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NATIONAL PREPS

ELECTIONS

HOCKEY

Sports >> C1

Nation >> A9

Sports >> C1

Grapplers
from Hill
School earn
medals

Clinton
eyes big win
in South
Carolina

Giroux earns
500th point
as Flyers KO
Coyotes
TODAYS WEATHER

High:64 Low: 42 >> PAGE C10

Sunday, February 28, 2016 $2.00FACEBOOK.COM/POTTSTOWNMERCURYTWITTER.COM/MERCURYX

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POTTSTOWN

GENE WALSH DIGITAL FIRST MEDIA

The Pine Forge Academy Choir


performs in Pottstown.

PHOTO COURTESY OF PINE FORGE ACADEMY

The academy gymnasium is the


schools newest building.

PHOTO COURTESY OF PINE FORGE ACADEMY

Students at Pine Forge Academy


work to help pay their tuition.

LASTING LEGACY

Schools chief
search draws
scant input
Just 82 respond to survey;
few show up for forum
By Evan Brandt
ebrandt@21st-centurymedia.com
@PottstownNews on Twitter
POTTSTOWN >> The pursuit of community input to

PHOTO COURTESY OF PINE FORGE ACADEMY

2015 graduation ceremonies at Pine Forge Academy, which is celebrating its 70th anniversary all year.

70-year anniversary: Seventh Day Adventist

This was 1940s


America, for
black people to
have something
of our own,
something that
was truly ours,
I hope you can
understand
how much that
meant to us.

academy one of 4 all-black schools in country


By Evan Brandt
ebrandt@21st-centurymedia.com
@PottstownNews on Twitter

When Henry
J. Fordham III was growing up in Philadelphia, he
spent his summers at Pine
Forge Academy, where
his grandfather was the
groundskeeper.
I lived on campus in
the summers, I played in
the woods and swam in the
stream. I knew this was a

BLACK

HISTORY
MONTH

2016

PINE FORGE >>

special place we had, said


Fordham, now chairman
of the board at Pine Forge
Academy and president of
the Allegheny East Conference of Seventh Day Adventists, which owns and
operates the school.
Like so many involved
with the schools 70th an-

niversary this year, Fordham has deep family roots


at the academy, and like
the founders of the school,
he knew a special place
when he saw one.
I was being affected by
the negativity of city life
and the environment here
was less hostile, said Fordham. This place is like a
city of refuge. I truly believe that Pine Forge Academy saved my life.
As a location for an all-

Michael Jones, Retired Pine


Forge English and French
teacher

the search for a new schools superintendent has


not left the consulting team much to work with.
In a town of more than 23,000 people, only 82
responded to an online survey asking only six
questions. And of those who anOnline:
swered, nearly half 43 percent
For a
are employees of the district.
On Thursday, an effort to get Twitter recap
in-person input from the com- of the meetmunity produced even more ing and a link
to the results
meager results.
The only people who showed of the superup for the forum who are not intendent surschool board members, or em- vey, visit our
ployees of the district, were two web site at
reporters, a former board mem- POTTSMERC.COM
ber and the wife of a current
board member.
Board member Katina Bearden said the low
turnout may have been due to the fact that the
community at large feels disengaged with the
board because of past experience. They felt they
were not heard.
Nevertheless, the three-person team from the
Montgomery County Intermediate Unit that has
been engaged by the school board to identify candidates pressed ahead.
John George, the MCIU superintendent, said
his team has identified 16 qualified candidates
to replace Pottstown Superintendent Jeff Sparagana, who retires in June.
Of those, several are African-American and
several are women, he said. There are also a
SEARCH PAGE 6

Theres a difference between


someone who wants to
be a superintendent, and
someone who wants to be a
superintendent in Pottstown.
John George, Montgomery County Intermediate Unit
Superintendent

MONTGOMERY COUNTY

6TH CONGRESSIONAL

Study aims to
make county more
pedestrian friendly

Democrats want candidate removed from ballot

By Kaitlyn Foti
kfoti@21st-centurymedia.com
@kaitlynfoti on Twitter

By Michael P. Rellahan
mrellahan@21st-centurymedia.com
@ChescoCourtNews on Twitter

Local Democratic Party


leaders who support the
campaign of a Malvern businessman running for Congress have asked a state appeals court to remove his
opponent from the April Primary Election ballot.
In a motion filed last
Tuesday in Commonwealth

Court, the three women contend that newcomer Lindy


LI, whose decision to run
for Congress at age 25 made
national headlines, had not
submitted sufficient valid
signatures on her nominating petition for the 6th Congressional District seat.
The suit was filed by Andrea Nevin Lynch of Willistown, a longtime Chester
County Democratic activist;
Lani F. Frank, also of Willistown, the vice chairwoman
of the county Democratic

LEGACY PAGE 4

Committee; and Stephanie


Phillips Markstein, chairwoman of the West Chester Democratic Committee.
All three support the campaign of Mike Parrish, who
was endorsed last month by
the county committee.
Parrish and Li are seeking the partys nomination
to go up against incumbent
U.S. Rep. Ryan Costello, of
West Goshen, who is running unopposed in the primary. The 6th Congressional District covers parts of

Chester, Montgomery, Berks


and Lebanon counties.
In their suit, the three
women contend that Li,
26, of Tredyffrin, failed to
meet the necessary number
of 1,000 valid signatures of
Democratic voters to get her
name on the ballot. Of the
2,300 that were on the petitions she submitted earlier
this month, they said, only
357 were valid. Failure to
file the requisite number of
valid signatures is a fatal de-

Montgomery County took steps


to make the region more walkable recently by
adopting a study that the county planning commission spent the last year preparing.
Walking came up as an important issue to a
variety of people when we did the MontCo 2040
plan, said Jody Holton, executive director of the
commission.
The commission began looking into areas
throughout the county that are unsafe or inconvenient for pedestrians. County residents were
asked to participate by adding areas in their own
communities that they felt needed sidewalks,
crosswalks or other enhancements. PennDOT
and SEPTA also participated and provided feedNORRISTOWN >>

BALLOT PAGE 7

STUDY PAGE 6

NORTH COVENTRY

CHESCO COURTS

OPINION

ONLINE

Have a look at some


visiting race cars

Spring City man found


guilty in home invasion

Pa. misses the boat in


primary race

Watch the Oscars


with us on our live blog

Check out our photos of the


different kinds of race cars
that came to visit the Coventry Mall this weekend. PAGE A3

Leonard D. Bernard II was


accused of a home invasion in
which a woman was tied up
and jewelry was stolen. PAGE A2

By the time Pennsylvania voters go to the polls April 26, the


nomination ship will almost
certainly have sailed. PAGE A8

Watching the Oscars is fun, but


watching it together is better.
Take part in our live coverage
during the show. POTTSMERC.COM

INDEX

Obituaries........B8

Opinion.............A8

Living................ B1

Crossword........B4

TV.....................B5

Sports................C1

Volume 32, issue


47
Index................
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Index................ ##

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