Bring Brazilian toy store to U.S.
For those who do not remember, in 2018, shortly after the demise of Toys R Us, there were plans to bring back KB Toys, which was once the largest toy store in the United States with more than 460 stores at its peak. Strategic Marks, a company that buys and revives defunct brands, had the intention of resurrecting the chain by opening new stores nationwide. However, this plan tragically failed when funding could not be obtained. Thus, I think I might have a solution that might bring new life to vacant retail stores and create jobs for those who need them. Recently, I started a petition (https://www.change.org/Ri_Happy_Toy_Store) to bring Brazil’s largest toy store, Ri Happy, to the United States. As of 2024, the franchise has employed more than 4,000 people throughout Brazil at 196 locations. Just imagine how many jobs they could create in the United States. Some may be skeptical and some may oppose this idea, but I know that this is the right action to take, because when Swedish furniture megastore IKEA expanded to the United States, they created thousands of jobs for those in need, amounting to 219,000 worldwide as of this year. I welcome you all to sign and share my petition.
Dante Medori
Students need academics and vocational classes
Every one of us knows that life is full of risks and rewards and we also know that anything is possible in America if we work together. This is especially the case when we provide America’s young people with the opportunity to access all levels of career opportunities while attending junior and senior high school.
Because more businesses are expanding in the United States, our supporters agree it’s time to refocus the funds to educate America’s young people equally on both academics and vocational career classes. It is more important than ever that we not only speak up in support of how our tax dollars are used to educate America’s young people, but to also hold national, state and local elected officials and school boards accountable for what is being taught in America’s schools.
For many years, offering a wide range of subjects under one roof was very valuable because it allowed students to discover what careers they felt they were best suited for before graduation. It gave students the opportunity to see if they were suited for trades such as carpentry, plumbing, electrical and welding, or if they should focus on careers like teaching, medicine or engineering.
To help ensure the positive changes we need continue to move forward in America’s schools, I once again urge you to contact your elected officials and school board representatives and encourage them to offer both academic and vocational career classes under one roof in a school setting where students learn not only from teachers but from the example of their fellow students.
Thanks for speaking up in support of America’s students and American workers. Our nation’s future depends on your participation.
Your comments and suggestions are always welcome. Email them to me at Michael@AmericanWorkersRadio.com.
Michael Blichasz
A team effort at Audenried
As I have stated many times, I spent my last five years with the School District of Philadelphia teaching science at the Meredith School in Queen Village. During that time I worked with students from kindergarten to eighth grade. After I retired, Temple University recruited me to teach a science practicum at the College of Education. All that experience of course increased my interest in the whole area of science education. So it was with great curiosity that I read Mark Zimmaro’s impressive report on current science education offered at Universal Audenried Charter School (“Science innovation at Audenried,” April 16).
Universal Audenried Charter School is a college preparatory school for grades 9th to 12th. So they attract some very bright students. They apparently also have some truly talented faculty who can prepare these smart teens to participate for prizes in competitions like the George Washington Carver Science Fair in March. In this year’s event, Audenried students produced truly impressive science projects. Seven students were awarded prizes.
From experience I understand what a challenge it is to teach and learn the scientific method. It is never as simple as memorize, regurgitate, forget. Science is always a hands-on subject with active learning as its primary teaching method. What was so impressive about this report was the above-average intelligence and creativity demonstrated by these talented students under the guidance of awesome teachers.
So I join the South Philly Grays Ferry community in praising the wonderful accomplishments of these seven talented science students who related their projects to personal experiences with some real solutions to serious issues.
Of course, special congratulations must go to their devoted teachers who guided them in using the scientific method to create these impressive innovations. As Zimmaro’s report states, it was a team effort. I just pray that all funding, private or public, for such teaching/learning experiences remains intact. Every student in our community should be as fortunate as these prize winners.
Gloria C. Endres
