From: "Hill District Consensus Group" <hdcg@wildapricot.org>
Date: Oct 14, 2013 12:07 PM
Subject: TONIGHT 6PM - Join us for "Identity: Citizen Journalism"
To: "Mark Rauterkus" <mark@rauterkus.com>
Cc:
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As fit citizens, neighbors and running mates, we are tyranny fighters, water-game professionals, WPIAL and PIAA bound, wiki instigators, sports fans, liberty lovers, world travelers, non-credentialed Olympic photographers, UU netizens, church goers, open source boosters, school advocates, South Siders, retired and not, swim coaches, water polo players, ex-publishers and polar bear swimmers, N@.
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Diane Ravitch said on September 16, 2013, "Consumers look out only for themselves; citizens look out for the good of the whole."
Ravitch was referring to the threat of privatization of public education, what she regards as the central hoax perpetrated upon the American public. The matter of charter schools and vouchers is not, she stressed, a civil rights issue but part of a reform agenda that detracts focus from two very real concerns, especially in urban schools: racial segregation and poverty.
Operating schools as though they were businesses misses the obvious point. They are not businesses. As Ravitch sees it, corporate reform manifests itself in a myriad of other hoaxes, such as No Child Left Behind—which has made school exponentially more complex, but not in ways that promote real learning—and Race to the Top, which she describes as "a market-based system designed to designate winners and losers."
What public education needs right now is the shared passion of citizens working for the promise of each child in every school. Pittsburgh and its surrounding neighborhoods have this passion. We know the pivotal role each neighborhood school plays in its community. Unfortunately, like many other school systems, we also know debilitating budget cuts, teacher lay-offs, and the stress of high-stakes testing.
Greetings,
On behalf of Councilman Lavelle's Office, we would like to invite you and your family to our Inaugural Health and Wellness Weekend which begins today. Below you can find additional information outlining the details, purpose, and activities of the weekend.
Together with Representative Jake Wheatley's office, we are hosting a Health and Wellness Weekend from September 13-15. A weekend of health and wellness activities has been planned to promote awareness, encourage an active healthy lifestyle, and ensure we connect the health resources our neighbors need. The purpose of this weekend is to introduce and teach concepts that promote a healthy, sustainable lifestyle in the physical, emotional, mental, spiritual, and economic sense. This weekend will include a FREE day for families at the Thelma Lovette YMCA from 10:00am—7:00pm, located at 2114 Centre Avenue, onFriday, September 13th. Bring your family, friends and children to exercise classes, the wellness floor, and learn more about the programs offered at Thelma Lovette YMCA.
On Saturday, September 14th join us for the UpHill 5K Walk/Run and Community Appreciation Day. The UpHill 5K will begin at Freedom Corner starting at 9am and proceed up Centre Avenue and feature a turnaround point at Ewart Drive, and finish back at Freedom Corner. Free parking and free shuttle transportation will be provided from the Melody Lot (upper lot) of the Consol Energy Center from 11am—6pm. Join us at Kennard Field for our Community Appreciation Day, beginning at 11:30am with the Awards Ceremony for the UpHill 5K featuring free prizes giveaways for 5K participants. Stick around and enjoy 'healthy' programming with free food, a job fair, line dancing with Roland Ford, Spoken Word and Step exhibitions, balloon animals, face painting and arts & crafts for children. Live entertainment will begin at 4:30pm with the African American Music Institute Jazz Band. Partnering with the Greater Pittsb urgh Food Bank we look forward to hosting a food drive and sharing healthy recipes. Please bring a canned or non-perishable food item to be donated.
Sunday, September 15th the Thelma Lovette YMCA will host a Health Expo for African American Living offering free health screenings, vendors, cooking demonstrations, children obstacle course, equipment and class orientations, the Pitt Mobile Science Bus, a live DJ, a mural painting for families and children. Come out and learn from the experts on how to live, eat, and exercise healthier. Free water bottles and pedometers will be available as supplies last. Don't miss your chance to learn how to cook and taste the healthy food from our cooking demonstrations. Free prizes will be given a away at 4:30 after our 'Step Challenge' beginning at 3:30 from Roland Ford. Centre Avenue will be closed from Erin to Kirkpatrick Streets and on-street parking can be found on adjacent streets by the Thelma Lovette YMCA facility.
This weekend is designed to focus on how WE, as a community, can make simple changes in our everyday lifestyle to live healthier and be more active. We hope that you will join us for our Inaugural Health and Wellness Weekend and participate in the UpHill 5K, Community Day, and our Health Expo.
Friday, September 13, 2013:
FREE family day at the Thelma Lovette YMCA 10:00am—7:00pm
Saturday, September 14, 2013:
UpHill 5K Walk/Run—8:00am-11:30am
Awards Ceremony and Community Appreciation Day @ Kennard Field (2298 Reed Street) 11:30am—6:00pm
Job Fair: will take place from 12:00-4:00pm and feature: Center for Family Planning and Research, Dollar Bank, UPMC, A For the People Insurance, University of Pittsburgh, PA State Police, Manpower Inc., SAMs Club, AVON, Moriarty Home Health Care, Taco Bell, Mentor Community Wealth Building Initiative
Sunday, September 15, 2013:
Health Expo for African-American Living, Thelma Lovette YMCA (2114 Centre avenue) 1:00—5:00pm
Friends,
Last year about this time, I sent most of you an email about a forum on the national debt that was being arranged by the League of Women Voters of Greater Pittsburgh. Some of you came to the forum, and I hope you found it interesting and informative.
This year, the League is addressing another difficult issue. We are collaborating with the Program for Deliberative Democracy at Carnegie Mellon University to produce a structured discussion on the topic Gun Safety in a Free Society: An Allegheny County Conversation. The forum is free, there is free parking, bus access, and refreshments.
This program is set up to provide an opportunity for citizens having a variety of perspectives to exchange ideas, hear each other's stories, and attempt to identify common ground. Participants must register and complete an initial survey. They will then be sent the forum location and a link to a background paper that presents facts and discusses various perspectives; they will be expected to have read the paper when they arrive at the event.
Small groups will discuss their perspectives with a trained moderator, develop questions for a panel of experts, return to additional discussion, then complete a final survey. From the comparative survey results and the table discussion notes, we hope to derive some ideas for actions we can take here in Allegheny County that can reduce gun violence while preserving gun owners' rights.
I have attached a flyer describing the program. If you would like to participate and are willing to commit a Sunday afternoon (October 6, a Steelers bye week) plus the time to read and think about the background material, please click on the link in the flyer to start the registration process and access the initial survey.
I hope some of you will be able to participate in what I consider an innovative approach to a difficult problem.
Please feel free to forward this information to people whom you feel might be interested in participating in the forum.
Sue
Sports are filled with math issues for young people.
Sarah Jackson posted: "Once, when I was in middle school, I was given a word problem with a series of equations about finding the number of turkeys on a farm. I remember raising my hand and asking my teacher, "What does this have to do with real life? Aside from Thanksgiving, w"
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