance,” Pohlig said.
Jason Dempsey is the owner and developer of DP Partners, a real estate investment and development company. “One thing we didn’t want to happen was to have something occur there that interfered with the (Fritz Lumberyard development) that we were doing, so we approached the other developer and suggested that we perhaps take over the project,” Dempsey said. Pohlig explained that once Buck Buchanan, the owner of Handel’s, decided to move, the team took Dempsey’s offer. The project is now set to be “a mixed use three-story, 107unit luxury apartment building, with scaled back retail space,” according to a Main Line Times and Suburban article by Ray Hoffman. This is similar to DP Partners’ development across the street at what once was the Fritz Lumberyard. The timeline for the project is dependent on when DP Partners decides to start, and from then, Dempsey believes it will take anywhere from 18-24 months to complete.
Last year, a group of students led by then-sophomore Giulia Presa Vespa organized Conestoga’s first-ever Mental Health week. This year, now under the name “Wellness Week,” Presa Vespa and her team of students are continuing to advocate for students’ mental health with a week dedicated to improving individuals’ well-being from Jan. 17-20. Wellness Week is designed to give students a break from their regular school routines to de-stress and relax. The week will culminate in a “Wellness Fair” focused on self-care. “The Wellness Fair is for all students to participate in; it will be a day of activities for students that promote wellness of body, mind and spirit,” assistant principal Dr. Nicole Jolly
wrote in an email to Conestoga’s staff on Dec. 14. TESD schools closed in observance of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday, Jan. 16. On Tuesday, Jan. 17, speakers from Minding Your Mind, an organization dedicated to ending the stigma around mental health issues, will talk to ninth graders about their past challenges with the intent to inspire students to be responsive to their mental health. On Wednesday, Jan. 18, 10th and 11th graders will attend an assembly led by a representative from Common Sense Media, an organization that advocates for the safe usage of technology and social media. On Thursday, Jan. 19, Katy Kessner, an activist for the prevention of sexual assault, will speak to 12th graders about healthy
relationships and recovering from trauma. Friday, Jan. 20, the last day of the first semester, will be a Cornucopia-style day in which teachers can let their students participate in schoolwide events throughout the day. During first period, the student group that planned the week will premiere a video of the week’s highlights and introduce the activities in which students can participate throughout the day. Then, the Wellness Fair will run throughout the remainder of the day. According to Jolly, the staff is expected to not give any tests on Friday. “One thing I really like about Friday is that it fits all personality types. There is a quiet room for people who are more introverted and want some time alone. Then there are loud, fun rooms with
games and dances for the people who are more extroverted and want to let out some energy,” Presa Vespa said. According to Presa Vespa, each day of Wellness Week will have its own theme. Tuesday’s theme will be paying it forward; Wednesday’s will be self-affirmation; Thursday’s will be community and friendships; and Friday’s will be self-care. John Jones, the faculty adviser for the student-run initiative, found that other teachers have championed the initiative, as well. “I do think teachers realize the importance of raising awareness for mental health. In general, there has been cooperation from the entirety of the faculty and 100% support from the administration,” Jones said. Presa Vespa’s team hopes to make Wellness Week an annual and established initiative for Conestoga, even after they graduate. “As a student body, we are the ones that need to speak out when we need some sort of break to help us,” junior and Wellness Week organizer Harshini Elavarasan said. “I’m really proud of the team for making sure that is something Conestoga can have.”
Scan the QR Code below to watch an accompanying video package!
Ben Shapiro/The SPOKE
Mental health meeting: Junior Giu Presa Vespa leads a Wellness Week planning meeting. When she proposed her initiative to school administration last year, Presa Vespa’s goal was to help students prioritize their mental health and well-being.