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WHEREAS, Eight Homewood Elementary School students participated in the Rails-To-Trails Conservancy's first "youth scholarship program," an adventure that enable them to join the Greenway Sojourn bicycle ride; and
WHEREAS, the students participating in the last 3 days of an 8 day 335 mile trip, beginning in Washington, DC and concluding in Station Square include: Devon Brown , Ronald Coker, Jamie Foltz, Malaysia Henderson, Allison McAfee, Whitney Owens, Tamond Russell and John Spell all 11year olds who attend the Helen S. Faison Arts Academy in Homewood; and
WHEREAS, The ride took them over the Mansion-Dixon Line, through the 3,300-foot-long Big Savage Tunnel; across the Eastern Continental Divide near Deal in southern Somerset county, the highest point on the passage; over the Keystone Viaduct and to the restored Western Maryland Railway Station in Meyersdale; and
WHEREAS, the students were accompanied by vice principal Anthony Pipkin and mentors Brain Funk, Holly Hudson, Marylou White and Bruce and Shelia Wood. The mentors are members of the Major Taylor Cycling Club, an African-American organization. The club is associated with the Center for Minority Health at the University of Pittsburgh; and
WHEREAS, Their new mountain bikes and cycling gear, which they will be allowed to keep, were provided by the conservancy through a $4,500 Heinz Endowments grant secured in partnership with the Center for Minority Health.
WHEREAS, the students and their mentors camped in Cumberland, Maryland where they attended the "Golden Spoke" ceremony, an event marking the official union of the Great Allegheny Passage and the C&O Canal Towpath a 185-mile trail that began in Washington; and
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Council of the City of Pittsburgh, thank the Heinz Endowment, Helen S. Faison Arts Academy, Vice Principal Anthony Pipkins, and the mentors, we especially applaud the students for participating in this challenging endeavor in lear...
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