Philly’s top teachers share how the job has changed | Morning Newsletter
And a Kensington street changes direction.
The Morning Newsletter
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Good morning, Philly. Go take a walk outside today.
Three of the 60 winners of the 2026 Lindback Awards for Distinguished Teaching discussed how they set themselves apart, and how their jobs have changed.
And, the city changed the direction of part of Adams Avenue at the request of some business owners, but the switch has created new complications.
Plus, Kratom makers are tweaking their “gas station heroin” formulas to evade pending bans, and more news of the day.
— Tommy Rowan (morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)
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Gwendolyn Davis has 51 years of experience at the same elementary school. Cara Pokrywa is a 15-year veteran. Kendra Sloan came to teaching more recently, six years ago.
The three Philadelphia School District teachers have different styles, different experiences, and different paths to teaching, but they share one important commonality.
“I just think teaching is so crucial, such a rewarding job,” said Pokrywa, a fourth-grade teacher at Shawmont Elementary in Roxborough. “I am someone who likes change, and teaching is ever changing, every day — it keeps me on my toes.”
Davis, Pokrywa, and Sloan are three of the 60 winners of 2026 Lindback Awards for Distinguished Teaching, announced Tuesday. The award honors the city’s best educators.
Reporter Kristen A. Graham details how these teachers set themselves apart.
Flashing warnings and new street signs are no match for Philadelphians set in their driving habits.
The city has switched the direction of a portion of Adams Avenue in Kensington.
The one-way street used to flow east toward Frankford Avenue, but flipped directions on the morning of April 15.
Now, it flows westbound from Frankford Avenue to Ruan Street, and from Ruan to Church Street it has been changed to a two-way.
But some drivers are still traveling down the street in their familiar direction, turning the street into an unintentional and potentially dangerous two-way.
Reporter Nate File has the full story.
What you should know today
Half a dozen sales reps for a controversial synthetic kratom product known as “7-OH,” a drug widely dubbed “gas station heroin,” told The Inquirer that companies are changing their formulas. The goal is to preemptively sidestep legislation prompted by concerns over the drug’s promised high and addictive potential.
In a major restructuring, the Camden school district has sent pink slips to the entire central office and made plans for other possible job cuts, a district spokesperson confirmed Monday.
An Uber delivery bot bumped into Li Gordon-Washington. To report the incident, she called around, and it seemed no one knew which government agency, if any, was responsible for logging complaints about the new technology.
Journalist Julie K. Brown, a Bucks County native who spent years at the Daily News, has received a special citation from the Pulitzer Prize committee for her work reporting on Jeffrey Epstein.
The Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office on Monday warned that its specialized unit tasked with investigating gang violence is at risk of losing access to the digital tools that police and prosecutors rely on to solve homicides if City Council doesn’t provide additional funding.
Lower Merion School District administrators are reconsidering whether to give each elementary school student a personal tablet or computer, as the district faces parental demands to opt children out of school-issued devices.
Head House Square is getting a makeover, and just in time for America’s big birthday. Construction has begun on the first, $1.5 million phase of a restoration that will repair the Society Hill landmark — one of the oldest continuously run farmers markets in America.
Quote of the day
Inquirer columnist Stephanie Farr donned white robes and went to New Hope to celebrate in a town that shares a name with a Star Wars movie. Read here column on the experience here, and watch her video from the scene here.
Have your own burning question about Philadelphia, its local oddities, or how the region works? Submit it here and you might find the answer featured in this space.
🧠 Trivia time
This celebrity chef is developing a new pan-Asian menu at Live! Casino.
A) Bobby Flay
B) Thomas Keller
C) Jet Tila
D) Guy Fieri
Think you know? Check your answer.
What we’re …
🏆 Celebrating: A work by the Philadelphia Orchestra’s former composer-in-residence has won the 2026 Pulitzer Prize in Music.
📱 Considering: Schools that banned cell phones through lockable pouches succeeded in limiting how often kids used their phones, but test scores didn’t improve, a new national study found.
⛳ Anticipating: The PGA has made many minor tweaks to Aronimink Golf Club to prepare the Newtown Square course to host one of golf’s four major championships next week.
🏈 Analyzing: The clock continues to tick down to the apparent departure of A.J. Brown from the Eagles. Three Inquirer staffers drew upon the realities of the market, as well as the history of GM Howie Roseman’s past trades, and took a stab at some practical deal parameters that would send Brown to the Patriots.
🧩 Unscramble the anagram
Hint: Wawa released this new, Flyers-themed beverage, creating a Philly oxymoron for the ages.
HOOGE SMITTY TRI
Email us if you know the answer. We’ll select a reader at random to shout out here.
Cheers to Bonnie Coccagna, who solved Monday’s anagram: Swarthmore College. The private liberal arts school is exploring a new name for a building whose namesake has a troubled past.
Photo of the day
City officials kicked off the summer edition of the “One Philly, A United City” citywide cleanup program on Monday. The “AlleyGators” will do limited alleyway cleaning services that can be requested through the city’s Office of Clean & Green Initiatives.
👋 Thanks for starting your day with The Inquirer. Back at it tomorrow.
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