Another person with West Philly roots has been appointed to the School Reform Commission. Mayor Michael Nutter appointed novelist, arts advocate and professor Lorene Cary to the commission, which is charged with overseeing the city’s public school system.

Cary, 54, attended Henry C. Lea Elementary (4700 Locust St.), the University of Pennsylvania and is currently a creative writing instructor at Penn. Cary’s novel The Price of a Child, which tells the story of a slave who declares her freedom while traveling in Philadelphia in 1855 but whose child is still held in bondage in Virginia, was the first “One Book, One Philadelphia” selection in 2003.

“For me what is truly outstanding is that she has an incredible passion for the well-being of children,” Nutter said in a statement. “She cares very personally about parents and she’s very much focused on supporting teachers. She will be a tremendous asset to the School Reform Commission and the children of Philadelphia.”

Cary also started Art Sanctuary, an arts advocacy organization. She lives in East Falls with her husband Rev. Robert C. Smith, the rector of the Memorial Church of the Good Shepherd, and two daughters.

In many ways Cary is an atypical choice for the Commission, which has been made up mostly of lawyers, business people and bureaucrats since it began in 2001. Last month Nutter appointed West Philly resident Wendell Pritchett to the Commission.

Dogs and dog lovers gathered yesterday in Clark Park for the annual “Bark in the Park.” There were contests for everything from tallest dog to curliest tail to fastest runner. A good time was had by all. See the photos below.

The Penn Bookstore (3601 Walnut St.) has a bunch of interesting authors coming in over the next couple of weeks, including Nicholas Sparks and Philadelphia Inquirer mob correspondent George Anastasia.

Here is a rundown:

• October 13 – Julie Hersh, author of Struck by Living: From Depression to Hope, 6 p.m.

• October 15 – Nicholas Sparks signing his newest book The Best of Me, 2 – 4 p.m.

• October 17 – Poetry Readings by the 34th Street Poets.

• October 20 – Former Penn faculty member Elijah Anderson will discuss his book The Cosmopolitan Canopy: Race and Civility in Everyday Life.

• October 25 – Stephen Tow will discuss The Strangest Tribe: How a Group of Seattle Rock Bands Invented Grunge.

• October 27 – The Inquirer’s George Anastasia and sports radio talk show host Glen Macnow will discuss The Ultimate Book of Gangster Movies.

Should Philadelphia have an elected school board? Should the school district’s governing body be appointed locally? Here’s a chance to have your voice heard.

These issues will be discussed when parents, students, educators and community members meet at a public forum on education governance on Tuesday, Oct. 11 in Center City.

Entitled “Governing the School District of Philadelphia: Do We Have the Right Model?,” the forum is open to the public and will be moderated by recently retired Daily News columnist Elmer Smith. Panelists will include Maurice Jones, a parent from the Henry C. Lea School (47th and Locust streets), who has helped spearhead improvements at the school over the last several months. The West Philly Coalition for Neighborhood Schools is a co-sponsor of the event.

The forum will run from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. at The United Way Building (1709 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Lobby 2). The first part will include a panel discussion and Q and A and the second part, which begins at 7 p.m., includes breakout groups to identify community concerns and priorities. Refreshments will be served during the breakouts.

You can get free tickets by going here.

• The Philadelphia Tribune and WHYY’s Newsworks site both have stories about the innovative high school program located in the Navy Yard called The Sustainability Workshop, which has deep West Philly connections. The school, which teaches students to solve real-world problems, is run by West Philly resident Michael Clapper, a former teacher at West Philadelphia High School and until recently an education professor at Saint Joseph’s University, and Simon Hauger, who gained national attention as the director of West Philly High’s Hybrid X Team. The program gives about 30 seniors from West Philadelphia, South Philadelphia and Furness high schools the chance to spend a year focusing on energy efficiency, climate change and other issues.

• Today’s Philadelphia Inquirer includes a story about the efforts of the West Philadelphia Alliance for Children (WePAC) to keep school libraries open. The organization has helped reopen 10 libraries at schools in West Philly that were or would have been shuttered due to budget cuts. WePAC supplies volunteer storytellers and librarians and has donated a heap of books. We have also reported on WePAC’s good work.

• The City Paper‘s online restaurant blog Meal Ticket alerts us to the opening of Chewy’s food truck, which slings sandwiches, burgers, hand-cut fries and “tater tots tossed with buffalo sauce, Whiz, bacon crumbles and ranch dressing.” Meal Ticket reports that they also have an “Apples to Apples” BLT that includes Granny Smiths and cider mayo. The truck is a joint venture between Charlie Sokowski and Terence Jones, an old street food hand. The truck operates between 34th and 35th streets on Market from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Dogs, cats and even a turtle came to St. Francis De Sales church (47th and Springfield) on Sunday for the “Blessing of the Animals,” a ceremony honoring Saint Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals.

A similar ceremony was also held at the Philadelphia Episcopal Cathedral (3723 Chestnut St.) earlier in the day.

At St. Francis De Sales, the ceremony included a blessing from Rev. John Hand, the church’s pastor, and of course a shout out to Noah and his ark.

Our favorite line from the “Blessing Prayer for Pets”:

“May we never treat our pets as dumb animals, but rather let us seek to learn their language and to be students of all the secrets that they know.”