Sky hand, a Creative Commons Attribution (2.0)image from Mattia75′s photostream

“Empowership” is empowerment combined with leadership. Helping high school and college students achieve those goals is the purpose of the Student Empowership 2011 one-day conference. Global Solutions Pittsburgh, Baker Leadership and Carlow Universityare the hosts of the event. Students will receive skills-based training along with a chance to network. Keynote speakers include Penny Semaia, Assistant Athletic Director for Student Life at the University of Pittsburgh and Chaz Kellum, Manager of Diversity Initiatives for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Workshops from which students can choose to attend include Organizing with Social Media, Event Planning, Marketing & Promotion, Activist Toolkit, and much more.

Attendance is free. The only requirement to participate in Student Empowership 2011 is that you must be a high-school or college student and you must pre-register by 4:30 PM on September 30th. Please click here to register.

WHAT: Student Empowership 2011 Conference
WHEN: Saturday, October 1, 2011
9 AM – 4:30 PM (complimentary breakfast and lunch included)
WHERE: Carlow University in A.J. Palumbo Hall

Tucson High Takes to the Streets: 3 of 6, a Creative Commons Attribution (2.0)image from cobalt123′s photostream

Luminari, Inc.is a Pittsburgh-based nonprofit founded to “foster original activities that broaden minds, inspire innovations and promote community engagement.” Councilman Bill Peduto has worked with Luminari founding member Hilda Pang Fu to help mentor young Pittsburghers to become civic-minded individuals. One of Luminari’s projects is the I Want to be an Ambassador! camp. It’s a seven-day program designed to teach the vital art of diplomacy to 8th to 12th grade students. The teens participate in activities which concentrate on communication skills — especially those which involve negotiating and conflict resolution. It also features cultural field trips, media literacy, introduction to foreign languages and a two-day Washington, D.C. excursion to experience how ambassadors work together to improve our world. I Want to be an Ambassador! camp takes place from Jun 19 – Jun 27, 2012 at the Senator John Heinz History Center in Pittsburgh, PA and in Washington, D.C.

The cost to attend the camp is $1,200.00, but Luminari announced this month that they will provide a merit-based scholarship to attend the camp for Pittsburgh area students who will be in grades 7 through 11 during the 2011-2012 academic school year: The Luminari Award. Luminari will select up to eight area schools to participate in the award competition. Award winners from each school will receive a scholarship for an all-expenses-paid admission to Luminari’s I Want to be an Ambassador!From Luminari:

“We have two goals for the Luminari Award. One is to reward students for their noteworthy personal and academic qualities,” said Luminari founder and President Hilda Pang Fu. “The second goal is to honor the dynamic schools and inspiring teachers who support these students.”

To qualify, schools must commit to opening the competition to all eligible students; and gather at least six successfully completed applications from students in their district. Luminari Award winners will be announced in mid-February 2012.

Ms. Pang Fu said, “We are looking for students who are motivated, open-minded, and willing to learn and be inspired by ‘out-of-the-box’ activities. Winners will attend the I Want to be an Ambassador! camp in June 2012. The camp is committed to young people coming together to discover ways to collaborate, build sustainable working relationships and become agents for positive change in our world.”

For more information on how your school can participate,interested public and private schools should contact Luminari no later than September 30, 2011.Contact Jacqueline McWilliams at 412-877-1888 or at jaq.mcw@gmail.com. Visit Luminari on the web at http://www.luminari.org/.

#2 Pencils, a Creative Commons Attribution (2.0) image from kungfubonanza’s photostream

On August 4th, Pittsburgh Public Schools Superintendent Linda Lane announced a proposed District Realignment Plan. The new plan would close seven schools (Fort Pitt PreK-5, Langley High School, Murray K-8, Northview PreK-8, Oliver High School, Shaeffer K-8, Stevens K-8) and seven buildings and open one new school. (click here to view the proposed changes). School Board approval is required to make these changes which would not take effect earlier than the 2012-2013 school year. The earliest the Board can vote on the District Realignment Plan is November 22, 2011.

The reasons for the proposed school closings are due to both declining enrollment and huge budget deficits. From their website:

Pittsburgh Public Schools, like districts across the Commonwealth and the country, is facing daunting financial challenges. When the District adopted the 2011 budget, the problem was smaller but still there – and showed an $8.7 million deficit for 2011 and forecasted a $53.6 million deficit for 2012.With the announcement of the Governor’s proposed funding cuts in March 2011, the District’s projected budget deficit grew to $68 million for 2012 and nearly $100 million in 2015.

There will be a Special Public Hearing on August 22, 2011 at 6:00 p.m. to receive public comment on the District Realignment Plan. This is your chance to make your views known. If you want to speak at this hearing, you must register with the Office of Superintendent of Schools by calling 412-622-3600 by Noon on August 22, 2011. You may also submit written testimony in lieu of appearing at the hearing via email to publichearing@pghboe.net or by fax to 412-622-3624 no later than 5 p.m. on August 22, 2011.

