Bridget Scanlan

It’s heartbreaking to realize that I never taught many of my former students to read.
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First Person is where Chalkbeat features personal essays by educators, students, parents, and others thinking and writing about public education.
I learned to love reading as a kid, spellbound by wizarding worlds and ghost stories. I wanted to share this love, so I became an intervention teacher, working with struggling readers and special education students.
Kids love reading. I don’t care what th...

Jude Clee
He hires a photographer. I’m not supposed to know, but it’s hard to miss the six-foot-tall hipster lugging expensive equipment behind us. It’s the #nyctrip that I’ve been hyping up for months, analyzing and dissecting the implications in my group text (omg you think he’s gonna? idk don’t jinx it!).
He leads me through the park, stopping at a quaint stone bridge, a mismatch of amber, gray, and copper pebbles. A street performer strums the first chords of “Ain’t No Mountain High Enou...

Sometimes, I feel like a unicorn. I work with autistic children, and I’m also autistic myself. At times, it feels as though people like me don’t exist—at least, not according to the media.
I bring this up because April is here, and with it, Autism Awareness Month. But it’s often only one type of awareness: parents’ perspectives, with puzzle pieces galore. Businesses “light it up blue.” All proceeds go straight to Autism Speaks.
Every year, I secretly hate it.
Lately, I’ve noticed a shift. The...

Life can be chaotic with small children, but introverts have a unique set of traits that can make them amazing parents.

Every day, I have my morning ritual of sipping coffee and reading. Beside me, my toddler munches Cheerios while watching her best friend in the whole wide world, Elmo. It’s quiet, dare I say, peaceful — words we don’t usually associate with parenting small children.

Social media makes parenthood seem like a chaotic nightmare for introverts. On one end of the spectrum, there’...

Root Quarterly
Volume IV // Issue 2: Failure
INSIDE: An Opening Salvo on Neko Case’s Last Lion of Albion and the Queen // Free Speech Film Fest // Abortion cartoons by Pulitzer Prize-winner Signe Wilkinson // a cri de coeur on letting kids fail by a Philadelphia school teacher // recommendations to keep your turntable and bookshelf from being a failure with BLAM! Black Lives Always Mattered, Aphorisms for Artists, and Beatles in Bossa from Minas // Dustin Hockensmith on why we never win at sp...

Notes from a Bathroom Stall
Jude Clee
In the Tipsy Unicorn’s unisex bathroom, above the faucet that never twists all the way off and never will, the words Laura+Tommy 4eva were scratched into the wall with all the precision of a drunk kindergartener.
Just below it, in what appeared to be yellow highlighter, was written the following:
Laura is a fugly slut.
A laminated sign hung on the bathroom door, informing all patrons that:
Here at the Tipsy Unicorn we believe in the freedom of expression....

I heard a lot of positive buzz about Freeform’s new sitcom, Everything’s Gonna Be Okay. Specifically, that the character Matilda is excellent autistic representation. Not only is Matilda portrayed by autistic actress Kayla Cromer, but the autistic actors on the show (yes, more than one) act as consultants. As someone dying for some good autistic representation, I was excited to check this show out.

And it is good…for the most part. There’s a lot to love about the ten-episode season, until the season finale, which hit me like a sucker punch to the stomach

It doesn’t matter if you’re interested in ‘90s throwback dance parties or smoky hole-in-the-wall dive bars — Philadelphia has enough bars, clubs, and lounges to satisfy anyone’s taste. If you want a gay bar with a rich history, Philadelphia has it. You want a dance club with a ‘50s diner aesthetic? Philadelphia has that, too. And if you want a bar with its own functional library — you get the point. These are the best bars and clubs in Philadelphia’s hottest neighborhoods.
Center City
Tattooe...

Let’s play a word association: autism and moms. What comes to mind?
For many people, it’s a specific picture. Namely, a non-autistic parent decked out in blue, puzzle pieces galore. They often tweet, post, and retweet jokes about chicken nuggets and lamentations about their saintly sacrifices. They’re quick to defend ABA, quicker still to dismiss autistic adults’ criticisms. (Note: this doesn’t apply to all parents, just a vocal subset).
What you don’t hear about as much are moms who are also...

I’m starting to dread Friday dress down days. When my work administration first announced them, everyone rejoiced; one teacher even gave a standing ovation. But there’s only so many casual work-appropriate outfits you can buy on a teacher’s salary, so we started recycling clothes. That’s when it became obvious that one specific type of shirt was insanely popular with my fellow teachers.
I turn the corner out of the faculty lounge and –BOOM!—there’s rainbow puzzle pieces forming the word AUTIS...

Philadelphia is known as a city of neighborhoods. There isn’t just one “real” Philadelphia experience because each neighborhood is so distinct. The culture of middle-class Fox Chase, for example, is widely different from the culture of up-and-coming Fishtown, while the narrow colonial streets of Old City couldn’t be more different than spacious West Oak Lane. The major regions (North, Northeast, West, South, and Center City) have dozens of smaller neighborhoods inside, each with its own uniqu...