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WHEREAS, Debra Rucki is well known to her teachers, students, parents, grandparents, Pittsburgh Board of Education and the East End communities as a high-quality leader and a powerful manager and will be sadly missed after retiring at the end of this school year, June 2011, from Pittsburgh Arsenal 6-8; and
WHEREAS, Ms. Rucki started her school career as a physical education teacher 34 years ago at Arsenal and rose through the ranks to assistant principal, then principal for the last 15 years, all in the same school, very rare in any school district; and
WHEREAS, Ms Rucki has become a much loved community leader; if anything happened in her neighborhood she was there to help, she worked with many East End neighborhood organizations, and built a partnership with Children's Hospital so that the medical needs of her students were always met; and
WHEREAS, so beloved in the neighborhood, Ms. Rucki has been called the "Mayor of Lawrenceville" and the "Polish Princess"; and
WHEREAS, a tireless advocate for her students, Ms. Rucki worked sometimes until 11 o'clock at night on various projects and wrote grants to give her students what the Board could not, finding money to create three computer labs and working with the National Football League and the Steelers to win a $25,000 grant and matching funds to build a Student Wellness Center acquiring many new pieces of gym equipment to help the children with both physical and self-esteem wellness; and
WHEREAS, Ms. Rucki believed in her students, was always there for them through the good and bad, knew every student by name and was always in the halls involved in the teaching process and watching out for the students through Board rulings, in their school life and home life, always saying equitable isn't always equal; and
WHEREAS, a very seasoned leader, Ms. Rucki took over one of the lowest academically producing schools in the district and, this year, the school's average yearly progress, gauged through the PSSA test, was the highest it could be, so Ms. Rucki leaves her students working at their best level academically and leaves her post at Arsenal at the peak of her career;
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NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Council of the City of Pittsburgh does hereby recognize the legacy that Debra Rucki leaves to Pittsburgh Arsenal 6-8, a hands-on physical education teacher, vice principal and community leading principal of three generations of successful students, and does hereby proclaim the day of her retirement dinner, Friday, June 3, 2011, as "Debra Rucki Day" in the City of Pittsburgh.