Alumni and Warriors Dedicate Pennell School Multi-Media Center

On Monday, the Flyers Alumni Association and Flyers Warriors, in conjunction with the Philadelphia School District, unveiled the fully renovated multi-media center and library at Joseph Pennell Elementary School in the Belfield neighborhood of North Philadelphia. To celebrate the project's completion, a special ceremony was held at the school. Students, teachers, Flyers Warriors players including team president Bill Duffy, and Flyers Alumni members Brad Marsh, Bob "the Hound" Kelly and Orest Kindrachuk among the attendees.

Over the course of the project, the school's library was completely renovated and revitalized into the new multi-media center. The Flyers Alumni donated all materials and the Flyers Warriors volunteered their time and did the labor to install flexible seating, refurbished flooring, a new Smart Board, fresh paint on the walls and a new "learning tree" mural. The Alumni also donated new books to stock on the library shelves. The work was performed over the course of the past year. Flyers Warriors players and Marsh came to the school on weekends, as the renovation tasks were done systematically.

"Among the Flyers Warriors, there's a wide array of trades represented: carpenters, electricians, etc. The library at Pennell was dedicated many years ago to local World War II veterans, so this renovation project had a lot of personal meaning to the Warriors as a way to contribute something special to the community. They put their skills to work, and did a great job. The Alumni were happy to donate materials," Marsh said.

The library and multi-media center space will also serve as the home to the Pennell school's new student mentoring program which is intended to engage and strengthen the school's partnerships with families and the local community.

"To me, the biggest part of the project that was really rewarding was getting to meet the people who will be making use of the multi-media center. Everyone who works at the school was very welcoming and friendly. The students have been enthusiastic. It's been exciting to see everything come together," Marsh said.