FRANKFORD ALUMNI
JOIN US!
FOREVER
PIONEERS
These are unchartered waters we are wading through...what better time to Join your Frankford Alumni Association
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WHO WE ARE...
HELP FRANKFORD'S AVIATION PROGRAM
START A DRONE SOCCER TEAM
According to Joshua Bergerson, Aviation and Earth Science teacher, a growing number of high schools, colleges, and community organizations are joining this organization, but we would be the first school in Philly to have a team. We will use the drones and equipment for classroom lessons and our competition team. Students can compete in state and national competitions yearly with periodic worldwide competitions.
I've created a fundraising campaign site through the school district's crowdsourcing program.
Hopefully, alumni will want to donate and support this new team at the home of champions. The start-up costs for the drones and competition equipment are steep, but the annual costs after that are minimal. The link has much more information about the drone program and drone soccer.
Crowdfunding Page: https://www.givecampus.com/003ogk
SETTING GOALS THAT STICK IN 2023
Building
smarter goals
Setting SMART goals ensures you’re working smarter, not harder. SMART goals share five traits to give you a strong framework:
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Specific: Avoid broad, ill-defined goals. Turn long-term goals into several short-term ones, and note the resources necessary to achieve each one. They should be as specific as possible to keep you focused.
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Measurable: Define how you’ll measure progress and success. Include both short and long-term milestones. If you can’t tell how you’re progressing, it’ll be harder to stay motivated.
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Achievable: Think critically and honestly about what you’re capable of achieving, considering all obligations and resource constraints. Do you have the skills necessary to reach this milestone? Do you want to train for a marathon when you should start with a 10K race?
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Realistic: Consider whether you have the time, energy, and resources necessary to reach each goal. Remember to account for every goal you have when considering the bigger picture and be honest about how much progress you can make in one month.
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Time-bound: Ambiguous goals without start and end dates are difficult to measure. Having a due date also helps you stay motivated because it gives you a finish-line celebration to look toward — and adds accountability.
CLASS OF 1977 45TH REUNION
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CLASS OF 1987 &1988 35TH REUNION
GET-TOGETHER AT CURRAN'S
By Tamiko Ward
A "Get-Together" was organized by Stephanie Bennett and Megan Forrestal-Stalker for the Class of 1987 and Class of 1988. The event was held on Friday, November 18, 2022 @ Curran's in Philadelphia, PA. The event was held to celebrate 35 years for Class of 1987. Approximately 50 people attended the event. Thank you to everyone who attended this event
HAPPY NEW YEAR! WELCOME 2023
CLASS OF 1982 WILDWOOD REUNION -JULY 23, 2022
AT THE INLET NORTH WILDWOOD
FRANKFORD UPDATE TEASERS
Robert Craven, 113th Pioneer Recipient 1966, Helping Where Needed
Joseph Fraioli - Motivating Young Minds
Laquana Nagby - Class of 2016
Roslyn Smith 1975
Sue Feola 1975 - Retires after 43 Years Teaching Special Ed.
Bright Solar Futures on CBS 3 News
Frankford's 2016 Alumni Graduate from College!
Khalil Lindsey 2020
Indira Graham 2021
FKD TELEVISION IS LIVE!
2021 Update - Aviation Academy
New Robotics Team
MY COVID ROADTRIP
2022 FALL FASHION TRENDS
CONGRATULATIONS 156th GRADUATING CLASS
CLASS OF 2022!
Welcome Frankford's New Alumni
113th PIONEER AWARD CEREMONY
ROBERT CRAVEN - MAY 11, 2022
2021
113th Pioneer
Award Winner
Robert E. Craven
Class of 1966
Pioneer Ceremony
May 11, 2022 10 a.m.
