We had a great turnout for the Land Conservancy for Southern Chester County’s 9K/5K Trail Race on May 11 despite the soggy forecast. Our youngest runner was 6 years old, and we had 200+ runners at the event.
Submitted by
Jessica Moore Provinski
The Land Conservancy for Southern Chester County
Land Stewardship Coordinator
Sponsorship Coordinator
www.tlcforscc.org
610-347-0347 ext 103
Photo Credit to Sumner Crosby.
The Unionville-Chadds Ford School board released to the public the tentative agreement reached between the School Board and the UCF Education Association negotiating teams. We’re pleased that the negotiations between the parties have been professional and cordial and that the board has not had a need to hire expensive legal or public relations representation. We’re also pleased that there has been an open discussion of the issues among board members and that the board has released the TA one week before their vote in order to allow public input. We encourage both board members and the public to express their views candidly and constructively before the vote.
We will vote no on the contract, not because it is a bad contract but because it is not good enough. We know from experience that teacher compensation at UCFSD, together with our excellent teaching environment, is sufficient to attract and retain our outstanding faculty. This contract will require increases in total compensation slightly above the Act 1 indices of 1.7 this year and 2.2 percent next year. The Act 1 index, a 50/50 blend of changes in the statewide average weekly wage index and the educational cost index, is important because it limits tax increases that the board can impose and because it is a reasonable measure of fiscal responsibility. Balancing this increase in total compensation are improvements in quality and cost of the tuition reimbursement benefit and the conversion of two days of half day instruction to two days of full day instruction for our students.
The issue that persuades us to vote against the TA is the elimination of the healthcare opt out. Our district allows dual income families to opt out of our health care coverage in return for a payment of $3,250. This is a rare “win-win” contract issue. The employees who opt out have calculated that they will benefit by taking the $3,250 and using their spousal healthcare plan. The district benefits by avoiding purchasing healthcare policies that cost the district $15,102 for each family plan. The board is naively assuming that we will save the opt-out payments that total $140,000 and incur no new expense. Unfortunately, the unintended consequence is that the 43 teachers currently opting out will have a huge incentive to return to our plan because it is very comprehensive with a low employee cost (10 percent premium co-pay and low deductibles). Therefore, we expect substantial numbers to return to the district’s plan. We don’t know how many will return, but if they all return the loss to the district is approximately $600,000 per year. It’s not a good deal for the district to risk the loss of $600,000 for a maximum potential gain of $140,000. The teachers must be scratching their heads as they see the school board shooting themselves in the foot on this issue
There is a more detailed critique of the TA at www.efficienteduction.org.
Maybe we should have used a professional negotiator.
Jeff Hellrung and Keith Knauss,
East Marlborough Township,
Unionville-Chadds Ford School Board directors
Letter to the Editor: Teachers’ contract not good enough Read More »
May is Drowning Prevention and Water Safety Awareness Month. A state proclamation will be given to representatives of The Drowning Prevention Foundation and the YMCA of the Brandywine Valley to kick off events that will teach children, parents and child caregivers about water safety.
A state proclamation designating May as Drowning Prevention and Water Safety Awareness Month will be given this Friday to the mother of a child
drowning victim and to the Chief Operating Officer of the YMCA of the Brandywine Valley.
State Representative Becky Corbin of East Brandywine, will present the proclamation to Beverly Payton, of Cochranville, executive officer on the Drowning Prevention Foundation Board of Directors and to Andrea Youndt, COO for the YMCA of the Brandywine Valley during a brief
ceremony at 10 a.m., May 17 at the Brandywine YMCA on 295 Hurley Rd. in Coatesville. Payton’s daughter, Alicea, drowned in a neighbor’s unsecured above ground pool on May 26, 1988 in rural Tinicum Township, Bucks County, where the family lived at the time. Since then, Payton, a public relations consultant, has worked to educate the public about child drowning and
has advocated for swimming pool barrier laws.