Pittsburgh Public Schools Special Public Hearing
August 22, 2011, 6:00 p.m.
Conference Room A, First Floor
Board of Public Education Administration Building
341 South Bellefield Avenue
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213

Red Brick Arches, a Creative Commons Attribution (2.0) image from jschneid’s photostream

Steve Shelton owns a construction company in Pittsburgh. When he thought back on how he learned masonry, he realized that there was a lack of people coming up through the trades, nor were they learning trade skills in high school, and more trade schools were closing than opening. Seeing a need, he started the Shelton Trade Center in Wilkinsburg three years ago. Students attend eight hours a day; five days a week; for a total of ten weeks. They work with experts and learn the tricks of the trade. Their tuition is free and the Center does its best to find them employment. But, Shelton soon saw that he was doing much more than creating trained professionals with a much sought after skill for an industry — he was transforming lives.

Most of the men and women who come to the Center have spent time in either prison, juvenile centers, or rehab facilities. Most grew up without a father. The Center gives their students more than just trade skills — it also offers them life skills. The Center and Hosanna House (which donated the space) also helps the students navigate things like getting a GED, opening a checking account and obtaining a drivers license. It provides many with their first legitimate work experience (they even utilize Port-O-Potty’s to recreate real job conditions). In a piece on the Center done by WQED’s Pittsburgh 360°, they recount one of Shelton’s most memorable students. He was 31 years old when he graduated from the Center and Shelton hired him for his own company. When Shelton handed him his first paycheck from his new job, it turned out that it was his first paycheck ever — he had never held a legitimate, legal job in his life.

The Shelton Trade Center currently mentors about nine people at a time. Steve Shelton would like to both expand the number of students and the number of trades that they teach. First, opening the school up to all of the trowel trades — concrete, plastering, and tile setting — and eventually adding other trades such as welding, plumbing, HVAC, metal smithing and carpentry. Councilman Bill Peduto met Steve through his son on Twitter. After seeing all that the Shelton Trade Center has to offer, he’s committed to finding them the space they need to succeed in the city of Pittsburgh.

You can learn more about Shelton Trade Center from the following short documentary and they welcome the involvement of employers, financiers and youth programs.

Child Holding Green Plant, a Creative Commons Attribution (2.0) image from Pink Sherbet Photography’s photostream

What would our world look like if instead of our best and brightest college grads needing to take whatever job they could find right out of school, they could focus their energies and passions on building a sustainable society?

TerraShift is a Pittsburgh-based social venture which offers fellowships to recent college graduates and young professionals that include hands-on work experience, skill-building workshops, networking, and independent study time. It also gives them the time, space and support to do this by covering all their living expenses for one year. TerraShift’s focus is on giving these young people the skills and experience to go on to meaningful careers in the fields of sustainability, social justice, and societal progress. TerraShift then helps to place their fellows in effective change-making organizations (entrepreneurial, organizational, and institutional).

Here’s where your involvement is key. The Unreasonable Institute is a mentor-intensive program for startup entrepreneurs hungry to tackle the world’s greatest social and environmental problems. They’ve launched a competition in which the public votes with their wallets to decide who will be accepted into their institute. Forty-five finalists were chosen from across the globe and TerraShift is one of them. In order to win, they need to be one of the first twenty-five finalists to raise $8,000. To prove their entrepreneurial mettle, they must achieve this goal with the broadest support possible — meaning for this first week of the competition, supporters may not donate more than $10 (contribution caps increase incrementally each week). The competition aims to reach one million people worldwide.

You can view TerraShift’s video entry below. Once you have, you can tell the world that Pittsburgh is a city that supports social entrepreneurs by heading over to the Finalist Marketplace and making a contribution to TerraShift.

Single white cloud on a clear blue sky, a Creative Commons Attribution (2.0) image from Horia Varlan’s photostream

Cloud computing allows people to access web-based tools or applications as if they were installed on their own computers/smart phones. The cloud metaphor was first used to describe the infrastructure of phone networks, and later, the Internet. Now, clouds are taking on a new meaning. On December 10th, Pittsburgh City Councilman Bill Peduto, N21 LLC and the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy announced an innovative use of cloud computing with the creation of a “learning cloud” in Pittsburgh’s Schenley Plaza. Anyone with a laptop or handheld device will be able to simply point-and-click while in the plaza to learn all about the objects that surround them. Within the “learning cloud” they can learn about the history of the park, the scientific details of the natural environment, or architectural details of the surrounding neighborhood.

“This is the type of innovation will bring to life the objects that surround us every day and also create new opportunities for citizen involvement,” said Councilman Peduto. “We are bringing new education opportunities to the people in a free and open environment.”

