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Anacostia Voices by Paul Penniman

Hi everyone. I’m the fellow whose car was shot up and received some sympathy, shoutouts and also a little derision (“Mr Wonderbead” is my new nickname here) two weekends ago.

In 2003, I founded Resources for Inner city CHildren, RICH, which provides tutoring and mentoring services to Anacostia High School and the Cesar Chavez Public Charter School-Capitol Hill. I had been a private school teacher for nine years and then a private, for profit tutor for thirteen years when I was inspired by a speech by Irasema Salcido, the founder of the Cesar Chavez Public Charter Schools. Our mission is to provide high-quality tutoring and mentoring services for inner city schools.

I moved to Anacostia two winters ago to be closer to my work–to be able to help our students more but also to have a (much) shorter commute. I used to live in Ward 3 to facilitate my for profit tutoring business.

The Prince has invited me to share what’s going on in Anacostia, neighborhood-wise and from our students’ perspectives. I will try to do this as well as I can, knowing full well I can not truly identify with my students and neighbors to any large degree; I am white and much wealthier than most of my neighbors. (I’m the wealthiest person most of my students have ever met, but I have to tell them when I go out to lunch, my friends pay for me.) At least I and they can describe to you how they feel about their immediate community, the community at large, and the world.

I have written on my own blog, innercityvisions.blogspot.com, partly about educational challenges our students face and also the uneven playing field they have to play on.

For an introduction to our summer students–a combination of math enrichment kids and kids who have reading challenges–above is a video to the first sitdown they had with a rather charismatic partner of ours, Dr. Bruce Purnell, director of Higher Hopes.  Actually we found him through Pinpoints Theater, pinpoints.org. Pinpoints and Higher Hopes have a program called Pen or Pencil (www.penorpencilmovement.org) that’s teaching youth to commit to not giving up their seat in the classroom for a seat on a bus to the PENitentiary.

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Calling all bookworms, thrill-seekers, supporters of the arts, and ping-pongers at all skill levels! Sign up for Paddlestar Galactica, the ping-pong tournament supporting 826DC’s youth writing programs.

826DC is a local nonprofit that offers free writing programs, homework help, and publishing opportunities for DC students ages 6-18, in our Columbia Heights writing center and in learning spaces across the city.

Paddlestar Galactica helps keep writing education 100% free and accessible for all of our students! It’s also extremely fun.

This year’s games will be Saturday, April 27th, 1 PM to 4 PM at SPIN DC. It’ll be a chaotic afternoon of ping-pong, costumes, terrible Battlestar Galactica puns, and good cheer. We’d love to have you join us!

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Submit your own Announcement here.

Well-Paid Maids, the only certified living-wage cleaning service in the DMV, has added a new service to its online booking menu: office and building cleanings.

This includes offices, building lobbies, shared amenity spaces and more throughout D.C., Arlington, Alexandria and more.

Unlike so many other cleaning services, you can feel good booking Well-Paid Maids to clean your office or building. Cleaners get paid a starting wage of $24 an hour. Plus, all employees are offered health, dental, vision and life insurance; 24 paid days off per year; 100% employer-paid commuting costs; and more.

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Submit your own Announcement here.

Vakili Band at Pie Shop!

Three band rock n rolll lineup at DC’s Pie Shop! Vakili Band with “if you know, you know” DC rockers, Lot 18, and the many minds and songs of artist Kind of Christine.

“If you love Vakili Band like we

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