PRIZE WINNERS Two Norwood-Fontbonne Academy students were awarded trophies for their successful participation in the recent St. Joseph’s Preparatory School’s annual elementary school oratory tournament.  Eighth grader Lauren Stabler (Abington) placed third and seventh grader Maya Bjornson (Mt. Airy) placed first in the “Poetry” category. Both girls are members of NFA’s Oratory Club.

Journalist in training. Avery Williamson of Mount Airy, a senior at Germantown Friends School, has been selected to participate in the Philadelphia Inquirer’s 2009 Acel Moore Career Development Workshop.  This program for high school minority students seeks to give them an introduction to the field of journalism. They are taught reporting, writing, editing and photography by Inquirer editors. The program is conducted at the Inquirer offices on four Saturdays in February. As a workshop participant, Williamson will help write, edit and produce the workshop’s newspaper, First Take, and assist in the creation of the First Take Web site on philly.com. Williamson is the managing editor of Germantown Friends’ student newspaper, Earthquake.

Lawrence Little to lecture at Chestnut Hill College

Dr. Lawrence Little, Ph.D., associate professor of African American history at Villanova University will speak on The Quest for Black Citizenship and the Future of America on Tuesday, Feb. 17,at 7 p.m. in the Social Room of Fournier Hall. The lecture is sponsored by the History Department at Chestnut Hill College and Phi Alpha Theta, the national honor society for history.

Little’s lecture will provide a historical overview of some of the ways that African Americans have expanded the social contract in the United States. His talk will place the election of Barack Obama within the historical context of enlightenment theory, the Constitutional Convention, the 14th and 15th Amendments, the Brown decision, and the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts. The lecture will also note some of the obstacles Africans Americans have overcome during this process. The lecture will also consider the importance of Obama’s presidency for the youth of America and some of the challenges that inner city black youth continue to face in the 21st century.

Behind the scenes with Out On A Limb –
a tree adventure exhibit at the Morris Arboretum

This summer, when visitors see the exhilarating new Tree Adventure exhibit at the Morris Arboretum, they might not be thinking about what went on behind the scenes and below the surface in the construction of Out on a Limb, a dramatic 275-foot walkway that will soar more than 40 feet above the ground. This project, designed by Metcalfe Architecture & Design, will incorporate the highest level of tree protection and care, which of course, fits perfectly into the central message of the exhibit- We need trees, and trees need us – thus introducing visitors to the critical role trees play in our environment.

Despite bracing winter temperatures, construction of Out on a Limb - a Tree Adventure began in early January with Morris Arboretum arborists supervising the project. The exhibit is designed to showcase trees and educate visitors about our symbiotic relationship with them. To reflect this goal, the maximum preservation of trees and their rooting environment is paramount. Every design and construction decision must balance the excitement factor of building a canopy walkway high into the trees with construction techniques that create the least disturbance to the local environment. And it goes without saying that the structure must also achieve maximum stability and safety.