What makes a home?

We had a very arts-and-culture filled month in January: we completed a quilt, a student led a workshop on Chinese paper cutting, we discussed the speeches and poetry of the inauguration, and we visited the art museum. And of course, there was One Book, One Philadelphia.

This year's book selection was The Soloist, an account of a friendship between a reporter and a homeless musician. We brought copies into our room, talked with students about the story, and read the original LA Times column about the musician, Nathaniel Ayers, written by Steve Lopez (the author of The Soloist).

When reading the book, I realized that it was not just about homelessness, but the meaning of home in general. Nathaniel Ayers called Skid Row in downtown Los Angeles home because Pershing Square was the home of a statue of Beethoven, his hero. He also found a home in classical music despite not being able to find peace in his own mind.

We wanted to connect our One Book, One Philadelphia event to the subject of the book. So we asked students "What makes a home?" We got some very terrific responses in the form of writing and artwork. On January 31, we had them on center stage at the South Philadelphia library. Students read their work and had their art displayed all around the room. It was a terrific afternoon. Stay tuned for more on these stories.