Showing posts with label Pittsburgh. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pittsburgh. Show all posts

Thursday, January 27, 2022

The solution chatter

Sadly, PPS, by and large, fails to understand some of the basics of life.

What does PPS want? It says "safety" is the top priority. 

For many, to amp up the safety factors makes life feel more oppressed. Confinement, surveillance, oppression, ridged authority, supervision with gatekeepers and control is their rulebook guide.

“In order to get people to do what you want them to do, you have to understand what motivates them."

PPS doesn't always have a good grip on what motivates the youngsters.

You also have to know how to present yourself and your product to get their interest, their trust, and
ultimately their willingness to call you, visit you, or send you their talents, energy and enthusiasm. 

There are transactions to be made here. Money is a part of it with the citizens paying the taxes, of course. Others can choose to vote with their feet and depart the city. 

Human psychology has not changed in ten centuries.

As a coach, I don't wish for safety as a top goal. It seems to me that safety is an artifact of responsibility, learning, betterment, engagement, devotion and improving results. 

When we win, we are safe. When we win, we show up. PPS is losing the safety battle and losing in achievements in education and sports.


Sunday, January 23, 2022

Letter to PPS from a teacher, posted on social media and sent to the board

Kristen Johnson posted

 · 
I am posting the letter I am sending to the board for tomorrow. I do not know if it will all be read because of time, but enough is enough! I ask each and everyone of you to write as well.
Pittsburgh Board of Education:

Good evening, my name is Kristen Johnson and I am a teacher at Brashear High School. I am writing to implore a sense of urgency in addressing our current situation within the district. This is a call to action for each of you and everyone who works at Central Office.

Five years ago I started working at Brashear high school as an English teacher. I have moved to the CTE department and now teach Personal Finance and Computer Fundamental elective courses. Working for PPS is a dream come true and Brashear is my “home” where I can show school pride, community pride, city pride, and PPS pride.

Nothing that has transpired over the past week, and frankly this school year, has elicited a sense of pride. We are all experiencing a myriad of emotions. I will keep this letter local and immediate to my experience, but I know many others share similar frustrations and anger.

When family and friends asked how I was doing at the end of last week I paused and said “I am disgusted”. I am disgusted that our district has experienced heinous acts of violence including the death of a 15 year old student. I am disgusted that many conversations end without closure or a plan for actual and effective change. I am astounded that my colleagues at Oliver do not feel secure in their building because of the number of exits without alarms. I am outraged that we continue “with business as usual” after the death of a student, staff injuries in breaking up a fight, and another young adult in the hospital as a result of a fight.

What is going on?

We, teachers, are fighting a battle much bigger than us individually. We are fighting a system that is not effective at educating or preparing students for a future. We are trying to instill a sense of self in students, develop self-confidence, empower students to achieve self-actualization and see themselves as an asset to our communities. We do this by building relationships with students and families so they can become the captains of their own destiny. We are doing this every day in every building, and we are emotionally exhausted because we are doing it alone.

Where are you?

I have not seen one of you, board members or otherwise, in our buildings unless is was a planned tour of a particular program. I ask again, where are you? You have to get in the trenches to understand our day-to-day struggle with high need students and their individual circumstances. When Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was jailed in Birmingham, Alabama, he wrote “Letter from Birmingham Jail”. He began by addressing his fellow clergymen who called his visit “untimely and unwise”. Now is your time to see and be seen. We, teachers, feel we are doing this alone. We feel the support given by administration has been stifled because they are not willing, or able, to provide the necessary discipline to address minor student behaviors that perpetuate a climate and culture of disrespect for people and learning. Now is your time to come be substitute in our buildings, all buildings, but especially high school buildings and see for yourselves the profanity and disregard for redirection from staff. 

Where are you? 

Please come see for yourself what is happening. Not just once, take a week or two and sub in our buildings.

One year ago Amanda Gorman recited original poetry at the Presidential Inauguration of President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. She was the youngest person to every do so. Her poem “The Hill We Climb” speaks to the challenges we have overcome in recent history, difficult challenges that tested our persistence and willingness to listen to each other. At the end she says “When day comes, we step out of the shade, Aflame and afraid. The new dawn blooms as we free it. For there is always light, If only we’re brave enough to see it, If only we’re brave enough to be it.” I am “Aflame and afraid.” I beseech you to be brave enough to be the light so that we, teachers, may see it and share it. We must be the light and see the light to heal this district and our most precious asset, our students.

