Allentown Student Victimized By Bullying

Good evening Mr. Molovinsky,
      I have read some of your blogs and am reaching out to you that maybe you would be able to write a blog on how bullying is handled in the Allentown School District. I have a 7th grade daughter who attends (redacted) Middle School. She was a Honor Roll student until she started getting bullied in October. Not only has she been bullied, but the Assistant Principal claims to have lost all of the incident reports that she and her witnesses have turned in, with no kind of explanation of how this could happen. Then instead of dealing with the two children who were bullying her in class, and out of class, they moved her in the middle of the semester from basic classes to Advanced Honors classes. In this move they gave her no support at all to learn the lessons. Well of course her grades went from Straight A's to 2 D's, 2 B's and a C. I have had meetings with the old and new principal, and even sent emails to Mr. (redacted) at the district office. My daughter has worked so hard to make sure she had honor roll 6 marking periods so she could make National Jr.Honor Society and to keep a promise that she made to a teacher from last year. And this was taken from her. The school has not even given her any type of Restorative Justice. My daughter is now saying that if it was to happen now, she knows the children will have other students come after her. I can't afford to put her in private school, and shouldn't have to. The District has a policy 249 that they didn't follow at all in this case. It is time for someone to stand up and advocate for the children of the ASD. If this could happen to my child, with me being involved and going to Board Meetings, PGA meeting, and school programs, then I can only imagine what is happening to other students?

I wish the above note was a hypothetical situation, but it's very real. I spoke to the woman this evening, both she and her daughter are very distraught by the school's inaction on this situation. She would like her daughter to have the opportunity for scholastic credit recovery, and most importantly, to feel safe at school.

The Morning Call's Asian Premise

Morning Call readers were just treated to an epic two day, two part, nine page story on what may well be a false premise. That premise is that somehow, Asians from New York City are being victimized into riding the bus endlessly, between the big apple and Bethlehem, to make about $20 a day selling their free $45 slot machine pass for $40. The article painted them as modern day coolies, who must wander around south Bethlehem for hours, waiting for the bus to return them to Chinatown. Now, as you can tell by coolies, I'm not as encumbered by political correctness as our daily paper. A Facebook friend, who I never met, as is typical with Facebook, is offended that the paper used the word Asians. In his progressive circle, ethnicities are no longer mentioned. In my world, the bus passengers should have been called Chinese, since they are Chinese. The paper's headline said that Asians ride the bus to live. Actually, these Chinese live to gamble. Most people who live in NYC, especially Chinatown, do not have a car. The casino is crowded with Chinese gambling, most of whom came on those buses. The Sands Casino in the Macao district of China is the most lucrative casino in the world.

photocredit:April Bartholomew/The Morning Call/March 11, 2014

UPDATE: As little as I thought of The Morning Call story on the Asian bus riders, I apparently gave it too much credit. It's a rewrite of a story that appeared last year in The New York Times.

Changes In The Allentown School District

In a comment submitted to the previous post, somebody referred to the change in the student demographics. In that respect, the district certainly has changed. When I graduated Allen in the mid 1960's, I do not recall one minority student. The quickness of this change is somewhat of a sociological phenomenon, but beyond that observation, such discussion does not benefit our current students. There certainly has been some white flight because of these changes, but then again, that's just another frank observation. Although Allentown's total numerical population hasn't changed much in the last 100 years, it now has the same problems of much larger urban centers. As the previous post reveals, there's quite a difference of opinion on the school board on how to process the tight school budget. I applaud all nine members for their dedication.

photo courtesy of Sandy Paul

Emotion vs. Reason at School Board

Last night the school district went through it's annual gnashing of teeth. One again the budget realities dictated that there be layoffs. Once again the teacher's union president filled the chamber with distraught teachers and students. Once again those school directors who accept the reality of numbers were vilified by those playing for acceptance and popularity. Come June, the system will once again allow one of our elected officials from Harrisburg to be a white knight, and announce that he has secured so many more $millions for the Allentown School District.

UPDATE: Allentown School District Launches ASD Virtual Academy The Allentown School District has launched their new ASD Virtual Academy offering students online academic opportunities with a personal touch – the support of our high school guidance teams, face-to-face time with their teachers, and technical support and assistance. ASD Virtual Academy students residing in the Allentown School District in grades 9-12 may enroll in these online program options and receive high-quality online courses through three cyber or virtual educational experiences: · Full-Time Virtual High School Program · Credit Recovery Program · Virtual Supplemental Courses This is an exciting for the Allentown School District. It allows the district to compete with cyber schools, and keep both students and student financial allotments within the district. Hopefully, even the obstructionists will voted against the budget last night can appreciate this development.

The Last Fight

When Abe Simon stepped into the ring at Madison Square Garden on March 27, 1942, it would be his last fight. He had been recently married, and promised his wife that he would stop fighting. One year earlier he had fought Joe Louis the first time, and endured a tremendous beating for thirteen rounds. Fighting since 1935, ranked 6th by Ring Magazine, a shot at the title was something a fighter cannot pass up. Many fight historians consider Louis the hardest hitting heavyweight of all time. Because of the publicity Simon gained from these Louis fights, he was offered a lucrative cross country boxing tour, which he declined. It was also Louis's last title defense for four years, until fighting Billy Conn in June of 1946. After the Simon fight he joined the U.S. Army, where he would fight 96 exhibition bouts at bases throughout the country. Shown above, Simon got knocked out in the sixth round.

reprinted from December 2012

March 27, 1942

Guest Post by Mike Casey
Before 18,220 fans at Madison Square Garden on March 27, 1942, big Abe Simon stepped into the ring for the final fight of his career. Scaling 255 1/4lbs, he was a massive, bear of a man who had once used his considerable size and muscle on the gridiron. Abe outweighed Joe Louis by nearly 48 pounds, but already knew the dangers of duelling with the Brown Bomber. Just a year before at the Olympia Stadium in Detroit, Joe had decked Simon four times and stopped him in thirteen rounds.Coming back for seconds was never a good idea against the prime Louis. But Abe had heart, pluck and a big punch and everyone knew that anything could happen in heavyweight boxing. Simon had knocked out Jersey Joe Walcott in six rounds, beaten Roscoe Toles and drawn with Turkey Thompson. Abe had also waged a thrilling battle of the giants with Buddy Baer, in which he had beaten Buddy severely in the opening round before being stopped in the third.......Louis finished the fight quickly in the sixth round, sending Abe down and out with a final left-right blast. Perhaps Joe had been riled after first snapping Simon to attention with a quick-fire combination in the second round. Big Abe had laughed at him....
copy courtesy of Mike Casey Archives
photograph(added by molovinsky): Abe Simon in corner after fight, with manager Jimmy Johnston

reprinted from December 2012

Heavyweight Championship of the World

On March 21, 1941, my mother's cousin Abe Simon, son a of Jewish egg and butter salesman, fought Joe Louis for the title in Detroit. Lasting 13 rounds, he earned another title shot against the Brown Bomber a year later in Madison Square Garden. After retiring he acted in several movies, including On The Waterfront and Requiem For A Heavyweight.


Administrator's note: I'm reprinting these photo's and captions in a much tighter time frame then originally posted, to give the viewers more of a feel of the Louis era.

reprinted from December 2012