Philadelphia Futures

Student Interns:

Kevin Chao, Hiba Chaudhry, and Khalil Taylor

Kevin Chao: "A String of Haikus"

Thrifty, stupendous

Philadelphia Futures

students have resolve.

COVID has ripped from

some families a parent

or a relative.

No more three meal days.

Poor students had to make means

and find food pantries.

Oral healthcare too,

scant coverage made it a

second thought for folks.

Devastating. But,

these students bounce right back up.

They are go-getters.

Making marvelous

achievements are like second

nature to them, yawn.

Bonds between their peers

and mentors run deeper than

the sands of Egypt.

We are here to Bridge

The Gap, provide support, and advocate for them.

Their resilience and

self-sufficiency need no

savior complexes.

Hiba Chaudhry - "Bridging Communication and Trust"

For the storytelling project, I interviewed L who is a student coordinator at Philadelphia Futures. She works with rising sophomore students who need the resources or help to become successful in their lives. Her work of providing help to students and giving them an opportunity to speak up reminded me of a caged bird who is given freedom to fly and achieve its dreams. For many immigrant students and the youth in general, their voices are often silenced or unheard. Parents often pay no heed to them which causes them to become a shell of themselves. They lose their confidence and become shy when it comes to speaking up. Even if they want to, they are unable to due to the fear instilled in them. In many schools, teachers fail to create a relation with students and reprimand them for speaking up. This further reduces their confidence as well as lowers their self-esteem. Through L’s work, she is helping students build the confidence to speak up and gain the confidence they once lost. I gave my drawing the title of “Bridging Communication and Trust” because I personally believe that those two things are the most important foundations when it comes to building any type of relationship, in this case, a relationship between a teacher and a student.

Khalil Taylor: "Overcoming Obstacles with Philadelphia Futures"