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WHO WE ARE...

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September 16, 1925 -
April 18, 2023

Goodbye to a
Beloved Teacher...

Louis DiMassa, Sr.
College Counselor
WWII Navy Veter
an

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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 

MENU

Louis J. Di Massa, Sr., 97, of Masonic Village at Elizabethtown,    formerly of  Huntingdon Valley and Philadelphia, passed away peacefully, Tuesday, April 18, 2023.  He was the loving husband of Mary Jane (Monska)  Di Massa, and they celebrated 64 ½ years of marriage.  

    

Born in Newark, NJ, he was the son of the late Joseph and Frances (Staffieri)  Di Massa.  “Lou” was a graduate of Frankford high School in Philadelphia and had  advanced degree studies at West Chester State Teachers College and  Temple University. 

 

His primary professional employment positions were as a biology teacher and college counselor at Frankford and Northeast High Schools in Philadelphia before retiring after more than 40 years of service.  He was a member of Lodge #126 F&AM,  Philadelphia.   Lou proudly served his country in the U.S. Navy during WWII as an   Aviation Radioman, having enlisted at the age of 17.
 
Lou had the wonderful ability of being able to quickly and easily relate to anybody of any age. He was a master of the Dad Joke, an avid pinochle player, a devoted Philadelphia sports fan – particularly the Eagles, and a handyman who could fix anything. He will always be remembered for his love of chocolate and garlic and for being an exemplary husband, father, and grandfather.
 
Surviving in addition to his wife is a son Louis J. Jr., husband of Carmen  Catanea-Di Massa and a grandson Viktor all of, Rivalta di Torino, Italy; and a daughter, Dr. Diane Di Massa, wife of John Danby, Marstons Mills, MA. He was preceded in death by three older sisters M. Grace Di Massa, Olga DeLucca, and Cynthia Finn.
        

 

His memorial service was held at  John S. Sell Memorial Chapel at Masonic Village, Elizabethtown, on Tuesday April 25, 2023 at 1 p.m.   Interment was at Washington Crossing National Cemetery, Newtown PA. 

 

To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Louis J. Di Massa, Sr., please visit our flower store.
 

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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

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CLASS OF 1982 WILDWOOD REUNION -JULY 23, 2022
AT THE INLET NORTH WILDWOOD
 

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TEASERS

2022 FALL FASHION TRENDS

CONGRATULATIONS 156th GRADUATING CLASS
CLASS OF 2022!
Welcome Frankford's New Alumni

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113th PIONEER AWARD CEREMONY
ROBERT CRAVEN - MAY 11, 2022

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2021
113th Pioneer
Award Winner
Robert E. Craven
Class of 1966
Pioneer Ceremony 
May 11, 2022  10 a.m.

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"If I could go back to freshman year at Frankford, I'd be in school every day and work hard."

LAQUANA NAGBY, CLASS OF 2016
ASSOCIATE DEGREE, LAKAWANA COLLEGE 2018, Pennsylvania State University, (Abington) - Current Pursuing B.A. in Communications

"Because of my grades in freshman year, I couldn't go straight to a Division 1 college.  Instead, I had to attend a junior college."

FKD NEWS & STAFF PROFILES - AT A GLANCE

JROTC

JOSEPH FRAIOLI 
JROTC - ARMY INSTRUCTOR
CLICK to READ MORE

FRANKFORD'S BRIGHT SOLAR FUTURES ACADEMY
RIBBON CUTTING ON CBS3

FKD NEWS AT A GLANCE
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ISAIAH THOMAS, CLASS OF 2003, PIONEER AWARD WINNER
114TH PIONEER CEREMONY STAY TUNED....

 

Frankford seniors enjoy final game

 

ByJoe Mason

November 27, 2022

Northeast Time

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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
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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

 

by Kristen A. Graham

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!

FKD-TV

 

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

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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.

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CLASSES OF 1975 & 1976  45TH JOINT REUNIONS

1975 REUNION
1976 REUNION

CLASS OF 1970 50TH REUNION

112th Pioneer Award Ceremony

112TH Pioneer Award Ceremony & 37th Annual Frankford High School & Friends Christmas Party,

 

112th Pioneer Ceremony

CLASS OF 1981  40TH  REUNION