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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
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State
Rep. Ronald Waters |
   
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Waters speaks to students, urges focus on education
PHILADELPHIA, June 6 – As part of the movement Campaign Against Violence, state Rep. Ronald Waters, D-Phila./Delaware, recently spoke to 65 boys at a Community Education Partners disciplinary placement school about the ills of crime and jail.
During his visit, Waters played a DVD showing incarcerated men who relayed how they wished they had not made the terrible mistake of committing a crime.
Waters distributed a pledge card to the students asking them to squash any conflicts they may have with their family, friends and community before those conflicts escalate into violence. The students who pledged and completed their card, created by United Community Action Network (U-CAN), an organization of Graterford prison inmates, received a shirt with the message "Squash It."
"The students were very attentive and responded quickly and thoughtfully to the questions I asked them," Waters said. "It was wonderful to see these students respond so well to our message of ending violence and focusing on education and their future."
The School District of Philadelphia-CEP Disciplinary Placement Program aims to improve school safety, accelerate academic achievement and decrease the dropout rate. The program also creates savings for the district by reducing the number of students repeating grades.
Another part of the CEP Partnership Program, the School District of Philadelphia-CEP Dropout Prevention/Recovery Program, helps students overcome barriers to high school graduation and accelerate their learning in order to be prepared for their next level of success.
Waters was invited back to the CEP Partnership Program for a similar discussion with the female students and other young men in the school.
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