Credit: Tom Sofield/LevittownNow.com
Insiders often say the nation’s best high school is at Bristol Township’s Harry S. Truman High School.
The program was lead for years by 44-year educator Lou Volpe. The Philadelphia-raised and current Yardley resident made Truman’s theater program one of the most respected in the nation.
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While Volpe retired with much fanfare from the high school in June, the 64-year-old previously said he is not leaving because he is tired of the job, but rather because he felt was time to do new things.
The New York Times, one of the world’s most respected news organizations, ran a piece titled “The Real-Life ‘Glee’ in Levittown, Pa.” on Friday. The story was written by respected author and reporter Michael Sokolove, a Levittown native.
The story is adapted from the upcoming Sokolove book “Drama High: The Incredible True Story of a Brilliant Teacher, a Struggling Town, and the Magic of Theater,” which tells the story of Volpe and his drama program. The program has won dozens of awards and Truman was the first high school in the nation to perform “Rent” and “Les Misérables.”
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The school board approved a resolution in October 2012 that named Truman’s auditorium after Volpe, who began teaching at the high school when he was just 21.
Recently, Bristol Township School District Superintendent Dr. Sam Lee said he had received an advanced copy of the book and was planning to read it this week. Sokolove was granted access to spend two years shadowing the drama program and its students.