“Drowning is the leading cause of injury death to children under 4, yet parents generally are not aware of the risk, nor do they understand what they must do to better protect children,” said Payton. She adds that last winter the Drowning Prevention Foundation board decided to partner with YMCAs to help them educate children, parents and child caregivers about water safety. “At the Y, we’re committed to helping children in our community learn how to be safe in and around the water,” said Andrea Youndt, COO for the YMCA of the Brandywine Valley. She adds that swimming skills are equally important for adults as well. “It’s never too late to learn how to swim. Basic swimming skills and water safety practices save lives every day.”
“As a mother and grandmother I’m pleased to help advance children’s health and safety issues,” said Rep. Corbin, who serves on the YMCA of the Brandywine Valley board of advisors. Corbin said she was inspired by Payton’s passion when she asked her to sponsor the proclamation at a Chester County Chamber of Business and Industry event where the two met in April.
The YMCA of the Brandywine Valley offers free and subsidized swim lessons to children in Chester County, funded by the Y’s annual Good Kids financial assistance campaign and support from community partners. By the end of this school year, more than 1,500 third graders from southern Chester County will receive free water-safety lessons through the Jennersville Y’s SPLASH program and hundreds more will receive free lessons this summer at the Kennett,
Brandywine and West Chester branches. SPLASH is an acronym for Swim, Play, and Learn Drowning Prevention Proclamation–Aquatic Safety Habits, and is a national YMCA initiative. The program teaches life-saving skills
like floating, treading water and safe diving.
[
Follow the Safer 3
1. For Safer Water, prevent unsupervised access to pools and spas by installing and maintaining four-sided isolation fencing with self-closing, self-latching gates or automatic safety covers. Also install door, water, and child immersion alarms. Use several barriers to provide back up in case one fails.
2. For Safer Kids, always designate a ‘Water Watcher’ who will remain vigilant and undistracted while supervising children in or near water. Teach children water safety and swimming skills at a young age.
3. For Safer Response know how to perform CPR and keep a phone and rescue
equipment by the pool.
#
About the YMCA of the Brandywine Valley YMCA of the Brandywine Valley is a leading Chester County non-profit charity that strengthens the foundations of
our community through youth development, healthy living and social responsibility. With 58,000 members at six facilities across the area: Brandywine YMCA, Jennersville YMCA, Kennett Area YMCA, West Chester Area YMCA, Octorara YMCA Program Center, and the Oscar Lasko Youth Program Center, the Y invites all people to participate in membership and programs, regardless of their ability to pay. The Y has the long-standing
relationships and physical presence not just to promise, but to deliver, lasting personal and social change. For more information visit www.ymcabwv.org.
About the Drowning 
Prevention Foundation The Drowning Prevention Foundation is a volunteer-driven 501(c) 3 nonprofit organization founded in 1985 by Nadina Riggsbee, whose son and daughter were both lost in the same tragic incident. Her daughter Samira died and her son JJ survived with profound brain damage. Riggsbee was instrumental in having what is believed to be the world’s first swimming pool barrier law enacted in Contra Costa County, California. The Drowning Prevention Foundation’s mission is to prevent childhood drownings through public education and policy change. For more information visit www.DrowningPreventionFoundation.org. @NoKidsDrown on Twitter
!
About Beverly Payton
Beverly Payton is the owner of Payton Communications LLC, independent, boutique public relations consulting firm based in Chester County, Pa. In 2010 Payton developed an award winning strategic communications plan that earned the National Drowning Prevention Alliance a $1.3 million contract with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission to help promote its Pool Safely campaign and educate the public about drowning risks to children and best strategies for prevention. Payton holds a master’s degree in journalism, professional
accreditation in public relations and has more than two decades of diverse communications experience.
@BevPayton and @AliceaMom on Twitter
About State Representative Becky Corbin
In November of 2012, Becky Corbin was elected to represent Chester County’s 155th Legislative District in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. She serves as secretary on the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee and as a member of the Health, Gaming Oversight and Urban Affairs Committees.
