Building Pride and Character through City Tours

by Louise Sturgess, Executive Director
April 2, 2009
PHLF News 

By April 30, eleven Pittsburgh Public Schools will have participated in Landmarks’ Building Pride/Building Character city tour, described by a teacher as “one of the best [field trips] ever.” The innovative educational program is sponsored through the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) program and is funded through contributions Landmarks received in the fall of 2008 from six corporations: PNC Bank; Allegheny Technologies, Inc.; Frank B. Fuhrer Wholesale Company; ESB Bank; Bridges & Company, Inc.; and Hefren-Tillotson, Inc.

Third-grade students explore Pittsburgh on board Molly’s Trolleys, with Landmarks’ staff, docents, and college interns serving as tour guides. The day-long tour includes five stops: the City-County Building, Allegheny County Courthouse, Fort Pitt Museum, Fort Pitt Block House, and Duquesne Incline.

Students and teachers are full of praise for the program. One student wrote: “My favorite time was everything we did, and everything we saw.” A teacher wrote that “PHLF always provides the most valuable, well-organized, standards-related programs/trips to our students. We love working with them and plan to continue our partnership in the future. Thank you!”

PHLF will be renewing its application with the State for the Educational Improvement Tax Credit Program and encourages corporations to continue giving. If you are interested in donating to the EITC program, contact Louise Sturgess at PHLF: louise@phlf.org.