The Outdoor Partnership utilizes mobile learning interfaces, geospatial information technology and outdoor high bandwidth communication networks to make this experience possible. Florida-based N21′s president, David Fries, is a Pittsburgh native who was looking to bring his pioneering networks home. He met Peduto at a convention last year. From the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review:

Fries, who works at the University of South Florida developing mobile technologies for low-infrastructure environments, sees his hometown — and the plaza, specifically — as the perfect place to debut the concept.

“It’s an intellectual and cultural epicenter,” he said. “It’s a fantastic opportunity to give Pittsburgh a chance to be out front on this technology.”

N21 is working with the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy, which operates Schenley Plaza, to organize its information about the area and structure it for mobile access. Signs will alert visitors they’re entering the learning cloud.

“Your device becomes cognizant of the network,” Fries said, and the network pinpoints the user’s location. The user can take a picture of a nearby tree or any other object; the cloud will match the image against its database and then respond to the user with a batch of information about the object. Eventually, Fries plans to have the network send users an automatic stream of facts based on their location.

Councilman Peduto’s office provided a $5,000 grant to help launch the project. N21 and the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy have already applied for a grant from the National Science Foundation for long-term funding.

Even more exciting, this technology can be expanded — imagine the entire city enveloped by a learning cloud — instead of surfing the net, you’ll be surfing the ‘Burgh.

Schenley Plaza, a Creative Commons Attribution (2.0) image from rwoan’s photostream

Lego Color Bricks, a Creative Commons Attribution (2.0) image from 713 Avenue’s photostream

Councilman Peduto with Tech-Link teams BioHazard and Grey Matters

Tech-Link is an outreach program of the University of Pittsburgh School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences. Their mission is to “introduce students with physical, visual and hearing disabilities to careers in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).” One activity that they sponsor is the FIRST LEGO League Robotics Camp for students with and without disabilities. The FIRST LEGO League (FLL) is an international competition for elementary and middle school students. The kids use LEGO Mindstorms kits to build and program small robotic devices. The theme for this year’s competition is Body Forward™ and has the kids explore the world of biomedical engineering. The models that they planned and built are meant to solve real life problems.

There are two Tech-Link teams: BioHazard and Grey Matters. Team BioHazard took on the challenge of prosthetic robotic arms/hands. Team Grey Matters project was to improve a left ventricular assist device. Heady stuff! You can view videos of them explaining their projects below.

On November 20th, they presented their ideas in preparation for the December 2010 Body Forward™ FIRST LEGO League (FLL) Robotics Competition in Pittsburgh. Councilman Bill Peduto was a guest speaker at that event. Additional photos from the day are posted below and you can view more videos of the kids at the “Bill Peduto for Pittsburgh” YouTube channel here.

Amazing kids doing amazing work!

Tech-Link Team BioHazard Presentation:

Tech-Link Team Grey Matters Presentation:

Photos:

Team Grey Matters presenting their project

Team BioHazard being filmed

Bill Peduto speaking to the Tech-Link teams

The announcement by the Pittsburgh Carnegie Library system that some of the neighborhood branch libraries will be closing has been met with much public outcry, and has sparked discussions about the role of libraries in our communities.

Bookless Libraries, an article published on Inside Higher Education’s website highlights the debate about the role of the library in the 21st century.

In the age of technology, can libraries be replaced by online substitutes? Or are the “bricks and mortar” of the library essential to it’s definition? These are the questions debated in this article, which discusses the different perspectives on the library as a community center, or simply as a place to locate information.

Who is Guyasuta? He was a Seneca chief who led the French and the British through the wilderness of western PA.

Six years ago, Councilman Peduto captured his spirit and created a Fellowship for young and young hearted Pittsburghers to help form public policy through a unique process. This year you are invited to be a part, as we study triple bottom line economics and see how it can be utilized to revitalize our neighborhoods. The fellowship is looking for young, committed residents of Western PA that plan on staying in the area for at least the next 2 to 5 years.

The first presentation of the fellowship this year, The New Deal/ A Better Deal – A Context For Historical Change, will take place on Thursday, October 29, 2009 6:30pm – 8:30pm at AVA Lounge, 126 S. Highland Avenue, 15206.
Just email pat@jacksonclark.net to sign up or learn more, or visit www.guyasutafellowship.com.

Councilman Bill Peduto will be one of the sponsors the Three Rivers Bioneers conference that will be held in Pittsburgh this weekend. The mission of the conference is to foster a local movement of citizens and organizations who strive to cultivate sustainable communities in the Three Rivers bioregion through social justice, ecological health and innovative solutions.  The conference will take place from Friday, October 16 to Sunday, October 18 at the Pittsburgh Project.

The keynote speakers of the conference are Greg Boulos, the Western Director of the Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture, and Khari Mosley, the Director of Green Economic Initiatives for G-TECH strategies.  Other speakers broadcast via satellite from the National Bioneers Conference include Andrew Weil and Michael Pollan.

For more information, or to register for the conference, visit the website.