Thursday, January 20, 2022

Fwd: Special One Northside Message

--- Forwarded message ---------
From: ONE NORTHSIDE


A Special One Northside Message

Dear Northside Residents,

It is with a heavy heart that we send this message. As many of you know, a young man lost his life yesterday, January 19, outside of Oliver City-wide Academy during school dismissal. We are all saddened by the unnecessary loss of 15-year old Marquis Campbell. Our hearts go out to his family, friends, and the staff at Oliver City-wide.

In a show of unity around this tragedy, newly elected Mayor Ed Gainey and Pittsburgh Public Schools Interim Superintendent Wayne Walters held a joint press conference. This sincere response shows a level of leadership in our city and the public school system that brings hope. Hope, even in the darkest of times, is what keeps us moving forward.

We remain hopeful that by working together as One Northside and with Mayor Gainey and Interim Superintendent Walters we can support the change needed to stop the violence, reduce crime and ensure safe and welcoming communities in all 18 neighborhoods of the Northside.

We are strongest when we work together and support each other.

Support & Be Supported

In every community, there is a give and take.

Sometimes you are the one offering support and other

times you need to receive it. It's all part of our work together.

Click to learn more.

Tony Norman, of the P-G wrote, in part:

There is an alternative to this depressing cycle of carnage, but it requires a willingness to intervene early and often in the lives of troubled young men in the community. These boys and young men are easy to identify at school and in the neighborhood. What’s needed is radical empathy and creativity from the community.
A young man who can’t read at grade level is at risk, especially if his aspirations go no farther than securing his next meal. The boy who exhibits bullying behavior on the playground is crying out for both love and intervention. It would be better if the community responded instead of the police.
Children with no positive parental guidance are almost guaranteed to lash out “at the village” if that village is indifferent to their alienation. If they don’t develop meaningful social connections when they’re young, they will become oppressors within that community — and they will be merciless.

Monday, December 27, 2021

Transition Team: Eager to begin work

https://www.post-gazette.com/local/city/2021/12/26/Members-of-Gainey-transition-committees-eager-to-begin-work/stories/202112260052

Members of Gainey transition committees eager to begin work

At the turn of 2021, Ed Gainey launched his campaign for mayor of Pittsburgh on the idea of bringing people together — that city government could “change lives, uplift communities and fix what’s broken” — and as the year ends, he’ll rely on those people to help him do it.

Mr. Gainey, the mayor-elect who will take the oath of office in January to succeed outgoing Mayor Bill Peduto, will lean on the help of four transition committees, packed to the brim with members he picked to “reflect the rich diversity,” he said, of the city he hopes to unite.

In interviews with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and in public comments, members of those committees — guided by subject areas that were pillars of Mr. Gainey’s campaign platform — said they will be driven by a desire to make Pittsburgh more equitable for its residents, especially in low income communities and communities of color.

“There are lot of people in the city of Pittsburgh who have not been seen for a very long time,” said Tiffany Taulton, director of community initiatives for the Hazelwood Initiative and a member of the transition committee on infrastructure and environment. “I’m really excited about this opportunity for [Mr. Gainey] to show all of us that we all belong here — that our struggles are real and they’re going to be addressed.”

Leaders of the transition effort said the committees will meet biweekly and will issue a final report of recommendations in mid-April to the new mayor and the general public — built on “an extensive process to engage the public” and solicit feedback from experts, said transition co-chair Angel Gober.

Ms. Taulton, a member of the committee that — according to a written plan — will explore how to improve and maintain the city’s physical infrastructure “with a special focus on environmental justice,” said she wants to ensure that low-income communities and communities of color are considered when city government thinks about health, safety and sustainability.

Hazelwood is one of those communities that’s been “historically neglected,” said Ms. Taulton, who also teaches environmental justice at Duquesne University. It’ll take consciously investing in those communities that have seen long-term disinvestment, and thinking of how long-term plans can weave between numerous subject areas to build infrastructure that’s good for both the city and its residents, she added.

