Delco district is open for MLK 'lesson'

Thousands of Delaware County children yesterday received a daylong lesson on the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and other black historic figures - whether they wanted it or not.

Interboro School District required its nearly 4,000 students to report to school and participate in activities centered on King's message of nonviolence and mutual respect.

Although most schools close in observance of the national holiday, Interboro Superintendent Lois Snyder doesn't think students spend much time "observing" when they're free to sleep in or do whatever they please.

"I don't believe, in all the years that we've observed it as a holiday from school, that we've had any significant number of our students participating in service projects or doing anything that would really help them to learn the message of Dr. King," Snyder said.

Yesterday, students analyzed King's "I Have a Dream" speech, attended an assembly on minority historic figures and donated food, coats and books, among other activities.

"At first I didn't think it was fair because every other school had off," said Jacqueline Ricks, an eighth-grader at Norwood School. "But after we got here, it was OK. We did fun stuff and learned things we never would have learned before."

For example, children learned about Edward "Ned" Hector, the black Revolutionary War hero.

Of course, Snyder's experiment was not without controversy, especially in a school district where only 2 percent of residents are black, according to 2000 census data. She has received a handful of complaints from parents and anonymous callers, but also some support from the community.

Interboro serves the municipalities of Glenolden, Norwood, Prospect Park and Tinicum Township. Snyder said she plans to further gauge the reaction before making plans for next year.

"I think I'll know more after today, after students go home and talk about what they did," she said, "or complain that they had to go to school." *