LAQUANA NAGBY, CLASS OF 2016
ASSOCIATE DEGREE, LAKAWANA COLLEGE 2018, Pennsylvania State University, (Abington) - Current Pursuing B.A. in Communications
FKD NEWS & STAFF PROFILES - AT A GLANCE
JOSEPH FRAIOLI
JROTC - ARMY INSTRUCTOR
CLICK to READ MORE
FRANKFORD'S BRIGHT SOLAR FUTURES ACADEMY
RIBBON CUTTING ON CBS3
ISAIAH THOMAS, CLASS OF 2003, PIONEER AWARD WINNER
114TH PIONEER ANNUAL PIONEER AWARD CEREMONY
APRIL 13, 2023, 10 A.M., FRANKFORD'S AUDITORIUM
David Nguyen and Hysiem Zimmerman have been friends for as long as they can remember.
Both North Philadelphia residents, they played football together growing up at various levels, but when they got to high school, they went different routes.
Nguyen started his varsity football career at Frankford High School. He’s a three-year starter, a three-year captain and one of the top players in the Public League. Zimmerman started his football career at Ben Franklin, but transferred into Frankford this year. It was the perfect way to end their high school careers.
“I came here because Frankford is family,” Zimmerman said. “We are all about family. Forget about me, I love you. That’s a saying we use at Frankford. It’s family. I came here because I wanted to be part of this. I love the school, but I’m happy I can play with (Nguyen). It’s a family here at Frankford, and I’m happy to be part of it.”
“This is how it’s been since I got here,” Nguyen said. “Frankford is all about family. That starts with the coaches. It’s what we play for. Forget about me, I love you. We always say that, and that’s how we act. We look out for each other.”
Nguyen and Zimmerman were happy to have one more game together when they led Frankford into a Thanksgiving Day game against Roman Catholic.
The Cahillites, who won the Catholic League 5A championship and fell just short of knocking off Imhotep Charter in the District 12 championship game, won the first game in the new Thanksgiving rivalry, besting the Pioneers 38-8.
And good news for Frankford, this game will be played again next year. Since North Catholic closed, Frankford has played a variety of teams on Thanksgiving, including Fels, Conwell-Egan, Boys Latin and last year Cheltenham.
The loss to Roman snapped a two-game winning streak for the Pioneers, who struggled this season, going 3-10. But a lot of that can be attributed to their schedule, which included tough games against Catholic League squads Father Judge and Archbishop Ryan, as well as Public League powers Northeast, Imhotep Charter and Olney Charter.
It wasn’t the season the seniors hoped to have after last year’s one-loss season that ended in the Public League championship game, but it was still a memorable campaign that included some great moments.
“I appreciate these seniors, I appreciate them so much,” said Frankford coach Damon Brockington, who last year coached Frankford to a 10-1 record, including seven shutouts. “I don’t like saying we didn’t have a good season, I like to say we played a very tough schedule. We have work to do. But these are my guys. I appreciate them. I appreciate everything they have done.”
It goes both ways.
According to Nguyen and Zimmerman, the pair learned a lot by playing for Frankford. But more than anything, they enjoyed representing the school.
“I’ve known Coach Brockington my whole life, I know what playing for Frankford meant before I got here,” said Nguyen, who starts at center and defensive tackle. “I love playing for Frankford. It’s special, to play for Frankford. I know how much it means. I’m proud that I was able to play here. We had a good year. We did a lot of good things. And they’re going to be good next year, too.”
“I really wanted to be here and when I got here, I was so happy,” said Zimmerman, who plays wide receiver, safety and cornerback. “I got here and it was like I was always here. I knew (David), but I became family with the other players right away. As soon as I got here, we just wanted to get better and win. We wanted to win football games. We didn’t win as many as I wanted, but I’m really proud of what we did.”
They hope to continue to make things happen on the football field. Both seniors have hopes of playing football in college, though both are unsure of where they’ll end up. They do have majors picked out and each has very good reasons for what they want to study. Both want to make the world a better place.
“I want to major in criminal justice, I want to make the city safer,” Nguyen said. “It’s dangerous. I would love to become a police officer. People need to feel safer, there’s a lot of violence out there. I want to help with that.”
