The Minor Threats are posing with the 1st place trophy they received at the Masterminds Summer League. (Photo by Jason Bui)

West Philly’s Minor Threats school chess club, which West Philly Local featured last winter, participated in state and national championships last spring thanks, in part, to community support. The young chess players brought home several trophies, but more importantly lots of positive experiences. The club also participates year-round in local tournaments –  since the beginning of last school year the kids have practiced and competed in more than 30 tournaments.

This spring, Jason Bui, a teacher and the club director, would like to take his kids to three more prestigious tournaments, one state and two national championships, but it only would be possible with financial support from the community. Bui has set up an online fundraising page where everyone who wants to help the club can donate money. The page lists the tournaments The Minor Threats would love to go to and even breaks down the expenses. The club hopes to raise $20,000 so the kids are able to compete in these tournaments. Nearly $3,000 has already been raised.

To read more about the club, the tournaments and to donate, go to: http://www.gofundme.com/506jqo

Lil’ Pop Shop on 44th St near Spruce is hosting a pop-up cookie shop starting Saturday, Jan. 18. (Photo by Amy Kwasnicki).

Great news for Girl Scout cookie fans: The annual sale that supports local Girl Scout troops, Junior troop 91143, Brownie 93273, and Daisy 91569, starts Thursday, Jan. 16 and will go on until Sunday, Jan. 26. There will be several opportunities and table locations to choose from in the neighborhood. Here’s the schedule:

Thursday, Jan. 16 & Friday, Jan. 17

3:45-6:15 p.m. – on Locust Walk in front of St. Mary’s Church (40th & Locust)

3:45-6:30 p.m. – in front of Eastern Mountain Sports, the corner of 34th and Chestnut Streets

Saturday, Jan. 18

10:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m. – Clark Park “B” Park, on 43rd near corner of Chester Avenue

10:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. – “Pop-up Cookie Shop” in the Lil’ Pop Shop store, 265 S 44th St, between Locust and Spruce

Sunday, Jan. 19

10:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. – “Pop-up Cookie Shop” in the Lil’ Pop Shop store

Tuesday, Jan. 21

3:30-7:30 p.m. – SEPTA El Station, between 30th and 31st Streets on Market

Wednesday, Jan. 22

3:45-6:15 p.m. – on Locust Walk in front of St. Mary’s Church

Thursday, Jan. 23

3:45-6:30 p.m. – in front of Eastern Mountain Sports

Saturday, Jan. 25

10:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m. – Clark Park “B” Park (43rd & Chester)

10:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. – “Pop-up Cookie Shop” in the Lil’ Pop Shop store

Sunday, Jan. 26

10:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. – “Pop-up Cookie Shop” in the Lil’ Pop Shop store

For more information e-mail Amy Kwasnicki at: kwaszilla@gmail.com.

Click to enlarge.

Rich Wexler, the director of Project Arts (formerly known as Project Theater Project), invites teenagers to audition for a local production of “Avenue Q School Edition” to be staged at The Rotunda (40th & Walnut) this year. Wexler successfully produced RENT School Edition, also at The Rotunda, in 2011.

This will be an after school program in partnership with The Rotunda and teens aged 15-19 are welcome to audition for the project. Project Arts is an educational theater company that incorporates a curriculum into each project. The program also focuses on issues of social justice in each of its productions. This is a great chance for teens to get theater experiences at a time in which schools are forced to cut such needed programs.

Project Arts programs are free to all participants and production shows are priced very affordable for the audiences. Auditions will take place beginning this week (Saturday, Jan. 11) at The Rotunda. Here are the dates and times:

Saturday, Jan. 11, 11am-5pm
Sunday, Jan. 12, 11am-5pm
Monday, Jan. 13, 4pm-9pm
Saturday, Jan. 18, 12pm-4pm

The teens do not have to have any formal theater training to be considered for a part and can help with many other aspects of the production, such as puppetry, set, light, audio, video, crew, etc. More information about the requirements for the auditions can be found here. Also, feel free to email Rich at projecttheaterproject@gmail.com if you have any questions.

West Philly resident Jay Sand has big, big plans to expand his popular world music program for youths that began out of his Pine Street living room. Sand’s goal is “to create the opportunity for every child to meet the world through music.”

Jay Sand

Sand, who has taught more than 1,000 classes to neighborhood kids, has launched an ambitious campaign to crowdfund this expansion. Last spring he took his program, which combines music and cultural exploration, into the public schools. His curriculum includes some 300 songs from more than 100 countries.

Now he wants to make it even more accessible to kids throughout the city regardless of income. Part of that plan is to create a series of CDs (and digital music) with all kinds of performers. He has already released one – All Around this World: Latin America – this fall. And two more, which will include music from Africa, are currently in post production. You can see some of the studio recordings in the video below.

So far he has self-financed these efforts, but now he is offering a chance for you to get involved through tax-deductible contributions (and get a special gift such as a CD or a “musical map” or even a free private concert for you and your family and friends).

To help promote his expansion, Sand is also putting on 24 straight one-hour webcast classes on December 7-8. You and yours can attend the free classes in person if you RSVP here. The classes start at 9 a.m. on Dec. 7 and Sand says the only song he will repeat during all of the classes is the Ugandan song “We Are Happy,” which he uses to mark the beginning of each class. Here is the schedule.

On Sunday, Dec. 1, there will be a great opportunity to wind down your Thanksgiving weekend and learn more about other cultures at the 18th annual “Peace Around the World: Passport to Cultures” event at Penn Museum (3260 South St). This is a free event for the whole family. Visitors will receive museum “passports” with itineraries to visit different cultures (Brazilian, Cameroonian, Indian, Kenyan, Pakistani and more) and explore their holiday traditions.

The event includes a wide array of activities, such as dance, storytelling, sari-wrapping, yoga sessions, Middle Eastern drumming workshops, face painting and balloon art for children, and international family crafts. And of course, there will be free treats for children!

The event will take place from 1 to 4 p.m. and guests are also invited to bring a new, unwrapped toy donation that will go to a West Philadelphia charity. For more information about this event and schedule of activities, visit this page.

(Photo courtesy of Penn Museum)

Play On, Philly! (POP), the acclaimed innovative educational music program which began in 2011 at West Philly’s St. Francis de Sales School, is inviting neighbors to their first collaborative concert tonight at 7 p.m. at West Catholic Preparatory High School (45th & Chestnut). Admission is FREE.

This season, POP has been focusing on collaboration, creativity and composition, as part of a new program, POP Creates. All of their concerts this season will be collaborations, including Orchestra 2001 and Anthony McGill, principal clarinet of the Metropolitan Opera, Messiah College, and Ranaan Meyer of Time for Three, to name a few. The impressive guest artist list includes: Trio Cavatina, Joseph Lin, Nokuthula Ngwenyama, the Takacs Quartet and Time for Three.

Tonight’s concert is a collaboration between St. Francis de Sales Firebird String Orchestra and Junior String Philharmonic of Lehigh Valley (JSP). The highlight of the concert will be a joint performance of Edvard Grieg’s Holberg Suite and selections from The Nutracker Suite. Pieces by Bach and Pachelbel will also be featured. The concert will be conducted by Kenneth Bean, Music Director/Conductor of JSP and Naomi Gonzalez, Conductor at POP.

To read more about Play On, Philly! and to check the schedule of their upcoming events, visit: http://www.playonphilly.org/

(Photo courtesy of Play On, Philly!)