REYNOLDSVILLE – The goals of the State’s “PA Greenways” program are to become the number one state in the U.S. in greenways-based tourism and establish greenways in 1000 PA communities. Recently, students enrolled in the IT Academy at Jeff Tech learned more about this initiative and a regional trail system in Clearfield, Elk and Jefferson counties. A presentation by Rich Levine of DuBois outlined benefits that await youth and their communities. Now, as a follow up project, students from the Digital Media Technology class at Jeff Tech are putting their enthusiasm for this initiative to work by offering a web TV live broadcast of the Pennsylvania Wilds Trails Workshop to be held at Penn State DuBois on May 30th, 2009.
Tim Poole, who helped organize the workshop on behalf of the PA Recreation and Parks Society, thinks the involvement of the students and Jeff Tech as a school is a great win-win for the entire region.
“A trail network can be a major contributor to a region’s economic vitality. Achieving this result requires not just a network of trails but also a network of people to do the work,” said Poole. “This workshop and the outreach efforts by Jeff Tech are great first steps toward this goal.”
Levine is encouraging leadership throughout all four school districts served by Jeff Tech, Punxsutawney, DuBois, Brockway and Brookville, to get behind this initiative and help this message get out to their communities.
“We are about to begin an unprecedented effort to build a regional trail system connecting the communities of Clearfield, Elk and Jefferson counties, and other neighbors in the PA Wilds,” said Levine. “Trails and greenways need grass roots community support. Students can be important partners, act as trail-blazers, and help get regional trail plans quickly off the drawing boards and put boots on the ground with shovel ready projects.”
Everyone involved in this collaboration with Jeff Tech believes that the talented youth of central PA can contribute on all levels In a written statement issued by Congressman Glenn Thompson’s Press Secretary, Tina Kreisher, the Congressman also expressed enthusiasm for this partnership.
“We are blessed with an amazing natural resource in the wildness and beauty of our area of Pennsylvania,” the release stated. “Those surrounded by cement highways and brick paths that lead to steel and concrete superstructures are basically imprisoned by their urban culture. Offer those prisoners a chance to escape to Pennsylvania Wilds and you just may have created a customer. It is the nexus between a natural resource and the skill to market it that can make a successful small business. This is an excellent lesson for our youth who are looking to carve a niche for their future that combines technology, opportunity, and enjoyment. The Pennsylvania Wilds Trails Workshop brings together all the elements needed for their success”
Levine says that Jeff Tech can help spearhead a grassroots movement within the four school districts it serves by partnering with PennDOT, DCNR and DCED to produce greenway education programs, and partner with local landowners to map and mark safe bike routes, design trailheads, construct trailhead facilities such as pavilions, comfort stations and landscaping as well as a complete professional level marketing campaign and support materials.
He says that “Jeff Tech can act boldly, swiftly and responsibly to help revitalize the communities it serves through sustainable tourism, facilitate building of a regional trail system in Clearfield, Elk and Jefferson counties and put boots on the ground and further its reputation as a leader within the region in the realms of economic, community and educational development.
The new Web site for the PA Wilds Greenways Partnership is up and running and offers opportunities to watch video, learn more about development and communicate directly with others in the PA Wilds area through the social networking aspect of the site. This website and the initiatives being undertaken by Levine are not officially affiliated with the state’s programs but rather, are completely grass-roots in nature.
The PA Wilds Greenways Partnership is exciting,” continued Levine. “Jeff Tech can also webcast public meetings, facilitate visioning and partnering, mobilize partners, stakeholders and volunteers, train the trainers and educate the community. Jeff Tech’s first challenge is to build a “Reynoldsville Greenway” to connect to DuBois. Reynoldsville and DuBois used to be connected with electric trolleys. Now we will have a pedestrian and bicycle greenway for residents and PA Wilds visitors.”
Sam A. Ettaro, Jeff Tech’s Digital Media Technology instructor, is actively promoting youth development by involving his class with these projects. The all-volunteer initiative is focused on activating local grass-roots efforts to develop trail systems in their community and reap the benefits being promoted by DCNR, PA Wilds and PA Greenways initiatives being put forth by Harrisburg. Ettaro sees digital media as a great way to get kids active in this process.
“This is an incredible opportunity,” said Ettaro. “It’s not very often that our leadership directly takes the pulse of our youth in regards to economic and community development and asks for their opinion on these most important matters and that leaves a lot of kids feeling like their voice isn’t heard on these issues. Cooperative opportunities like this that empower our youth show our kids that their voices do matter and that they can make a difference in their community through clean economic development that’s focused on recreation, education, sports, family and the great outdoors. It’s a formula that is working in other communities and our kids see that it can work here.”
Levin’s presentation offered to the IT Academy in April was videotaped by students and will be available to the public through the Jeff Tech online TV channel. The general public can tune into this informational session if they have broadband internet service by visiting here. This is the same location that the public can go to in order to access the live stream from the May 30th workshop in DuBois.
Ettaro continued, “The use of today’s digital media technologies to bring this message to our communities and the student’s involvement in this process serves to add to the interest of the kids in such initiatives. Our talented crew in Digital Media Technology does a great job webcasting events from the school and it’s really encouraging to see the kids take this opportunity to use their talents to further this message outside our school directly for the benefit of their communities. It’s a really great opportunity for everyone involved and we look forward to hopefully inspiring some innovative, visionary leadership within our student population.”
Levine summed it up. “The primary goal of the Partnership is creating jobs for our region. What better place to start than with our community’s future, our kids?”
Viewers may watch the Pennsylvania Wilds Trails Workship live by clicking here.