A self-proclaimed “lover of trees,” Ms. Taulton said one of her biggest priorities is to talk about how trees can protect air quality and help to manage storm water in low-income communities that don’t traditionally have much tree cover.

“You have very big disparities in communities of color that often times leave them more vulnerable to flooding, air quality issues and heat island effects,” Ms. Taulton said. “Studies have shown areas that don’t have tree cover can be up to 17 degrees higher than areas that do.”

A desire to right these disparities and foster a “city for all” was at the center of Mr. Gainey’s campaign, and in a welcome letter to the transition plan, he wrote that it’s “our opportunity to unite and plan for the future” of a city long called America’s most livable, but where Black residents — specifically Black women — face outsize challenges. The common thread that should unite the transition committees, the Lincoln-Lemington state lawmaker wrote, is an “equity and empowerment lens.”

Dr. Kathi Elliott, who serves as CEO of Gwen’s Girls and is a co-chair of the health and safety committee, said Mr. Gainey has been engaged on the issue of systemic inequities impacting Black girls and women in Pittsburgh — an issue that she’s worked to address in her professional life.

Dr. Elliott said she’s looking forward to working with the mayor-elect to “tackle the inequities that were highlighted in the Gender Equity Commission report,” a study that Mr. Gainey cited numerous times during his run to assert that Pittsburgh is turning its back on many of its own residents.

The 2019 report found that Black residents in Pittsburgh could move to almost any other U.S. city of comparable size and have a better quality of life — with Black women, for example, facing higher rates of maternal mortality and poverty and lower rates of college readiness and employment.

The health and safety committee, co-chaired by Dr. Elliott and Wasi Mohamed, who is senior policy officer at The Pittsburgh Foundation, will also work to “consider social determinants of health and approaches to eradicating health disparities.” It’s a goal reminiscent of Mr. Gainey’s repeated pledge to bring a comprehensive public health plan to address the root causes of violence, from drug and alcohol use and education to poverty and the lack of opportunities.

The lack of opportunity will be a main focus of the committee on education and workforce development, tasked with making recommendations on how to “achieve shared prosperity” for residents by matching their skills with the needs of the city’s growing economies.

Eager to work with a committee he said “touches all sides of the city” in its diversity and expertise, Darrin Kelly, president of the Allegheny Fayette Central Labor Council and co-chair of the committee, said that in respect of the committee’s work, he’d like to get together with members before talking about specific policy recommendations.

Mr. Kelly said he’ll approach the work by emphasizing the need to protect workers — specifically those on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic — and to provide opportunities for people who may not have had them.

The committees will begin their biweekly meetings and public town halls in January, officials said.

Julian Routh: jrouth@post-gazette.com; Twitter: @julianrouth

First Published December 26, 2021, 6:00am

Friday, June 05, 2020

Fwd: The First Friday | American Chestnut Trees • New Blooms • A Note from Your Gardener

Face plant. And I am not talking about summer bulb planting. 
Talk about a total lack of nuts, except chestnuts. 
These people take $20M of city taxpayers money each year. 
Hello!
PS: My gardener do not write this crap. What about "your gardener?"

Mark R

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy <awenk@pittsburghparks.org>
Date: Fri, Jun 5, 2020 at 7:19 AM
Subject: The First Friday | American Chestnut Trees • New Blooms • A Note from Your Gardener


