Today is the observed day of the US Constitution (with September 17 being the official Constitution Day). Passyunk Square Civic Association board member Mary Beth Bongiovanni will be attending a Constitution Day event at the Andrew Jackson School, where the guest speaker is Sandra Day O’Connor. The Honorable Day O’Connor will be swearing in delegates at the school for their very own government. Too cool!

Check out Day O’Connor’s call for greater civic education in our schools on Philly.com. She makes the vital point that:

Barely a third of our fellow citizens can name the three branches of government, and an equal number cannot name even one. Less than 20 percent of eighth graders know why the Declaration of Independence was written.

These failings threaten the future of our democracy. If we don’t know what makes this country special and worth saving, how will we know how to safeguard its promise of freedom and opportunity?

She goes on to make several suggestions for how we can fix this particularly dangerous deficit. Give it a read.

And congrats to the new student government members at the Jackson School!

It's always sunny in this part of Philadelphia. (Photo by Karin Morris)

A new school year is under way and anyone who has walked, biked or driven down 12th Street past the Andrew Jackson School over the last few days has probably noticed the beautiful new addition to the front door that welcomes students, faculty, parents and community members.

In the past year, COSACOSA art at large, Inc. worked with 8th grade students at the Jackson School to develop a large-scale mosaic for the building’s facade.  Students researched and shared sun stories from the almost 30 different nationalities represented at the school. Together with COSACOSA artists, they designed a mosaic where hundreds of tiny little suns (representing our individual skills and strengths) combine to create a giant sun (representing the community and the common good).

Suns also symbolize academic brilliance and environmental stewardship. The project bridged cultures and built community through hands-on art-making and storytelling workshops throughout the year. Mosaic-making for the corner of 12th and Federal will continue throughout 2012.

COSACOSA is a non-profit organization creating new public art as a catalyst for community dialogue, creative cooperation, and positive change.  The Jackson School of the Suns project was supported by grants from the Philadelphia Cultural Fund, The Picasso Project of Philadelphia Citizens for Children and Youth, the Support Community  Outreach Program of the City of Philadelphia Department of Human Services, and Pennsylvania Partners in the Arts. For more information, please visit COSACOSA’s website and consider supporting them and the great work they do.

In our recent community survey, an item that was high up on your list of “How can we make the neighborhood better” was improving the neighborhood schools.

Whether you’re a parent of a school-age child, thinking about becoming one or just have an interest in making the schools (and the neighborhood) better, there are steps you can take.

There are currently 2 wonderful programs on donorschoose.org for Andrew Jackson school: garden beautification and music program expansion. If either of these are projects near and dear to your hearts, please consider making a donation through the secure website. All of the programs will have a profound effect on the students, as well as the larger community. If any of the other schools in the neighborhood participate in this service, we will be sure to pass along a link.