Monthly Archives: May 2017
Celebrating National Public Works Week In Pennsauken
By Joe Scavuzzo, Director, Department of Public Works
The week of May 21 is dedicated as “National Public Works Week.” To kick off this article, I’d like to quote the American Public Works Association (APWA). “This year, National Public Works Week celebrates the vital role public works plays in connecting us all together. As the cornerstone of civilization, public works provides, maintains, and improves the structures and services that assure a higher quality of life for our communities. Its streets, roads, bridges, and public transportation keep us linked together from coast to coast, and its clean water and sanitation services keep us healthy and allow our communities to grow and prosper. The APWA proudly salutes and thanks the tens of thousands of public works professionals who work tirelessly throughout North America every day to strengthen the bond that keeps us all connected.”
Waterlines May 2017
Infrastructure Replacement
For 2017, the Merchantville-Pennsauken Water Commission has prepared an aggressive capital program to upgrade our infrastructure. Each year, we identify portions of our system that require maintenance or have reached the end of their useful life. We determine what upgrades are necessary to continue to supply our customers with the highest quality drinking water.
Cookie Sale, Ira’s Tree Of Knowledge Support Pennsauken Library
By Arlene Miller, Friends of the Pennsauken Free Public Library
Mother’s Day is coming up and that can mean only one thing: another Friends of the Pennsauken Free Public Library Cookie Sale, just in time to coddle Mom with sweets as good as if you made them yourself. We’ll open shop at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, May 13 in the Library lobby and close at 3:00 p.m. or until we run out of supplies. Cookies are $1 a bag and come in a variety of flavors; and if you’re a member of the Friends, you’ll even get a free bag for showing your membership card. But if you’re not a Friend, why not sign up that day, become a member and get your sign-up bag free?
There are other ways to honor Mom besides cookies. Consider giving her a beautiful brass leaf engraved with her name and a favorite quote or sentiment on Ira’s Tree of Knowledge on the Library lobby wall. It would let not only her but everyone else who passes it realize how special she is. Leaves are available to select, and each is $200. Lifetime members of the Friends are eligible for a 20 percent discount. You’ll find more information in the Ira’s Tree of Knowledge brochure on the lobby desk.
Funds raised by the Friends go to support the Pennsauken Free Public Library with resources and programs not covered in the organization’s operating budget.
Seventh Graders At Phifer Create Their Own Reading Lamps
Senior research engineer, Aron Rubin, came to inspire Mrs. Tracey McSweeney’s middle school robotics class for a third year in a row. As Aron explains it, his mission is to break the perception that engineering is the domain of special people but accessible to all.
Mr. Rubin preceded the student lesson with teacher in-service day, introducing Computer Aided Design (CAD), power drill use, large scale brazing, and small scale soldering. Then, together with both Mrs. McSweeney and Mr. Gilbride, Aron was able to have all 100 students drill, solder, and assemble their own clip on reading lamps.
This was another successful outreach; the project enabled the students to feel empowered as they engineered their own clip on desk lamp. Language arts teacher, Mrs. Howe, expressed that the students loved using their student-made clip on lamps in her class as they read their independent reading books! She went on to say that one student commented, “I can’t wait to go home and read in the dark, using my book light!”
The staff at Phifer Middle School cannot thank Aron enough for taking two days off of work to volunteer his time and expertise to spark interest in engineering and technology for our students.
The Lamp Making Process
Aron started each class by discussing the importance of engineering and learning how to make things on your own including electronics. Mr. Rubin explained how it is expected for things not to work the first time and used the example of the many trials it took for Thomas Edison to create a properly functioning light bulb filament. This is an important lesson for middle school students to learn; they need to learn how to transform all the stumbles along the way into growth opportunities. If they can master that skill, they will be our future scientists, engineers and more! Instilling in students the desire to not give up and perform multiple trials of experiments in order to test their hypothesis is not only a good middle school science skill but is also an important life lesson.