Proclamation Highlights Leading Cause of Injury and Death for Kids Read More »
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On view May 25 – July 28, 2013 |
Viewed today as works of folk art, weathervanes originally functioned as useful tools for determining wind direction, particularly on farms and in maritime villages. They are also among the earliest examples of public sculpture in the United States.
| Weathervane forms run the gamut through history, beginning at the Tower of the Winds in ancient Athens, where the figure of Triton-cleverly designed to always face the direction of the wind-fittingly topped the structure. Taking their cue from Old St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, medieval builders increasingly topped church steeples with weathercocks.In America, colonial craftsmen fashioned unique and sometimes fanciful weathervanes by hand, such as the legendary grasshopper atop Boston’s Faneuil Hall. Later in the 19th century, a wide variety of design forms to suit every whim could be mass-produced and offered through mail-order catalogues.The exhibition Which Way the Wind Blows: Antique American Weathervanes, which includes 28 weathervanes, spotlights a selection of the forms popular in this country, including several with equestrian designs. A spectacular local weathervane on loan from the Chester County Historical Society offers a unique opportunity to consider the weathervane as an integral part of an overall architectural plan, as it originally stood atop the cupola of the Chester County Prison. Other themes highlight finer points of interest to collectors, including finishes, manufacturers and matters of authenticity. Which Way the Wind Blows is on view from May 25 through July 28.
Exhibition Programs Saturday, May 25 Breakfast at 9 a.m.; tour at 9:30 a.m. Conservator Jennifer Mass will lead a tour of Which Way the Wind Blows and reveal the secrets beneath the surfaces of weathervanes. Mass is the senior scientist and director of Winterthur’s Scientific Research and Analysis Laboratory, where she has studied some of the weathervanes on view in the exhibition. Using high magnification electron microscopy for examination at the molecular level, Mass is a leader in the exploration of weathervane finishes, a key element in the connoisseurship of these sculptural treasures.
“Wonderful Weathervanes” Family Workshop Monday, June 20, 1 to 2 p.m. Action News 6 ABC meteorologist Chris Sowers will talk about weathervanes and participants will make their own wind-catching weathervanes. Free with museum admission.
Curator’s Tour of Which Way the Wind Blows: Antique American Weathervanes Wednesday, July 10, 2 p.m. Amanda C. Burdan, assistant curator, will discuss the variety of forms popular in this country, as well as finishes, manufacturers and matters of authenticity. |
Which Way the Wind Blows: Antique American Weathervanes Read More »
Sign up now! With only 4 weeks left until the Kennett/Unionville Relay For Life on June 7 and 8, it is time to register your team. Just go to relayforlife.org/pakennettunionville and follow the instructions. Relay For Life is a great all-ages family event that raises money to help cancer patients and their families fight cancer and funds research to end cancer. The Relay, which is held at Unionville High School, starts at 6:00 pm on Friday, June 7, and continues nonstop all night until 10:00 am on Saturday, June 8. Go for the entire time and camp overnight, or attend any number of hours during the event.
“Last year we raised over $65,000,” said Mike Zieg, chairman of the committee that organizes the Kennett/Unionville Relay For Life. “We have been successful because so many community members want to end cancer after experiencing its effects in their families. Our goal this year is to beat last year’s total, and we need everyone who has been impacted by cancer to come out and join us.”
Relay For Life is also a great opportunity to help celebrate the lives of cancer survivors. Recent research we conducted with local survivors showed that they want to celebrate their victory with family and friends. If you know anyone who has survived cancer, invite him or her to join you in creating a team and come out to celebrate with us. Special recognition of survivors occurs on Friday evening, and all cancer survivors are welcome to attend whether part of a team or not.
The Kennett/Unionville Relay includes continuous laps around the UHS track, games, face painting, live music, picnicking and more. A recognition lap and dinner for survivors and their caregivers is held on Friday evening, and a beautiful lighting of luminaria recognizes those who have lost the fight against cancer and honors others who are still bravely fighting the disease. Details about the Relay For Life of Kennett/Unionville can be found at relayforlife.org/pakennettunionville and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/RelayForLifeOfKennettUnionville.
Time to Register Your Relay For Life Team Read More »