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The First Friday Email

THE AMERICAN CHESTNUT TREE

The American chestnut was once considered the largest, tallest and fastest-growing trees. The wood was rot-resistant, straight-grained, and suitable for furniture, fencing, and building. The nuts fed billions of wildlife, people, and their livestock. It was almost a perfect tree. That is, until a blight fungus killed it nearly a century ago. The chestnut blight has been called the greatest ecological disaster to strike the world's forests in all of history.
Pittsburgh serves as the home to 30 American chestnuts, residing in Frick and Highland Park. The Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy continues planting this rare species for research and experimentation. 
"I am replicating breeding work that the American Chestnut Foundation is embracing by taking advanced genetic hybrids and planting them out with surviving chestnuts trees and letting open pollination occur," Phil Gruszka, Parks Conservancy director of horticulture and forestry said. "I will never see the benefits of this, but my grandchildren might." 
Parks Conservancy advocate and supporter, Kitty Brunkhorst, took a particular interest in this project. 
"I learned that Phil was working with (Parks Maintenance Manager) Dick Wilford to plant American chestnut tree seeds about two years ago. It was somewhat funny to me to think of these two men finding a secret place to plant and tend these seeds, planning to see what did and didn't work," Kitty said. 
"I've been concerned about trees in Frick Park for a long time, as I live nearby and spend many hours in the park. The fact that they were attempting to revive a native species seemed worthwhile," Kitty explained.
To learn more about the American Chestnut and how genetic engineering can potentially revive these trees, click here. If you'd like to explore the work that the American Chestnut Foundation is doing to restore this species, click here

The First Friday tiles (6)
"So you do a lot of planting?" 
This is a question I receive often when people realize I'm a professional park gardener.
Fun fact – we spend most of our time pulling weeds! 
Yes, we plant trees, bulbs, and annual flowers, but this is a small fraction of what we spend our time doing within Pittsburgh's parks. The types of vegetation we plant in the parks have very specific windows in which they can be planted. 
Planting trees takes approximately five days in the spring and five days in the fall. We also spend approximately two days in the fall planting bulbs and spend four-to-six days in May planting annuals. However, we spend days - actually, weeks - pullings weeds!
The flower beds in the parks are planted with perennial plants that bloom year after year, so they don't require planting, but they do require regular weeding. We even pull weeds during the winter months.
In the park woodlands, pulling vines from trees and removing woody invasive shrubs is a form of weeding and this is how we spend our winter months in the parks. We don't use herbicides to control weeds, so it's up to our team of park gardeners and volunteers to remove them. 
Your Gardener,
Angela Yuele 

The First Friday tiles (5)
A compilation of the Parks Conservancy's Horticulture and Forestry team's (also known as the 'Sassies') favorite plants. 
Let's talk about summer flowering bulbs! Plant these underground structures in the spring and enjoy colorful blooms through the summer! Learn about some of our favorite plants below.
Jaci Bruschi, Gardener | CANNA 
This cultivar is a 'South Pacific Scarlet.' It's a great cultivar of Canna from the South Pacific series; it will grow to about four-to-five feet it can be planted in a container and in a garden bed. Though it is not hardy to our zone, you can dig the bulbs up at the end of the season and save for next year's planting.
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Angela Yuele, Horticulturist | GLADIOLUS 
Gladiolus are an old-time favorite. I fondly remember my grandpa being very proud of his Gladiolus!  These are a tender summer bulb, which means they need to be dug up, or purchased, every year and replanted. The bloom time is brief on theses beauties. To prolong the bloom time you can stagger plantings in two-week intervals. This is a popular plant for flower arrangements as well! 
Robin Eng, Restoration Gardener | GRAPE-LEAF ANEMONE
Grape-leaf or Japanese anemone produce great mounding heaps of lush dark green foliage year-round. Then as the major blooms of summer appear to be dying back, they put out great cloud-like plumes of blossoms, raised above to foliage on graceful flower stalks. Although not native to the United States, these great perennials are well worth a spot in any sunny garden. Colors vary from white to shades of pink, and blooms can last for weeks on mature plants. If you're looking for a perennial addition to prolong the flowering season of your garden, this one comes highly recommended! 
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Maggie Herrick, Restoration Gardener | MONTEBRETIA 
A member of the iris family, Montebretia (Crocosmia spp.) is a late summer bloomer that will give your garden interest into the fall. Hummingbirds, butterflies, and birds will be especially happy with the flowers and the seedpods that follow and provide a food source. The strappy, sword-like foliage demonstrates the relation to irises and provide a texture contrast to other plants. These flowering corms come in a range of heights up to five feet and a variety of striking colors. They are salt and drought tolerant, prefer full sun, but can tolerate some shade and make great cut flowers. Mulch these plants heavily or bring them inside during the winter to help them survive. 
pastedImagebase640 (13)

P.S. Remember, parks and greenspaces have never been more vital. The time you spend outdoors during rejuvenates your body and mind. Honor that time and the essential role nature plays in your daily life by choosing to make a donation today to support the parks you know and love. 
Every little bit counts.

