Port Richmond Sixth Graders 'Adopted' by Holy Family University

A sixth-grade classroom at the Memphis Street Academy Charter School got a head start thinking about their college futures with a little help from Holy Family University. 

At the request of their teacher Jennifer Douglas '11, a graduate of the School of Education in elementary education, the University "sponsored" her students, providing satchels, pennants, pens, and other items imprinted with the Holy Family logo. Their satchels also included packets of information on attending Holy Family, provided by the Admissions Office.

Teachers at Memphis Street Academy, a tuition-free public school for grades 5-8, were asked to reach out to their alma maters to help motivate students to think about going to college. “I, of course, chose Holy Family,” Douglas said. “I truly love it here; I am a grad student.” 

The twenty-seven students in Douglas’s classroom also decorated it with Holy Family University colors and logo-banners. “They are learning all about the University and are so excited about the opportunity that awaits them,” Douglas told Holy Family’s Director of Alumni and Parents Marie Zecca, who collected boxes of things from various campus departments and delivered them to the charter school, located in the Port Richmond area of Northeast Philadelphia on October 26. 

“They actually said it felt like Christmas in our classroom,” Douglas said.