Olney 'Open Mic Night' shows signs of school turnaround

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Olney 'Open Mic Night' shows signs of school turnaround

POSTED: Thursday, December 6, 2012, 10:58 AM

In today's City Paper, I wrote about the teachers, parents and kids who crowded the cafeteria of Olney Charter High School on Friday for an Open Mic Night. Everyone I spoke with said such an event would never have happened a few years ago in this, formerly among the city's most dangerous schools. Since 2011, Olney has been under the management of the nonprofit Aspira.

Aspira's welcome gift from the school district was a big bucket of keys with no labels, and the music department found "garbage," just a few pianos in pieces and missing lids and pedals. Erina Pearlstein, a music teacher, helped raise money to get them fixed up, along with some brass instruments so the school might have even more music classes next year. Teacher Katie Dickerson, who invited CP to the event, has started a blog with her students' work, and it's worth a read.

One thing I did not attempt to describe in this article: Jaylen Gates' impressive dancing. So, here's the video:


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Here at The Naked City, you'll find breaking news, analysis, gossip and surprises about everything from crime and politics to the beating pulse of city life itself. We're good listeners, too:

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