“I’m looking at majoring in sports marketing, I want to stay around the game,” Zimmerman said. “But I really want to become a recruiter. I want to give back. I want to help kids get into school. I know that’s a very important job, a lot of kids need help. I think I would love to do that.”
They’ve now played their last game for Frankford, but they’ll always be Pioneers.
Brockington joked that Nguyen will eventually replace him as the coach of Frankford. He might not go that route, but like Brockington, he’ll always appreciate what Frankford did for him, and he’ll never be far way.
“I love Frankford, I’m so glad I’m here,” Zimmerman said. “I’m better for it. In football and in school.”
“I know I’ll be here, helping out anytime I can,” Nguyen said. “I’ll be here next Thanksgiving when I’m home from college. I love it here. I’ll always be here because I love (Brockington), and I love Frankford. This is my home.”
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Frankford News from the Philadelphia Inquirer
Press conference announcing a $5 million grant awarded to the Philadelphia Education Fund.
Photo: Heather Khalifa, Philadelphia Inquirer Staff Photographer
A federal college-access program, available at five Philly schools, to expand to Frankford High with
$5 million
Updated
Dec 1, 2021
A college access program will now serve almost 2,000 students at Bartram, Frankford, Furness, Kensington Creative and Performing Arts, Roxborough and Olney Charter high schools.
When Mirranda Cunningham was younger, she didn’t think she wanted to go to college.
Now the teen, a strong student at Frankford High, thinks of higher education as a path to a better life. And soon, she will have a road map for how she can get there someday.
Thanks to a $5 million U.S. Department of Education grant announced Wednesday, the Philadelphia Education Fund will expand a college-access program that provides full-time, in-school guidance, one-on-one advising, and campus visits, as well as other offerings over the course of students’ high school careers.
The program offered by the nonprofit, which provides education services and scholarships for Philadelphia schools and students, will serve nearly 2,000 kids — 500 at Frankford.
The college access model exists at five city schools — Bartram, Furness, Kensington Creative and Performing Arts, Roxborough, and Olney Charter. It will now expand to Frankford, a large, high-needs high school where Cunningham, a junior, and her classmates will have access to resources beginning in January.
Farah Jimenez, Education Fund CEO, reminded students gathered in Frankford’s auditorium Wednesday of something her immigrant parents told her after they fled Cuba penniless — education is the only thing nobody can take away from you. “Education remains life’s most durable good,” Jimenez said.
For Michael Calderone, Frankford’s principal, the outside resources are a game-changer, a way to start students thinking as freshmen about what comes after high school, whether it’s college or career.
“It’s going to serve these kids in ways you almost can’t dream of in these current budget situations,” said Calderone. “It’s an opportunity for our kids, and one that’s long overdue.”
Frankford, with nearly 1,000 students, has four counselors who are “so overburdened responding to mental health and trauma issues,” especially in this pandemic year, said Calderone. Removing some of the college and career piece from their plates will positively affect students on multiple levels, he said.
WE'RE LIVE ON FKD TELEVISION!
A Chat with Adam Anderson, New Director
of Frankford High School Television
Five Years Ago, A Rumor
About Frankford Closing
Adam: That couldn't be further from the truth. We're growing.
We've added eight teachers, Enrollment has gone up. When you bring back stuff that make things important to kids, it gets them to come into the building.
Today's students want to learn more than the normal things--english, math, history. They want to delve into art, music, culinary, photography... These type of classes get them here and drive them to keep coming back. When they started crunching programs in the 1970s & 1980s, school got harder for kids to stay in the building. With the TV station, I get to showcase this new programming surge.
FKD-TV Gets Green Lit
A few years ago I applied for a PTSD grant to get cameras and equipment. The teacher who was supposed to get the grant, left the school, so it fell into my lap. I started doing film classes. I talked about doing episodes and recording. This year, they created my position, Director of Frankford High School Television, and I was happy to take it on.
I'm transforming my photography and film classes into learning how to produce shows and record events. I teach five classes, three Photographic Media 1, where students learn how to photoshop, create graphics, and learn the basics of photo camera, video camera and animation. Photographic Media 2--along with the above, we focus on video production and a daily news broadcast.
