PHLF’s “Building Pride, Building Character” Program Continues to Inspire

At the top of the school
Watching the students
Make sure they’re safe
Protecting the students
Covered in copper
Watching the students
The sun to their world
Lighting their future
To protect the students

––Fifth grade poet,
Whittier Elementary School

PHLF’s “Building Pride; Building Character” program gives elementary and middle school students in twelve Pittsburgh Public Schools the opportunity to become explorers, artists, poets, and people who work to improve our communities. This academic year, we have successfully completed Poetry & Art workshops with four Pittsburgh Public Schools, and presented three Portable Pittsburgh in-school presentations.

This March, our “Building Pride; Building Character” program continues, with our in-school career awareness exploration, our full-day, trolley tour to five historic sites in cooperation with Council representatives, the Mayor’s Office, Fort Pitt Museum, Fort Pitt Block House, and Duquesne Incline, and our Pittsburgh People & Places trolley tour in cooperation with the August Wilson African American Cultural Center.

In PHLF’s career awareness exploration, “People Who Work to Improve Our Communities,” students begin to understand how the skills and knowledge they are acquiring in school will help them become engineers, bankers, architects, lawyers, HVAC technicians, electricians, contractors, public officials, etc. Through colorful posters, tools of the trade, maps, and discussions about their school and community, students have the chance to discover how their future career choices can help improve their community.

On PHLF’s all-day trolley tour, students learn about Pittsburgh’s history and architecture in order to understand the importance of caring for its historic places––and build their character in the process. PHLF’s Pittsburgh People & Places trolley tour, in cooperation with the August Wilson African American Cultural Center, introduces students to some of the people for whom our buildings, bridges, and parks are named. All of these valuable tours and explorations are possible only through the support of our donors. To view highlighted pictures from past EITC program years, click here.

These successful programs are always in need of corporate support! To contribute to PHLF’s “Building Pride, Building Character” (BPBC) EITC program, please click here.