Pittsfield Promise Praised for All-American City Award
 Sheila LaBarbera, board chairman of Greylock Federal Credit Union, reads with some of the youngsters who attended a session at the Berkshire Athenaeum as part of the citywide Promise Partners initiative. |
On Wednesday, the Berkshire United Way's Pittsfield Promise initiative returned with All American City Award — one of only 10 in the nation — to help further its mission.
While the award does not include any money, Berkshire United Way CEO Kristine Hazzard said the All American City status "puts Pittsfield on the map," and confers key support benefits.
"It gives us exposure to national experts, to national foundations, to webinars," Hazzard said, noting the program will have access to so many webinars that it's seeking extra volunteers. "Peer learning opportunities ... 25 people across the country read our plan, and now they're going to critique it."
The All American City Award, founded by the National Civic League in 1949, each year recognizes "outstanding civic accomplishments" in a community. According to the NCL, to be recognized, "each community must demonstrate innovation, inclusiveness, civic engagement, and cross sector collaboration by describing successful efforts to address pressing local challenges."
Pittsfield was one of 124 total applicants that applied for the honor in 2012.
Pittsfield Promise's simple but ambitious goal is to increase 3rd grade reading proficiency from its current rate of around 60 percent to at least 90 percent by 2020. Organizers say this key step in educational development has a vast and diverse trickle-down effects on many socio-economic aspects of a community, from increased wealth and improved health to reduced crime.
Pittsfield schools suffer from serious disparities in reading proficiency levels as measured at the third-grade level, from Stearns Elementary, which at 85 percent maintains the highest in the city, to Morningside Elementary, where only about a quarter of third-graders are deemed proficient.
Pittsfield Promise says those issues could worsen if left unchecked. With a birth rate that rose by 40 percent between 1996 and 2009, 15 percent of city kindergartners will have teenage mothers.
In the plan outlined in its All American City application, the initiative promises a broadbased strategy, which would work with teen-parent programs in addition to many other reading improvement activities.
Hazzard said the project now boasts a leadership coalition of 37 prominent civic leaders and more than 80 volunteers in total.
"We are galvanizing and mobilizing tons of volunteers who are going to help us all reach this Pittsfield Promise," Hazzard told the School Committee.
Pittsfield Promise's local word of the day (WOD) program has enjoyed extensive popular support and success in social media dissemination, with the Berkshire Athenaeum, Pittsfield Police Department, and many other city institutions participating in spreading these daily words and definitions through Facebook and other mediums.
"Comments have come from as far as North Adams and Great Barrington, so they're very aware of it," said School Committee member Daniel Elias, thanking the initiative for its hard work in 2012.
Mayor Daniel Bianchi, who has previously praised Pittsfield Promise, said it was "on the top of the list" of local initiatives which he mentioned to first lady Michelle Obama on her recent visit to the city.
"I can't tell you how appreciative I am for what you're doing, and what a wonderful, wonderful initiative this is," said Bianchi.
Tags: Berkshire United Way, education initiative, reading program,
