Philadelphia Tribune - Index

Philadelphia Tribune - The Learning Key, Tuesday September 22, 2009 - Index

WHO’S THE TEACHER?
Tony Danza back in school
Clair Davis
Tribune Correspondent
It is official! The School District of
Philadelphia School Reform
Commission voted to allow Tony
Danza to teach 10th grade English
and participate in a variety of extracurricular
activities at the school. Danza
will be teaching at Northeast High
School this fall as the A&E Network
shoots a 13-episode documentary series
about the whole experience.
Some of you may not know who Tony
Danza is. He is a veteran film, television
and stage star. Long before his roles in
“Taxi” and “Who’s The Boss,” Danza
received a degree in history education.
This fall he will fulfill his lifelong dream
as he heads back to high school with
A&E cameras in tow to capture the dayto-day
experience of a first-year teacher.
“I am humbled, honored and so grateful
that the city of Philadelphia has
decided to let us try this,” said Danza. “I
have always wanted to teach, so this is
a gift for me. I will work hard to make
sure I don’t let anyone down, especially
the kids. Thank you Mr. Mayor, Dr.
Ackerman, the SRC and everyone else
involved, particularly the other teachers
in the district. I will take this very seriously
and try to live up to your examples.”
“We know that this important project
will help illuminate the joy, rewards and
challenges of one of the most gratifying
professions available, a first-year
teacher in the city of Philadelphia,” said
School District Superintendent Arlene
Ackerman. “We welcome Mr. Danza to
our family of educators and look forward
to working with Teach Productions
and A&E on this very exciting project.”
The series is tentatively scheduled to
premiere in the spring of 2010 on A&E.
The “Untitled Tony Danza Project” is
produced for A&E Network by Teach
Productions with Tony Danza, Leslie
Greif and Adam Reed as executive producers
and Donny Jackson and Erin
Kelly are co-executive producers for
Teach Productions. Adam Freeman is
executive producer for Boutique TV.
Executive producers for A&E are Robert
Sharenow and Neil A. Cohen.
Actor Tony Danza will star in a 13-episode documentary series for A&E being filmed at Northeast
High School. – AP PHOTO
PAGE 6 / September 22, 2009