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Wednesday, April 01, 2020

Monday, January 20, 2020

Fwd: Stay Connected with the Pgh Startup Community

------- Forwarded message ------



                                                                                                                     Ken Lewis
Here are just a few ways to get more connected
in the Pgh startup community:

Jan. 21st - Finding Follow-On Capital with Ben Garber 

Jan. 22nd - Online Marketing for Startups with Joey Rahimi

Jan. 23rd -  Software May Eat the World, But You'll Still Need a Fork with Ilana Diamond & Matt Verlinch

Jan. 28th - Tax, Business and Accounting Issues for Startups

Jan. 30th - Financial Modeling with Phil Compton
Jan. 22nd - BioBreakfast
Jan. 22nd - Start Smart Law: How to Start a Business on an F-1 Student Visa
Jan. 22nd - Roboburgh Opportunity Expo
Jan. 24th - What's a Developer Advocate even do? with Seth Vargo
Jan. 23rd - Pgh Tech Council Open House
Jan. 24th - 2nd Step: Developing a Business Plan
Jan. 24-25th -  Big Idea Blitz
Jan. 26th -  Alphalab Gear Application Deadline
Jan. 26th -  Alphalab Gear Hardware Cup Application Deadline for Pgh & DC regions.
Jan. 27th - Rice $1.5Mil Business Plan Competition Application Deadline
Jan. 28th - Considerations for Sales Hiring
Jan. 28th - Exploring Pgh's Space Ecosystem
Jan. 29th - Think Beyond the Bank - Small Business Resource Fair
Jan. 29th - 2020 Kickoff Party Benefiting Code & Supply Scholarship Fund at Brew Gentlemen
Jan. 29th - Resources for Entrepreneurs: Legal Advice
Jan. 30th - Pgh Tech Council's Beyond Big Data: AI/ML Summit
Jan. 30th - Univ. of Pgh Innovation Institute SBIR / STTR Workshop
Jan. 30th - Data Privacy in a Digital World
Jan. 31st - Maximizing Mentor Relationships
Jan. 31st - Feb 2nd - She Innovates Hackathon
Feb. 1st - Code & Coffee
Feb. 5th - Pgh Tech Council Breakfast Briefing with Schell Games CEO, Jesse Schell
Feb. 5th - Social Innovation Networking Night

Feb. 5th - The Importance of Cashflow with Othot CFO, Kelly Lynch

Feb. 11th -  Lean Startups with Dave Mawhinney

Feb. 13th - Nuts & Bolts of Angel Investing with Catherine Mott

Feb. 18th - Agile Product Development with Sean Ammirati

Feb. 27th - Leveraging IP to Drive Business Value with Sreekar Gadde & Jason Somma 
 
Feb. 6th - Pgh Tech Council CMO Insights with Poshmark CEO, Steven Tristan Young
Feb. 6th - LifeX Labs Speaker Series: Ibraheem Badejo PhD, of J&J Innovation Center
Feb. 6th - EngMgmt #5: Blame-free retrospectives
Feb. 7th - Randall Family Big Idea Competition Application Deadline
Feb. 7th - Founders Breakfast
Feb. 12th - Tech Happy Hour
Feb. 13th - Toward the Jet Age of Machine Learning w/ Ameet Talwalkar
Feb. 18th - Start Smart Law: Protecting Your Intellectual Property
Feb. 19th - Startup Drinks Pgh - February
Feb. 20th - Dick's Tech Talk Thursday feat. GameChanger
Feb. 20th - Cafe Innovation: The State of Hardware, Software & Life Science
These Kickass Pgh Startups Are Hiring
Flexable is looking for an amazing Sales Development Rep.


GiftYa is looking for an awesome Director of Security






Fitt is looking for a great Software Engineer

Want to suggest a local startup event, header artist, job opportunity,
or sponsor the next, bi-weekly issue? Simply reply to this email. 

Share this with a friend or colleague who'd benefit
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