Phoenixville’s Mayor Scoda Visits the Renaissance Academy Charter School

September 9, 2013

Phoenixville, PA  -  On September 6, 2013, second grade students of the Renaissance Academy Charter School were treated to a very special guest.  Leo J. Scoda, mayor of the Borough of Phoenixville came to the school to talk to the young students about government and the election process. 

Under sunny skies, Mayor Scoda, who has served as Phoenixville’s mayor for over 15 years, explained the difference between being the mayor in a large city, borough and township.  He then went on to teach the attentive audience about the responsibilities of his office and qualifications for running in the local mayoral election.

The second graders are currently studying government in their social studies classes which led them to ask questions such as the length of each term, how old you need to be to run for mayor, and for what types of emergencies a borough mayor is responsible to oversee.   The students seemed particularly interested in the mayor’s ability to perform wedding ceremonies.  They were surprised to find out that during Mayor Scoda’s time in office, he has married over 200 couples, one ceremony which was recently performed at Citizen’s Bank Park.

Mayor Scoda, who had previously taught high school biology for 35 years, said that he “truly enjoys having to opportunity to come out and speak with today’s young students.”     He stated, with a smile, that among the all the questions about local government, he could always count on a few questions about “living in a mansion and riding in limousines.”

An added surprise for the students was when Mayor Scoda officially announced the winners of the recent Academy Council election.  Cassandra Stinger and Colin Harrison were named the 2013-2014 second grade Academy Council representatives.  After shaking Mayor Scoda’s hand on stage, the students thanked their fellow classmates for their votes.

Mayor Scoda was invited to Renaissance Academy by second graders, Cassandra Stinger and Colin Harrison, who met the mayor over the weekend at a local yard sale.  Amanda Qureshi, Renaissance Academy second grade teacher said that it was pure coincidence that the students who invited the mayor were also those who were named the new representatives as the election results had not yet been announced.  Mrs. Qureshi went on to say, "I am very proud of the initiative these students took by inviting Mayor Scoda to speak with their classmates.  The second graders seemed to be genuinely engaged in the mayor's presentation and thankful that he came to visit them here at Renaissance Academy."

Established in 1999, Renaissance Academy is a K-12, award-winning, tuition-free, college prep charter school located in Phoenixville, PA.  Renaissance Academy was recently listed among Newsweek Magazines 2013 America’s Best High Schools, named as a top high school on both the US News and World Report 2012 Best High Schools list, and Philadelphia Magazine’s 2012 Top 100 Philadelphia-Area Public Schools.   For more information, please visit www.rak12.org.

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