Spurred by some members of the Chester business community, I've been on a mission to find and develop good stories emanating from the city.
You can put Gregory Shannon at the top of the list.
He's the new superintendent of Chester Upland schools. If there is a tougher job in the county, I don't know what it would be.
Along with state receiver Joe Watkins, Shannon faces the arduous task of turning around one of the most troubled school districts in the state.
That's why I was impressed with something Shannon has already accomplished. When Watkins was named receiver by Gov. Tom Corbett, he pledged that one of the first things he would do was go out and try to convince people to come back to the district. He stressed that the district had to stop the bleeding of families pulling their children our of CU schools in favor of charters in order to survive.
I kind of snickered at the time. Not anymore. Watkins and Shannon hit the pavement all summer, going door to door. The result? 800 more students enrolled in Chester Upland schools this fall.
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