Educational lessons

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Ronald Paulus has undoubtedly made his mark teaching at Edward W. Bok Technical High School, 1901 S. Ninth St., where he has been teaching English for 14 years.

“I’ve always loved the fact that we could reach students through literature,” Paulus said.

For his dedication, Paulus was one of 66 teachers from the School District of Philadelphia presented with a Christian R. and Mary F. Lindback Foundation award in May at the fourth annual Distinguished Teaching Award ceremony held at The Prince Music Theater, Colleagues and students nominated each teacher, who also was endorsed by the school principal and received $3,200 from the foundation.

Paulus is credited with helping Bok to achieve Adequate Yearly Progress in the federally-mandated No Child Left Behind for six out of the seven past years.

“He has played a very key role of being a leader at the school,” A. Larry Melton, Bok’s principal, said. “He’s on the school leadership team and he’s been very involved in helping our test scores.”

Paulus helped develop strategy and classroom technique, Melton said.

“A math teacher and I sat down and said we could design a collaborative model to work with students in their CTE [Career/Technical Education] classes,” Paulus said.

The model called for students to voluntarily attend Saturday classes and allowed for more constructive responses. The newly devised teaching model was a success.

“We’re now the No. 1 vocational school for PSSA [Pennsylvania System of School Assessment] scores,” Melton said. “You know how Pennsylvania’s the Keystone State? He’s like the Keystone here.”

Aside from teaching English and improving students’ test performance, Paulus is an advocate for anti-bullying. He sponsors the school’s Gay-Straight Alliance, an organization that strives to provide an accepting atmosphere for students with differing sexual orientations and preferences.

“Our lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender students were experiencing problems,” Paulus said. “Also, we’ve been working closely with the anti-defamation league.”

Intolerable acts toward the LGBT community are an ongoing issue. He argues that is the continual importance of the organization.

“This population is one that has been historically disenfranchised,” Paulus said. “This is something I think all schools should have.”

While Paulus has made tremendous strides at Bok, he is currently working on his doctorate in education and curriculum.

“My goal is to write better curricula in the future,” he said.

Dean Coder has been teaching at South Philadelphia High School, 2101 S. Broad St., for the past five years. He currently teaches advanced-placement calculus and statistics.

“I enjoy higher-level maths,” Coder said. “I enjoy the problem-solving techniques. The lower-level maths get a little boring after awhile.”

His love for numbers and formulas led him to co-found a math club. He also owns “Dean’s List Tutoring,” an academic-tutoring business.

“Dean Coder has exceeded expectations from the moment I walked into [Southern],” Principal Otis Hackney III said on the recommendation form for the award. “His hands-on approach with his students enhances their educational experience.”

Outside of academics, he helped to develop a greenhouse and began a swim program at Fels South Philadelphia Community Center, 2407 S. Broad St.

Coder was fueled to start the program by a sad news story involving multiple drownings.

“Two families ended up drowning and the parents didn’t know how to swim,” he said.

He later learned that according to certain statistics, African Americans were eight times more likely to drown than whites. “I said to myself ‘I’ve got to do something,’” he said.

Coder reached out to various locations to sponsor the swimming program. He soon found support from a local community recreation center.

“First, I spoke to the assistant manager, then I went to City Hall and they said ‘whatever you need we’ll fund it,’” he said.

He also found funding to start a program to provide eye care specifically for children older than 18 who do not have health insurance.

Coder admits that there is more work than simply starting a new club, program or business. He cites maintaining membership as an important factor as well.

“Now the tricky part is to keep the enthusiasm,” Coder said. “We have to constantly sell it.”

Coder has been, and still is, determined to make positive change. He has made such a big impression at South Philadelphia High School as well as in the community in such a short amount of time.

“There are ways to get things done,” Coder, Coder who is currently working on his master’s in science of math and structure at Drexel University, said. “We need to keep the eyes and ears open to improve these kids’ lives.”

Other South Philly recipients include:

Cynthia Kulesza, top left, of the High School for Creative and Performing Arts, 901 S. Broad St.

Erica Lee, top right, of Girard Academic Music Program, 2136 Ritner St.

Nancy Nayowith, middle left, of the Academy at Palumbo, 1100 Catharine St.

Patricia Ternove, middle right, of Horace Furness High School, 1900 S. Third St.

Bernadine Waterman, bottom left, of Charles Y. Audenried Sr. High School; 3301 Tasker St.

John Schaffer, bottom right,  of Southwest Philly’s Bartram High School, who is a 1968 Southern alum.

Contact the South Philly Review at editor@southphillyreview.com.

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