175 Good Deeds
January 15, 2009
Dear St. Peter’s Community,
As we celebrate the 175th anniversary of St. Peter’s School, I am both humbled and excited to occupy a position of leadership at this historic institution. St. Peter’s has been an essential force in the revitalization and youthfulness of the Society Hill community and the City of Philadelphia at large for nearly two centuries, and we are grateful for the reciprocal support we continue to receive from both the City and our neighborhood.
We want to be sure that we observe this milestone appropriately. With the help of the 175th Committee, led by Darlene Cavalier and Jessie Burns, we will mark this occasion by adhering to our mission of educating strong and capable children to be civic-minded, and by continuing the long-held tradition at St. Peter’s of caring for our communities- from our classrooms, to our neighborhoods, to our City. And we are also going to have a great time in the process!
With this principle in mind the faculty and students are committed to performing 175 Good Deeds between January 2009 and June 2010. In partnership with Greater Philadelphia Cares, the teachers are now identifying those Good Deeds. We will announce the full list shortly, but until then, with the assistance of Ms. Penny Langfield (appointed Lower School Teacher in 1970, and Head of Lower School from 1973-2007), and parent Cindy McDonnell we are recording and showcasing Good Deeds as they occur, both in the Weekly Bulletin and on this website.
Our first Good Deed is symbolic of what we hope to accomplish:
The Donors: Marina and Viki Mancoridis, Sophie Hofman, Tori Nelson, John Phuong, Maria Elena Johnson, Nell Meister, Sammy Shemtov (Lower School Students).
“We are in the After School Program and decided to have an art sale. We made pieces of art with Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza and New Year’s themes and held a sale for parents, teachers and friends. All together, we collected $9.67. After brainstorming about what we wanted to do with our profits, we decided to donate half of the money to St. Peter’s School and the other half to Cradles to Crayons. The school plans to add our donation to the Scholarship Fund and Cradles to Crayons will use the money to help children in need.”
The entire faculty, students and Board of Trustees have pledged to help accomplish our goal of 175 good deeds. We hope that every parent, graduate and friend of St. Peter’s will find a way to join us in our effort to give back to the community.
Here are some examples of ways that you can participate:
- Contact us if you already participate in a volunteer project that “gives back” to the City of Philadelphia. We want to highlight as many efforts as possible.
- Offer support to your child’s teacher.
- Help the Parents’ Association as it designs creative ways for the students to showcase their goals and accomplishments.
- Check the Weekly Bulletin or this website to see what Good Deeds are in need of support (helping a clothing drive, feeding the homeless, cleaning a playground, painting pictures for sick children, singing for the elderly, raising funds to feed animals, etc). Here is an ongoing list of Deeds in Need of volunteers.
- Make a pledge or contribution to the St. Peter’s School Scholarship Fund so we can help our own families in need. You can do so through our website.
We hope that you will join us as St. Peter’s energetically and enthusiastically celebrates 175 years of excellence in education, and our commitment to our community and the City of Philadelphia. We are all looking forward to a great year of Good Deeds!
Sincerely,
David J. Costello