Statement from Mark Rauterkus
I am Mark Rauterkus.
We reside at 108 S. 12th Street on Pittsburgh’s Historic South Side.
I am a former PPS Varsity Coach. I led the first city league team of any sport to a WPIAL Sectional title. I also had the privilege to coached the first PPS athlete to win a WPIAL event and set a WPIAL record.
I directed Swim & Water Polo Camp as part of PPS Summer Dreamers for 10+ years. At the peak of the program we coached more than 200 students with 35 employees at five different sites for 27-days, including running the Liberty Mile.
I'm an afterschool provider with other nonprofits.
I'm on the Take a Father to School Day Committee too, did PPS Sports Reform Task Force and other community projects.
Presently I'm webmaster with the International Swim Coaches Association.
Vice President for the World Aquatic Federation of Schools and Universities. – WAFSU.org.
My sons are proud PPS graduates, and I’ll be happy to share proud dad updates on their whereabouts after my 3-minutes have expired.
In my view, the swimming pool is the best learning laboratory ever. It is a classroom where students get to learn thousands of lessons.
Swimming – so when a family vacation happens people can enjoy themselves and come home, not in a coffin.
Physics, biology, training, goal setting, accountability, safety, hospitality, – and above all, Teamwork.
Sports, swimming, water polo – is about playing well with others. Sadly, that’s not being developed at our pools in the city.
The Olympics are happening in a matter of days. We have two OLYMPIC Swimmers from PA. Good luck to Josh Methaney from Upper St. Clair – now a IU Hoosier.
At the Swim Trials, high school swimmers were striving to make the team from Mt. Pleasant and Bedford, PA.. An Oakland Catholic grad was racing in finals too.
Sadly, in the city, we’re not creating literate Olympians here.
The city isn’t hosting its swim meet, nor teaching lessons.
There used to be dozens of PPS teams in meets for Elem Schools and Middle Schools. It is sad as to how that experience has been allowed to evaporate.
I do all these things internationally, and when I put in an ESSER Grant Proposal in December of 2023, I don’t even get a score or a call back. Seven great letters of reference, and not a peep from PPS.
https://read.swimisca.org/esser-pittsburgh-public-schools/
Meanwhile, we are very happy to be utilizing the swim pool at PPS Oliver High School throughout the winter with the Renegades. I gathered folks (adults and HS kids) every Monday evening to play water polo. We had a fine year. Some players went to events in Ocala, Florida and Cleveland even.
This summer, we had 30 people playing water polo at Citiparks Ammon pool – Bedford Ave, Hill District – every Tuesday and Thursday, 6 to 7:30 pm. See the poster on my Facebook page.
Consultants are here!
My invite is clear.
I will be happy to meet with them to explain what SHOULD happen at PPS pools. With a little cooperation and latitude, the aquatics programs could be a bright start for the district and generate jobs, community engagement, scholarships, sponsorships and wellness. – PLUS – I dare say, over time, REVENUE.
Rather than having our district and city in decline – we’d be retaining kids and their families.
Call me: 412-298-3432
Mark@Rauterkus.com
WAFSU.org@Gmail.com
The swim pools are the low rungs on the ladder for civic engagement. The activities there should be for all ages too.
Ironic how many of the issues before the PPS Board today are matters that citizens battled against as they were hatched by Mark Roosevelt. Get rid of those 6 to 12 schools. We knew that they were a bad idea.
But, it is the parents and community that knows best. Listen. Engage. Let's build that capacity at the PPS pools.
PITTSBURGH BOARD OF
EDUCATION
PUBLIC
HEARING
JULY
22, 2024
6:00
P.M.
ADMINISTRATION
BUILDING
CONFERENCE
ROOM A
1. Ja'Bree
Wiginton - Organization
412
Justice
Estudiantes
preocupados
2. Shirley
Hill - Retired PPS Teacher
Unfair
treatment of Montessori teacher. Lack of Black teachers at Carrick
High School. Scheduling concerns at Carrick High School.
3. Karen
Sloan - Parent
Montessori
Administration Concerns
4. Shannon
Striner - Parent
Town
Halls are performative
5. Gina
Grotelueschen - Parent
PPS
Fulton Parents
6. Lauren
Abt - Parent, Community member
Frustration
multiplied
7. Jalayne
Allison - Organization
412
Justice
Concerned
Student
8. David
Abt - Student
Course
offering at Schiller
9. Meredith
Knight - Parent, Community member
Extend
the Timeline for the Facilities Utilization Pan for better process
efficacy, community feedback and future-proof planning
10. Laura
Mullen - Parent
Facilities
Utilization Plan
11. Jacquelyn
Schriver - Family member
Ripple
Effect Counseling, LLC
Do
not close Fulton. These students matter. Their educations matter just
as much as any of Pittsburgh resident.
12. Katy
Rank Lev - Parent
Lainey
Davis
Plan
to increase or maintain enrollment?
13. Martha
Riecks - Parent
Concerns
regarding school closure plans and strategies
14. Goldette
Shields - Organization
Shields
Of Joy
Grieving
and health awareness in the schools
15. Jessica
Merlin - Parent
Jessica
Merlin
16. Jala
Rucker - Parent
412
justice
Don’t
close Manchester school
17. Angel
Gober - Organization, Community member
149.99
Stop
the FU Process
18. Lily
Allman - Student
A
Student's Perspective on the School Closure Process
19. Valerie
Webb-Allman - Parent
Rushed
process leads to terrible outcomes
20. Lauren
Stuparitz - Teacher/Staff, Parent, Community member
412
justice. Education rights network.
Closed
Minds Close Schools
21. Andrea
(Andy) Kubis - Parent
Attracting
Families to the District
22. Jude
Abt - Student
Manchester
23. Alice
Valenta - Parent
Disappointment
24. Walitta
Abdullah - Community member
Not
providing testimony
25. Laura
Gallagher - Organization
Pittsburgh
Interfaith Impact Network and 412Justice
Not
failing schools, as some say, but schools that are being failed
26. Debra
Hall - Community member
None
27. Emily
Sawyer - Parent, Other substitute
And
the band played on
28. Marcia
Bandes - Community member
School
Closures
29. Pam
Harbin - Community member
Stop
the facilities utilization - AKA school closure - plan.
Accountability for authentic community input and access
30. Rachel
Schlosser - Parent
Authentic
Community Input
31. Holly
Munson - Parent
Stop
the school closure process and start listening to what students
actually need
32. Lars
Munson - Student
Don't
close schools
33. Rita
Porterfield - Parent
The
Silence Is Deafening
34. Jude
Porterfield - Student
I've
Had Enough of It
35. David
Munson - Parent
Stop
the school closures
37. Ghadah
Makoshi - Parent
Accessibility
and Accountability
38. Naomi
Chambers - Parent
Concerned
Parent…
39. Laura
Petty - Organization
Advancement
Project
School
Closures Harm Children and Families
40. Paul
James Dell - Parent
Response
to initial facility presentation and listening sessions methodology
41. Jazlynn
Worthy - Parent
The
Foundation for the Future
42. Annette
Hall - Parent
Taking
away online public hearing attendances is taking away accessibility
for many
43. Mark Rauterkus -
Parent, Organization, Community member, Other Afterschool partner &
former scholastic coach
Renegades
Water Polo, International Swim Coaches Assn, World Aquatic Federation
of Schools & Universities
Swimming,
our pools are the best learning labs - yet under utilized
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