Chelsea 7th Grader Raises Money for Baseball in Puerto Rico for Mitzvah Project

Chelsea 7th Grader Raises Money for Baseball in Puerto Rico for Mitzvah Project

Chelsea School 7th grader Sol Miranda-Weiner is known to his school friends as a young man with two passions: science and baseball. As he turns 13 this year, he will becoming a bar mitzvah and completing a mitzvah project. Sol has chosen to raise funds and support Play Ball Puerto Rico, an organization that renovates baseball fields that were devastated by Hurricane Maria and numerous earthquakes.

“For me, one of the most important things about becoming a Bar Mitzvah is the opportunity to help others”, said Sol. “I love playing baseball, and I play on some really nice and safe fields in Washington, DC, and I want kids in Puerto Rico to have that too.”

“I have chosen to renovate a field in Ponce, Puerto Rico, where one of my grandpas was born. In Ponce, the few fields that survived Hurricane Maria, did not survive the earthquakes. All the money that I raise will be used to renovate a specific field there. I really like that they will also make sure to involve the community to renovate their field.”

Play Ball Puerto Rico was started by then 13 year old, Lawson Strenecky, who wanted to do something when he saw the devastation of Puerto Rico by Hurricane Maria.

“I am very excited and committed to working with Play Ball, PR and have been joining board meetings to better plan for this amazing opportunity to serve.  I also plan to volunteer in person, to help fix the field and get to know the community, when I am in Puerto Rico this summer.”

Sol is asking the Chelsea Community to be a part of his Bar Mitzvah project by donating money to Play Ball, Puerto Rico to help communities have a safe place to come together, and for kids to play baseball in Ponce.

For more information, please visit the website at https://www.playballpr.com/

To donate: you can donate through PayPal using the email: Info@playballpr.com . Make sure you mark donation and not payment for services and make a note that this is for Sol’s project.

You can also send checks directly to Play Ball Puerto Rico:

Dr. Bernard J Strenecky

C/O Play Ball Puerto Rico

3518 Sorrento Ave.

Louisville, KY 40241

Support Maryland Senate Bill 706!

Did you know that nonpublic school teachers are paid 23-40% lower than teachers in public schools?

Did you also know that nonpublic teachers are required to meet the same licensing requirements of public school teachers?

Please join Chelsea School in supporting Maryland Senate Bill 706 which will help to align nonpublic teacher salaries with those of their public school counterparts. Hiring and retaining quality teachers remains one of the biggest challenges facing schools like Chelsea.

Over 85% of Chelsea School’s students are funded by their public jurisdictions because they require the intensive, individualized support that most public schools cannot provide. These students come to Chelsea after experiencing years of academic failure. Chelsea School, and schools like it, give these students a chance to experience academic success while building literacy, numeracy, and writing skills. With a graduation rate of nearly 100%, Chelsea School alumni are now excelling in colleges and universities, as well as in a variety of professions from law to education. These same students were previously at-risk for dropping out or slipping into the school-to-prison pipeline.

YOUR VOICE MATTERS!

There will be a hearing on SB 706 – MANSEF’s salary parity bill – before the Senate Budget and Tax Committee on Wednesday, March 2. PLEASE CALL AND EMAIL THESE LEGISLATORS to register your support. Show them you care about our publicly funded students who need
qualified teachers who must be paid similar to their public school counterparts. Please tell legislators to support this much needed legislation as our schools will not be able to serve Maryland’s most challenged students. Working in a nonpublic special education school should not put our staff at a disadvantage.

Here are emails and phone numbers to flood their offices by Wednesday afternoon.

Senate Budget and Tax Committee
Guy.guzzone@senate.state.md.us 410-841-3572
jim.rosapepe@senate.state.md.us 410-841-3141
paul.corderman@senate.state.md.us 410-841-3903
adelaide.eckardt@senate.state.md.us 410-841-3590
sarah.elfreth@senate.state.md.us 410-841-3578
nancy.king@senate.state.md.us 410-841-3686
ronald.young@senate.state.md.us 410-841-3575
melony.griffith@senate.state.md.us 410-841-3127
cory.mccray@senate.state.md.us 410-841-3165
george.edwards@senate.state.md.us 410-841-3565
michael.jackson@senate.state.md.us 410-841-3700
johnnyray.salling@senate.state.md.us 410-841-3587
craig.zucker@senate.state.md.us 410-841-3625

House Ways and Means Committee
Vanessa.atterbeary@house.state.md.us 410-841-3471
Alonzo.washington@house.state.md.us 410-841-3652
dalya.attar@house.state.md.us 410-841-3267
Eric.luedtke@house.state.md.us 410-841-3110
Jason.buckel@house.state.md.us 410-841-3404
Eric.ebersole@house.state.md.us 410-841-3328
michele.guyton@house.state.md.us 410-841-3793
mike.griffith@house.state.md.us 410-841-3444
jessica.feldmark@house.state.md.us 410-841-3205
Chanel.branch@house.state.md.us 410-841-3257
Joseph.boteler@house.state.md.us 410-841-3365
MaryAnn.Lisanti@house.state.md.us 410-841-3331
Jheanelle.wilkins@house.state.md.us 410-841-3493
Wayne.hartman@house.state.md.us 410-841-3356
Kevin.Hornberger@house.state.md.us 410-841-3284
Julian.Ivey@house.state.md.us 410-841-3326
Dana.Jones@house.state.md.us 410-841-3211
Julie.palakovichcarr@house.state.md.us 410-841-3037
April.rose@house.state.md.us 410-841-3070
Robert.Long@house.state.md.us 410-841-3458
Darryl.barnes@house.state.md.us 410-841-3557

Edith.patterson@house.state.md.us 410-841-3247
nick.charles@house.state.md.us 410-841-3707

Exceptional Schools Fair 2020

Join us at the 2020 Exceptional Schools Fair!

This year’s fair will be held virtually on Sunday, November 8th, from 11:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. For more information and to register, please visit http://www.exceptionalschoolsfair.com.