Ronnie Polaneczky | Students, in quiet protest, show the Wright stuff
THERE WAS a passionate protest last week by students at a Philadelphia public high school. It had no fistfights, fires or assaults on teachers, which is probably why we never got wind of it.
THERE WAS a passionate protest last week by students at a Philadelphia public high school. It had no fistfights, fires or assaults on teachers, which is probably why we never got wind of it.
That's too bad. Because the kids at the Philadelphia Military Academy at Leeds deserved to be heard.
About 100 of them walked out of the East Mount Airy school at lunchtime on Thursday to show dismay over losing their beloved principal, Ozzie Wright.
"It isn't fair," said PMA-Leeds junior Julian Bowen, who took part in the protest. "Mr. Wright is the reason many of us came here in the first place."
To call Ozzie Wright special doesn't do the man justice.
Dog-loyal West Philly High alum. Army reservist. Dynamic phys-ed teacher. Tae kwon do black belt. Respected veteran administrator in the Philadelphia School District.
Smart, firm and preternaturally optimistic, Wright so quickly earns the loyalty of students and staff that he's constantly being tapped to head tough district projects from which others would flee faster than you can say, "You want me to do what?"
Those words aren't in the vocabulary of Wright, who, in 2004, had just returned with his Army Reserve unit from a 16-month deployment in Iraq. So he was a natural to be appointed the founding principal of PMA-Leeds, which opened that fall with a single ninth-grade class (it will be enrolled through 12th grade by September).
Not every kid is cut out for wearing a uniform every day to a place where the academics are spliced with morning formations, weekly drills, physical training and emphasis on "Sir, yes, sir!" comportment.
But the rigor has been worth it for the chance to have Wright as mentor, said student Bowen, who will be in the school's first graduating class next June.
"You can talk to him about anything at all," said Julian, who lives in Oxford Circle with his parents, Donna and Keith. "He's all about education and pushing our potential. He's been with us since the beginning, and I want him to hand me my diploma."
No wonder Bowen was "kind of livid" to learn that Wright was once again being deployed to a violence-torn land in need of his courage and leadership.
His destination this time: The labyrinthine halls of West Philly High, where fires, assaults and general mayhem have turned the school into a war zone.
While Wright is trying to bring order to chaos there, he'll be replaced at PMA-Leeds by assistant principal Lynda Blenhaim, U.S. Army Lt. James Gallagher and Dr. Susan Nye, a former principal who's coming out of retirement to ensure that operations stay forward there.
No disrespect to any of them, said Bowen, but it won't be the same without Wright.
"Just when we bond with him, they take him away," said Bowen. "It's like they're rewarding students for being bad, and punishing us for being good.
"What does that tell us? I think it's terrible."
It is terrible.
But thankfully, the terribleness will be short-lived. Wright assured me that his stint at West Philly is temporary. He'll be back at PMA-Leeds in
September and will hand out the first diplomas there next June.
"I was surprised by the walkout" at PMA-Leeds, said Wright when I spoke with him this week. "When the students told me about it, I said, 'I know you want to show your support, but the most important thing is your education. I don't want anything to distract you from learning."
Well, not all lessons are about reading, writing and drill formations.
For Ozzie Wright's students, it looks like the big lesson is this:
When you're lucky enough to get a leader you love and respect, be prepared to share him or her with the rest of the world.
Because there just aren't enough of them to go around. *
E-mail polaner@phillynews.com or call 215-854-2217. For recent columns: