ErieKIDS Blog

                                                                               

On June 9th, I met with Jenna Mehnert and Jamie Buchenauer of the NASW PA chapter.  We travelled to Harrisburg to meet with Senator Jane Earll regarding title protection for Social Workers. What is title protections?

As of now, any person in the commonwealth can call themselves a “social worker”. What that means is that persons providing case managment or other case work can use the title “Social Worker” without pause. Title protection establishes that in order to use the name “Social Worker” one must have graduated from a CSWE social work school with a BSW (bachelors of social work) or MSW (master of social work). 

 What that means for the average Joe is that when they access service from a social worker, they are being served by a professional who has been rigorously educated by an institution that has passed the review of the Council on Social Work Education, the only national accediting body for Social Work.

With populations like the aging growing very quickly in Pennsylvania, Social Workers will be providing more and more services to these vulnerable populations. Social Work title protection will offer some peace of mind to those populations.

 ErieKIDS continues to advocate for the families we serve. This is another way that we do that. Thanks to the NASW-PA team for working hard not only for Social Workers in the commonwealth, but for those we serve everyday.

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 Emily Natalie turns 29 today. Emily is a key actress in the ErieKIDS “Emotional Intelligence” video series. She co-starred in “Lost in Erie” and starred in “Emily Gets Angry”. Emily brings her vocal talents back for the last time in our newest production “In the Middle”.  Emily leads the “ErieKIDS” singing group to teach the students they’re mentoring aobut the need for friends and family when you’re down.

 If you see Emily today (she’s an ESL teacher at Harding Elementary), wish her a very happy birthday!!

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Gas prices are up, jobs are down, despair is at an all time high. Ugh…it seems that money truly does make the world go round. But, I think there is a not so commonly known solution for these moments when nothing seems like it’s going to work itself out.

Think briefly about the thing that bothers you, get a good picture of that thing in your head. Face the unthinkable; that bully that screams about your failure. And take your power back. Remind yourself of where your power is…remind yourself of how self-flagellation does nothing to improve your situation, only to further oppress and depress you.

Then…

Give something to someone. Give your time, your patience, your attention, your love. Just give someone something that is important to you. It’s amazing the sense of relief you will feel and the life you will improve.

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Friday night, I was honored to spend the evening with my family, friends, board members, colleagues and other YEP! GenerationE Award winners. My old, school friend, Jennifer Horan-Kunco, colleague Traci Teudhope, and fellow MPS grad, Michele-Marie Schroeck, along with Monica Brower, Jennifer Dobbs Woods, John Elliott, Nick Schultz and Timothy Wachter were honored by the YEP! organization and 350 attendees in a beautiful, humbling ceremony.

My friend, Ken Slaney, nominated me for the award.  Ken has been instrumental in helping me both understand the value and make the connections with other like-minded people and agencies in the area. He has carved time out of his schedule to meet with me to discuss growth and strategy. He’s arranged many lunch meetings with others who are making changes in Erie kids’ lives. Ken has been and continues to be a staunch supporter of my work and of ErieKIDS.

 My colleagues and their spouses came out to enjoy the opportunity to meet the many great people at the event. From left to right is: (me), Susan Moore-Motily, MA (recently quoted in “Shrink Wrap”, an Erie Times News article), David Motily, Kimberly Morrow, Greg Morrow, Michelle Curtze and Steve Curtze.  It’s a wonderful thing to have people you love and respect share this time.

But I was no more pleased than to share the moment with my wife, Leslie, mom, Josephine and two neices, Emily and Faith Natalie, both original ErieKIDS movie actresses. My friends Adam Miller and Jodi Askins (ErieKIDS board members) joined us as well, as did my mother and father-in-law, Carol and Don Meeder.

Many old friends and colleagues were there.  Jim and Erica Jackson, Cara Herbstritt, Jon Reddinger, John Schroeck, Dwight Miller, Kimberly Fabrizio were there as well. The mayor, Joe Sinnott and a good many councilmen were out to support Jessica. It was an amazing event and great to spend time with terrific people.

The real star of the show was Cat Amick, chair of the GenerationE Award committee. Cat was everywhere, at every table making everyone feel comfortable. The consumate professional, she handled welcoming attendee, ushering honorees to a beautiful reception, even did interviewing for the media. A great smile, an easy demeanor…Cat deserves all good things that come to her.

But it just wouldn’t be an ErieKIDS event if we didn’t get some video. So, here it is….a short tribute to the winners of the YEP! 2008 GenerationE Award winners…

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I’d write about it…but why not just show it.

 

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On friday, March 14, 2008, the National Association of Social Workers, PA NW Division recognized its “Social Workers of the Year”. There were students from Gannon, Mercyhurst and Edinboro University acknowledged for the work they are doing to improve the culture in Erie and for the way in which they hold themselves to the expectations of character of social work.

Also recognized was Mike DeStefano. A long-time social worker who has dedicated his career and efforts towards providing services to families in remote counties of NW PA. In a true servant fashion, Mike humbly accepted his award with a simple “Thank You”. It is a wonderful honor to be recognized by your peers and Mike deserves that honor for his work.

Ann Hippley coordinated a wonderful event, lunch was terrific while celebrating with old friends; Bill Grove, PJ Baker, Tom Vinca, Joan Livingston, Mary Dodson-Brown, Donna Hixon, Alan Turner, Rosie Scaggs, Laura Lewis, Peggy Black, Mary Jo Kline, Alan May and many others.

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On friday, I presented to a packed room of terrific social workers in Pittsburgh for the NASW-PA state conference.  At 5 minutes before I was to start, I was sitting with three of my students and an early arrival. Within 5 minutes, the room was packed…always a great thing.

Together, we explored the similarities of asking those we serve to grow, pushing them beyond what they think they’re capable of and the same expectation for growth for ourselves. Many nods of agreement left me believing I was with a group of empassioned, change agents. I was right!! This group was truly on fire!

We ended our session by agreeing to work together on a simple project that could capture that passion, and one that is right up ErieKIDS’ alley…a public service announcement.

 Everyone participated, and we shouted together….”WE CAN HELP!”

Thank you all, you are amazing people. I am blessed to have shared that time with you!

If you want to sign up for our newsletter, just send me an email at jeff@eriekids.org

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Final shots….check!

Music recorded…check!

Editing nearing completion…check!

DVD artwork…check!

 OMG!! I can’t believe it, but the movie is almost DONE! I told Leslie last night “I’m getting so nervous, because other than some loose ends, the movie is all but done. Just need to get the music back from the composers and some final editing touches and it’s complete.

 So, I decided to take a little break and work on rehabing an old crane and turning it into a jib…yeah, I don’t know the difference, honestly.  But here is Gianna modeling the “jebby jib”…

It feels good to play every once in a while…

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Megan Ott, a talented young vocalist, recently joined me with her father, Joe Ott for a vocal session. Megan is helping us in a significant way to finish our movie songs.  I was hugely impressed with Megan, her professionalism and how ready she was for the session. Suffice it to say, Megan will be a terrific hit. But I thought I’d share Megan with the world. Here she is on YouTube recently.

Megan, You’re a superstar!!

 If you’re interested in learning about Megan’s availability, let us know. We can put you in contact with her father, Joe.

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I’m a teacher.  Man, that is cool to say.  I am living a blessed life because I get to teach.  But my blessings don’t just stop there….there is so much more.

 Back in June 2007, Dr. Donna Hixon of the Edinboro University School of Social Work phoned me with a proposal.  Dr. Hixon asked if I might be interested in teaching “a couple of courses” in the graduate school of social work.

“Would I be interested?” You bet I would. This was a dream come true, but c’mon. How often do you get a call out of the blue to do something that you’ve dreamed about and didn’t have break someone’s arm or pull strings to do it? But as blessings go, my dream came true and I began teaching at Edinboro in August 2007.

Man, when it rains, it pours.

When I walked into class that first day, my adrenaline was pumping, I was psyched, armed with information…I was going to set the world on fire. And then, I met 25 amazing people.

As it is, there is some law that states that I can’t say anything about them but I would love to talk about each one of them and what makes them amazing. Rest assured, if you know me, I can be a huge critic but I haven’t a bad thing to say.

Fast forward 6 months and I’m sitting in my office at the university before class and Dr. Al Turner stops by and shares a beautiful sentiment with me. “Jeff, I want you to know something.” Sure Al, I reply. “I’ve heard really good things about your class. The students and others are saying great things.” (I blush…not really, I don’t blush, but I have that weird ‘I hate compliments’ emotional response). He goes on to tell me that he wishes there was a way for me to stay on.

 I say this “Al, you really need to know that I have had the most amazing experience here at Edinboro. I have been allowed to teach about the thing that I feel the most convicted about, families. You and Donna have given me the opportunity to jump into the realm of teaching without having to talk about stuff that doesn’t really do anything for me; subjects that I have no business teaching, like Social Work 101. I am blessed because I get to teach about something that inspires me. But more importantly, I have the most amazing class; one full of people who I absolute respect. When we get together, we laugh, yell at each other, make fun…we have a good time. It’s like a party.”

Al says “I wish you could come on, as a professor but regulations are such that a doctorate is mandatory.”

I say, “You know, I think God blessed me with this. I think he said ‘Jeff, I’m gonna throw you a bone. Go teach an amazing class full of amazing people, then when you’re done, get back to work on ErieKIDS.”

Because, in the end, that is what I’m supposed to do. But man, this is fun. I told Al that when I’m done I will walk away from my experience at the very top of my proverbial game. I got to teach the most perfect subject with the most perfect class. I have no regrets. It has been a blast.

So, I go to class and the students don’t let me down. They prove, once again, how blessed I am. This is one classy group out at Edinboro University.

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