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As a former Philly school teacher, Megan Rosenbach has firsthand knowledge of the obstacles inside the classroom; therefore, she had a plan when she and husband Ben bought a house on the 1500 block of South 15th Street.
“I knew that I wanted to meet the school in my catchment area and kind of feed some love and resources into it,” Rosenbach, who does not have any children, said of George W. Childs School, 1599 Wharton St.
Her church, Circle of Hope, 1125 S. Broad St., had a Martin Luther King Jr. block party in 2011 to benefit the school, which initiated her involvement. Last year, she teamed up with South Philly resident Maria Pandolfi, Childs’ art teacher and dean of students, to do an art show and auction at the church that raised $1,000 for art supplies.
For her next project she approached then-principal Daniel Peou, who now heads Horace Furness High School, 1900 S. Third St.
“We naively asked if he wanted us to do a book drive for the school,” Rosenbach said. “He kind of chuckled and walked us down to the library, which was full of books.”
When Childs, then 1541 S. 17th St., relocated to the former Norris Barratt Middle School building in ’10, the library was never set up. Rosenbach took on the project in June ’12, creating N.I.C.E. (Neighbors Investing in Childs Elementary) along the way. Volunteers cleaned up the space and began entering the books in an electronic system to allow students to start borrowing them in March ’13. They also raised $4,000 to help with the renovations.
“It’s definitely our biggest success story because this library was revived, and the principal [Dr. Eileen Coutts] budgeted for a librarian,” Rosenbach, who also serves on the school advisory council, said of the project that was completed in time for this school year, noting Childs is one of 12 district-wide sites to have a librarian.
Rosenbach and her helpers also gave each teacher breakfast and a box of school supplies to start the year. She hopes to establish a home and school organization to increase parent involvement and continue to raise money for to-be-determined needs of the school. In the meantime, she’s honored to be identified as a difference maker for her work, especially because it will spread the word about her cause.
“I want to live in South Philly for the rest of my life and raise my kids here, so I’m glad that what I’m doing is making an impact,” she said.
Contact the South Philly Review at editor@southphillyreview.com.
2013 Difference Makers
/ Bruce Baldwin / Anthony Benedetto Sr. / Lou Berman / Beth Coleman /
/ Diane DellaVella / Phyllis DiLemmo /
/ Roe and Jim Gallo / Tyrique Glasgow / Ali Hackett / Deborah Holmes /
/ Kat Kendon / Harry McKay / Jaime Pannone / Juanita Perkins-Qui /
/ Gaetano Piccirilli / Megan Rosenbach / Ted Scairato Sr /
/ Rich Sisman / Dan Stevenson / Paula Terreri / Lynn Oakes West / Lawrence Whitaker / Robert Wilbowe / Ilene Wilder /
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