This year, they're learning how to use the cameras, create shots, composition, and we added aditional video skills in order to produce news content.
Photo Media 3 has the same features, but with additional independent projects. Some of the independent projects include: Creating pun jokes episodes. We also interviewed Ms. Blackman, Director of Equity and Inclusion. They recorded some events through Blackman. For example, she coordinated the Snipes episode. Snipes Sneaker Company came out and did a demonstration with a local Artist, Jay Coreano, in celebration of National Hispanic Heritage Month (Sept. 15-Oct. 15). He demonstrated how to create a painting on a sneaker.
CLASS OF 1971 50TH REUNION OCTOBER 2021
What's Covered on FKD-TV?
Our news episodes are weekly announcements and upcoming events twice a week. We plan to produce more content, more often in the near future. We're not able to produce formatted news content yet, but whenever there's an event, our camera crew covers it.
Our goal is to produce a five-day weekly news broadcast. We're trying to make connections with people who are in the broadcast field. I've talked to representatives from 6ABC, CBS3 and NBC10. I'm trying to get them here to talk to students about the field, how to get into it, daily challenges, etc. I'm hoping we can do some field trips to see how they operate.
EDITORS NOTE: If there are alumni, who work for local stations mentioned above, or New York or DC broadcast markets and would like to pay-it-forward with a talk, a tour, or possible intersnhip contact Adam Anderson at: aanderson2@philasd.org
Dreaming of a Late Night Set
A lot of kids are coming into it at entry-level and are excited about learning how to video record and edit and want to join. We've had 12 TVs installed. We produce slide shows, Instagram and Tick Tock projects.
We have the following:
Four video cameras for news content
Five cameras for photography
33 desktops
Final Cut Pro on Apple
All computers have iMovie and a few Photographic Media #2 and #3 have Final Cut Pro on Apple. We have a broadcasting system called Sling Studio. You can watch Sling TV everywhere.
We use this device to record the news, then export it out and record it on YouTube.
Our Eyes on Fundraising
We want to fundraise so we can get T-Shirts for Media #2 & #3 students, and furniture and accessories for the set, along with new (more shallow) computer desks, to get more editing space.
I'm in the process of using my carpentry skills to build a set in the classroom. We have some walls up. We'll have an 8 foot long and 5ft bottom in an L shape and build a whole second wall . So we can have a couch and plants, to make it look like a Late Night Television set.
CLASSES OF 1975 & 1976 45TH JOINT REUNIONS
Describe your image
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CLASS OF 1970 50TH REUNION
Describe your image
112TH Pioneer Award Ceremony & 37th Annual Frankford High School & Friends Christmas Party,
CLASS OF 1981 40TH REUNION
CONGRATULATIONS
FRANKFORD HIGH SCHOOL 155TH GRADUATING
CLASS OF 2021
A Pandemic Didn't Stop You from Arriving to Your Destination with Grace and Determination.
Obituary of Francis X. Donohoe
FRANCIS X (Frank) DONOHOE of Linfield, PA, formerly of Philadelphia and Glenside, PA and Ocean City, NJ, died June 5, 2021 at the age of 87 following a brief illness.
Frank was born in Philadelphia, PA August 22, 1933 to the late Hugh A and Katharine (Gaughan) Donohoe and was pre-deceased in his youth by his brother, Hugh J Donohoe.
Frank attended Saint Athanasius grammar school before graduating from La Salle College High School (1951) and La Salle College (1955) and later earned a Master’s Degree from Saint Joseph’s University (1969).
Mr. D’s life’s work was teaching, including 25 years at Frankford High School in Philadelphia, PA, 8 years at Mount Saint Joseph Academy in Flourtown, PA and 25 years at La Salle College (Evening Division) in Philadelphia, PA. Whenever he was asked what he taught, his answer was always, “Kids.” As such, he leaves behind a legacy as teacher and mentor in thousands of young lives.
