IN Brentwood-Baldwin-Whitehall Spring 2020 | Page 56

Brentwood
Borough
School
District
SUPERINTENDENT’S
M E S S A G E
BY DR . AMY M. BURCH
April 1, 2020 is National Census Day, and your participation
matters. Did you know that the Census impacts essential services
and community supports such as healthcare, housing, food,
libraries, education, and roads? Every family of five not counted in
the Census equates to a loss of $100,000 in community resources.
For our community, this means we could lose millions of dollars.
Pennsylvania is ranked second nationally in the amount of
dollars that could be lost per person and Allegheny County is at the
highest risk of undercounted people in all Western Pennsylvania.
Across Pennsylvania there are three main areas directly impacted
by the Census. The first is representation at the government level.
Pennsylvania could lose one or more of the 18 representatives in
the US House and potentially cost one or more of the 20 electoral
votes. Secondly, over $39 billion dollars in annual funding from
the 55 largest federal programs relies on Census data. Thirdly, over
a decade, the demographics of a community change. Brentwood
is an excellent example of this. In the past six years, our student
population has become diverse. Brentwood would benefit from an
updated count of young children, immigrants, refugees, students
attending post-secondary education, people of color, and low-
income housing.
There are multiple ways to respond to the Census, online, over
the phone, or a paper questionnaire and the census is available
in multiple languages. The results of the Census have significant
impact on our community local community and our entire state.
We urge all of our families to participate in the Census.
A Coffee a Day
Keeps the Grumpies Away!
2020 Census – Only You Can Tell Your Story!
The #Adulting program at Brentwood High School continues to involve students
in real life work experiences. Students are working under the direction of Mrs. Maria
Vassileros, the AIU 1 speech pathologist, and are becoming coffee baristas. For the
past few weeks, two students have been manning the mobile coffee cart and selling
coffee to staff at the high school. Sophia Riley and Haley Weiss are stocking the coffee
cart with necessary supplies (coffee cups, creamer and sugar, napkins, and stirrers),
taking staff’s coffee orders, delivering the coffee, taking payment, and making
change. The girls’ confidence is growing, and they are engaging in conversations with
people they may not know. They even treat each customer to a coffee-inspired joke!
This opportunity could potentially lead to the girls working for Starbuck’s! This project
was made possible by a grant from the Pennsylvania Training and Technical Assistance
Network (PATTAN) focusing on preparing students for the world of career and work
after high school graduation.
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BRENTWOOD-BALDWIN-WHITEHALL