WHEREAS, JoAnn Seaver is a retired teacher who has spent decades sharing Quaker teaching and philosophy, including at the historic Greene Street Friends School. Now at age 94, JoAnn continues to share her light with her community. She mentors younger teachers, teaching them about literacy, and her home is an open-door pillar of her community; and
WHEREAS, JoAnn moved to Philadelphia to get her PhD, and afterwards taught in multiple school districts for 6 years. She saw an urgent need for targeted and individualized teaching, culminating in multiple student literacy programs in Philadelphia public schools; and
WHEREAS, As part of her programming, she organized high school parents and students to participate in a reading project that created handmade illustrated phonetic education books for young readers that featured those readers in the stories. She worked alongside neighbors to provide individualized education to each of the students she has worked with; and
WHEREAS, Her commitment to activism has included work with the Germantown Settlement House, the Germantown Energy Initiative, the Germantown Clergy Initiative, and the Men Who Care Germantown, including ARCS Camp - offering a holistic, free and full day camp experience to 40 middle schoolers, including breakfast and lunch, field trips, swimming, facilitator-led programming, and communal safe space; and
WHEREAS, JoAnn’s tutoring projects have taught thousands of young people across Philadelphia how to read, including at Lingelbach Elementary, and has partnered with community allies to secure critical funding for restorative justice practice implementation for 9th graders. She has strived to deliver learning and services to kids who have been underserved and undernourished emotionally and intellectually by the institutions that should be taking care of them; and
WHEREAS, Her work has made her a visible and beloved figure in not just her neighborhood of Mt. Airy, but across Northwest Philadelphia and the City. She has provided grace, mentorship, guidance and friendship to innumerable community members and students over the years; and
WHEREAS, JoAnn’s lifetime of activism extends to impacted communities wherever they are in Philadelphia. She has fought to keep schools open, expand access to critical learning resources, and worked to uplift the school district in every part of Philadelphia, not just where she lives or works; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED
, THAT THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, Honors
the life, work and dedication to teaching of JoAnn Seaver, whose decades of community activism and constant presence as a teacher, tutor and mentor for students, particularly students learning to read, has enriched and nourished the minds of young people across Philadelphia.
FURTHER RESOLVED, That an Engrossed copy of this Resolution be presented to JoAnn Seaver, as an expression of the admiration and respect of this legislative body.
End