Dad’s avocation was raising his five kids on love of God, love of family, Big 5 basketball doubleheaders and Notre Dame football. His quiet strength and determination were the perfect complement to Mom’s unfailing energy, enthusiasm and patience. In his later years, he liked nothing more than to spend time with family, make sure everybody had his or her favorite beverage, tell a story, share a word or two of wisdom and maybe sing a song…as long as there was a quiet place to hide when the silliness got out of hand.
Frank is survived by his beloved wife of 62 years, Mary Lou (White) Donohoe; sister Mary Gail Dwyer of Cherry Hill, NJ; daughter Katharine Truitt (Stephen) of Swarthmore, PA; son Patrick Donohoe (Allison) of Schnecksville, PA; son Dr. Michael Donohoe (MaryEllen) of Eagleville, PA; daughter Eileen Hedrick (Ron) of Collegeville, PA; daughter Theresa McDougall (Scott) of Farmington, MI; (11) grandchildren and (12) great grandchildren; (10) nieces and nephews and (24) great nieces and nephews; and family of the heart too numerous to count.
In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation made in Frank’s memory to La Salle College High School in Wyndmoor, PA or Mount Saint Joseph Academy in Flourtown, PA.
CLASS OF 2021
COLLEGE ACCEPTANCES
Community College of Philadelphia
Arcadia University
Arizona State University-Tempe
Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania
Community College of Philadelphia
Holy Family University
Immaculata University
Indiana University of Pennsylvania
Jefferson (Philadelphia University + Thomas Jefferson University)
La Salle University
Saint Joseph's University
University of the Sciences
The Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania
Temple University
West Chester University of Pennsylvania
Widener University
Cheyney University of Pennsylvania
Gannon University
Mansfield University of Pennsylvania
Neumann University
Point Park University
Wilkes University
York University
IUP
Delaware State
Georgia State
Morgan State
ALUMNI PARTICIPATION
AT FRANKFORD
Spearheaded by Tamiko Ward, Class of 1987 and Alumni Association board member -- there is a plan underway to get more alumni involvement with current Frankford students. "I met with Principal Calderone about almini participation at the school. The possible areas of involvement is: mentoring, career day panelists and club/sports support."
Unfortunately, October 8th's Frankford Alumni Meet & Greet will be rescheduled in the future. Frankford-Alumni.com and Frankford's Alumni Association Facebook Page will keep you updated on future events, th alumni/student involvement plan and this incredible opportunity to pay-it-forward.
FALL-INSPIRED PIES THAT
AREN'T PUMPKIN
BURBON PECAN PIE
BRANDIED SWEET POTATO
CHESTNUT MERINGUE PIE
LEMONCELLO-AMARETTI
APPLE CRUMBLE
2022 Holiday Fashion Trends
CONGRATULATIONS 112TH
PIONEER ACHIEVEMENT
2020 AWARD WINNER
JOHN "JACK"
PURDY
CLASS OF 1952
Jack moved from Scranton, PA to Philadelphia in 1939. He attended Wilson Junior High and then went on to Frankford where he ran track and played varsity baseball and basketball for two years. Jack was “All Public” two years in a row for baseball. During his time at Frankford he was also a member of the “Ye Monks” fraternity.
Throughout his school years, Jack played for numerous sandlot sports organizations. He played on the first PAL Team in the 27th District. In 1951 he was presented with the Inquirer award for winning the Baseball Federation championship of Philadelphia.
In 1953 Jack signed with the Milwaukee Braves until he was called to duty by the US Marine Corp. While stationed at Camp Lejeune for two years he played baseball and football. Upon returning from duty he resumed his professional career with the Braves. Through the ‘60’s into the ‘80’s Jack played for and managed local teams. At the same time, he scouted and ran try-out camps for the Phillies, as well as coaching local football organizations.
From 1991 until 1997 Jack coached baseball at Bucks County Community College and then moved on to coach at Council Rock High School for six years. Over his years as both player and coach, he helped teams win numerous championship honors. In 2011 Jack was elected to the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame.