First Person

Update from the Director

Happy Holidays! Given that Santa came early and often to First Person this year, I thought it wise to get an early jump on my thank you letters.

First on the list is Philadelphia's Wedge Medical Center, which provides mental health and substance abuse treatment to those in need. Their generous contribution this December will go a long ways towards completion of the film.

None of our successes this year would have been possible without the continued support of the Philadelphia Foundation and the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, two of our oldest friends. And a special thanks goes to the School District of Philadelphia -- we couldn't be happier to be a part of their innovative efforts to recruit highly qualified teachers for Philly classrooms.

Finally, we are all especially thankful that the entire First Person family had a healthy and safe 2006. We look forward to sharing a New Year full of continued blessings with you,

Benjamin Herold
Director
First Person

Video Clip of the Week

In this week's clip, Macho shares his late night secrets and first-day jitters in a video diary on the eve of his senior year.

First Person Video Gallery

Student Voices

The First Person family is pleased to welcome our newest member, Shamere Kile Tyrone Ousley! While he's a few months away from having a blog of his own, you can read his mom's blog post about bringing him into the world. First Person also wants to wish a Happy 18th Birthday to Kurtis. Visit the website to read more student blogs about everything from college placement exams to final on-camera interviews--and to leave your comments and questions for our six young people.

First Person Student Blogs

Get Involved

First Person is proud to feature our innovative partnership with the School District of Philadelphia's Office of Human Resources. Using our unmatched footage of real Philadelphia students and teachers in action, First Person created a unique six-minute video (available to view here) that will support the district's new Live, Learn & Teach in Philadelphia campaign. The video was unveiled November 30 for over 175 prospective teachers at the district's Roll Out the Red Carpet Event. We can't imagine a more worthwhile effort than helping to attract highly qualified new teachers to Philadelphia classrooms--or a better opportunity to introduce First Person to one of our core audiences!

Learn more about teaching in Philly and visit our store to purchase a copy of the DVD.