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Meet Stanley and Edna Tuttleman
By Mary Eileen O'Connor

During his school days, Stanley Tuttleman spent many Sunday afternoons happily losing himself in a good book at the main branch of the Philadelphia Free Library.

His parents instilled this love of learning in him, he says. Growing up in an environment where education was emphasized is one of the reasons he so passionately supports various educational initiatives. Being well educated "enables you to enjoy and participate in the world around you," Mr. Tuttleman says. He and his wife Edna, the proud parents of five children and 11 grandchildren, share this passion.

When the couple heard the proposal for WHYY's Digital TV Learning Project, they offered their support immediately, he says. WHYY has installed a computer workstation equipped with a digital TV receiver card in the new Tuttleman Community Room at the Haddington Branch of the Philadelphia Free Library. "Libraries are at the core of education," Mr. Tuttleman explains.

In the Digital TV Learning Lab, local childcare providers will receive training to help them better prepare their students for school. "If you improve the skills of educators," Mr. Tuttleman says, "you improve the chances that their students will succeed." As a board member for one of Philadelphia's charter schools, he says he has witnessed first hand how computer instruction can make a dramatic difference in children's lives.

Mr. Tuttleman, who says he keeps on top of the news by listening to WHYY-FM each morning, remembers the weekend afternoons he spent at the library very fondly. He says that the desire to share this joy of reading and learning with people, especially young children, is what motivates his family to support new and innovative projects throughout the Delaware Valley.