Aron launched the lesson by giving a soldering overview and describing the four stations to the students. Students were divided up into three groups to cycle through the stations led by Mr. Rubin, Mrs. McSweeney, Mr. Gilbride, and substitute teacher, Ms. Factor. Science coach Jonathan Nguyen and principal Thomas Honeyman also made a guest appearance during one of the lessons and helped lead a station.
Mrs. McSweeney’s station consisted of having the students drill the hole in the back end of a clothespin to receive the neck of the lamp. The clothespin was secured in a vice. Copper wires were bent into a “L” shape to form the neck of the reading lamp and was inserted into the hole the students drilled. At the first assembly station, copper conductive tape was wrapped around the back of the clothespin. This conductive tape would later make contact with a three volt battery to power the LED light.
Aron and Mr. Gilbride led the soldering station. First, the students soldered on the negative wire of the LED lights onto the copper tape, forming a negative battery terminal. The students then soldered the positive LED wire to a small copper square, forming the positive battery terminal. A student, along with substitute teacher, Mrs. Factor, led an assembly station of the lamp using a three volt battery.
Students then inserted a non-adhesive positive copper terminal. After the terminals are soldered to the LED wires, students went to the battery station, “sandwiching” the battery between the two terminals and compressed it with a piece of electrical tape.
The students came away with improved confidence for making things from scratch and were given an exciting introduction to drilling and soldering. Additionally, Mr. Honeyman led a special quadcopter station to reward students who successfully created their lamps early! Students loved seeing their principal experiment with the quadcopter and learn how to fly it with them!
It was absolutely a great learning experience for all! This project enabled the students to feel empowered as they engineered their own clip on desk lamp!
Sign, Sign, Everywhere A Sign…
By Betsy McBride, Mayor of Pennsauken Township
I recently received a letter from a resident expressing concern over the number of “No Parking” signs along Haddonfield Rd. She correctly stated that no one parks along this busy four-lane County road. She also correctly stated that when a sign is so faded that you cannot read the words, it is no longer a sign.
She must’ve known that old signs, faded signs, dated signs, and too many signs are a pet peeve of mine.
The Township is 125 years old and we have many signs in our community that are aging. While we cannot replace every street sign in the Township this year, we can and should replace or remove directional or informational signs that no longer serve their intended purpose. Priority should be given to our major roads for curb appeal, but we should also address resident concerns in our neighborhoods.
Victoriana East Celebrates 30 Years In Pennsauken
By Frank Sinatra, AAP Editor
When the new construction market in the 1980s began to fizzle out, Pennsauken native Rich Tamburo went looking for the next home trend. He found it in the Victorian revival, dabbling in bracket and porch restoration. But it was his work customizing Victorian screen doors that drew demand from customers, turning a hunch into Victoriana East, a Pennsauken-based business that’s reached the 30 year mark.
Flowering Educational Opportunities In May
By Dr. Ronnie Tarchichi, MEd2., M.S., M.B.S., Superintendent, Pennsauken Public Schools
April is now behind us and we are looking forward to May. There’s a lot ready to bloom this month! We have had a very successful year thus far and the year is almost over. We look forward to all of our end of year activities.
Historic Houses of Pennsauken Open for First Sunday in May
On Sunday, May 7, the Pennsauken Historical Society will host “Colonial Earth Day” at historic Burrough-Dover House, located at 9201 Burrough-Dover Lane, right off of Haddonfield Rd. near the Wyndam Rd. traffic light, to look at historic aspects of the human relationship with the environment.
Pennsauken Youth Action Committee Theatre To Hold Auditions For “Disney’s Beauty And The Beast Jr.”
By Frank Sinatra, AAP Editor
Auditions for the Pennsauken Youth Action Committee’s performance of “Disney’s Beauty and the Beast Jr.” will be held Tuesday, May 16 and Wednesday, May 17, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at Howard M. Phifer Middle School, 8201 Park Ave., Pennsauken.
