Building skills
Over the last month or so, Thomas, our Program Manager, and Shawn and Nate, our Crew Leaders, have been hard at work, building skills and helping out around town.
Always interested in learning more, our three fearless leaders spent a day this April with the indomitable Joe Divak of Allegheny Cleanways Dumpbusters fame, cleaning up a hillside in Beeltzhoover. Thomas had noticed that Joe has his own very special leadership style, and he wanted Shawn and Nate to experience it first hand. Not only did we learn about leadership, but we helped set a Dumpbuster record of 4 tons of trash removed in one day!
We’ve also been spending time with StormWorks, learning about installing and maintaining bioswales and rain gardens, measuring soil, and understanding what it means and why green infrastructure is so important to our region. While Shawn really enjoyed the lesson, he’s a doer, and can’t wait to get out and actually install a garden or bioswale!
We have, of course, also spent some time volunteering in our old stomping ground, Emerald View Park, refreshing our trail building and maintenance skills, and touching up some winter damage while we’re at it.
Finally, Shawn and Nate have been spending some time on Venture Outdoors’ Leadership Training workshop, and are invigorated and excited to start our own season and begin implementing all they know. We are grateful to all of our partners for sharing their knowledge and expertise with us. We are growing stronger on the shoulders of Pittsburgh’s giants!