3201 N.
5th St.
Philadelphia, PA 19147
Neighborhood: North Philadelphia
Learners: Older Spanish-speaking learners from different Latin American countries
Type of Instruction: Coaching (Assisting in ESL classroom)
Site Supervision: ESL teacher
Schedule: Mondays and Thursdays, 12:30-3:30 p.m.
Description: The Mann Center is located in a friendly Latin American community in North Philadelphia. It is about a mile away from Temple University. This senior center is funded by the City of Philadelphia Department of Recreation and provides a number of services to the Latino elder community including daily lunch and a social setting. Guest speakers come to do workshops and talk about social and health issues that face this community. Tutors work with an ESL class in the community room/auditorium. Bilingual Spanish/English-speaking tutors are especially welcome here. The site provides pencils and paper for their clients, and a chalkboard for their tutors. All learners are Spanish-speaking and from a variety of Latin American countries.
The Community Learning Center, an agency in Kensington which offers adult education programs, provides an ESL teacher to give a class at this location. (They also offer classes at Maria de los Santos health center down the street and at their main office).
The senior center is pretty lively. You can encounter almost anything at the Mann Center. Activities range from elderly men playing pool and dominos, all the while claiming their competition is cheating, to elderly women gathered around a T.V. watching their soap operas in Spanish. Tutors enjoy the lively atmosphere, and friendly learners. One thing that can be frustrating about this site is the inconsistency of people that show up to class – especially in the rain and snow.
Other Services and Activities Offered at Site: Daily lunch served, games and informal social gatherings, special social and holiday events throughout the year
Public Transportation from Temple University: Take the Broad Street Line north or the C Bus north on Broad to Allegheny. Wait for the 60 bus going east at Broad and Allegheny and take it to 5th Street. Mann is just north on 5th Street. Enter by the Senior Center entrance to the left of the main entrance area. (Don’t enter the Rivera Rec. center, whose entrance is more on the right.)
Driving from Temple University: Take the same route. There is street parking in front of the Center and on nearby streets.
For more travel options, visit www.septa.org, and click on “Plan My Trip,” or visit maps.google.com and click on “Get directions.”