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Contest allows Holy Trinity pupils to 'pursue possibilities'

Contest allows Holy Trinity pupils to 'pursue possibilities'

Pennsylvania has a new slogan, "The State of Independence."

At Holy Trinity Catholic School in Robinson, some eighth-graders have opted for alliteration in creating a slogan for the city of Pittsburgh: "Pursue Your Possibilities in Pittsburgh."

It's not official, by any means. The motto is part of a project for a Junior Achievement competition called Jr. Benchmarks, in which pupils tout the benefits of living in the Pittsburgh region. To compete, they were required to form their own in-class advertising agency and create a newspaper ad, a design for a billboard, a slogan and a 60-second jingle.

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They also did Internet research and conducted a telephone interview with a member of the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, comparing and contrasting Pittsburgh with Atlanta on 95 issues that measure the quality of life in each city. In a policy statement, the eighth-graders recommended a major change they believed would dramatically improve Pittsburgh's budgetary problems.

From the pupils' point of view, the goal was to develop an advertising campaign to attract young professionals to Pittsburgh. From Junior Achievement's vantage point, the intention was to heighten the pupils' awareness of the Greater Pittsburgh area and what it has to offer.

The Holy Trinity team submitted its advertising proposal to the offices of Junior Achievement of Southwest Pennsylvania in Warrendale. At the end of last month, the team received the happy news that it had been selected as a finalist from a field of 23 entries representing 10 local schools.

On May 18, the pupils gave a presentation at Duquesne University, along with 11 other finalists. Holy Trinity finished fifth in the finals, with Incarnation Academy, of the North Side, the winner.

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Junior Achievement spokeswoman April Kennedy said the competition was close and that Holy Trinitiy gave an "awesome presentation. It was very creative."

Teacher Alan Betten is mentor for Holy Trinity's Junior Achievement program, part of the school's eighth-grade curriculum.

He chose to participate in Jr. Benchmarks to develop his pupils' resource skills, critical thinking and understanding of a community's economics and business structures.

For three weeks, all 36 eighth-graders worked as a team.

Betten's pupils named their agency Three in One Advertising. The name carries a twofold symbolism, one, religious, for the name of Holy Trinity school, and another, geographical, for the city's three rivers.

For their jingle, they borrowed from Pittsburgh's most famous neighbor, using the music from "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" but supplying their own lyrics. The final stanza reads "Won't you be our neighbor?/Can't you see?/Can't you see?/We want you here in Pittsburgh!"

By comparing Pittsburgh with Atlanta, the pupils determined Pittsburgh has six top selling points: excellent education opportunities, low cost of living, low average home sale prices, outstanding hospital care, a relatively low crime rate and beautiful scenery.

A statement created in class discussions and written by Betten says, "Young people have dreams of success but we believe safe, inexpensive, scenic and a medically strong community is more enticing to young people than the glitz and glamour that other cities can bring to the table."

On the issue of cleaning up the city's act and improving its financial status, the eighth-graders minced no words.

They said the most significant change the city could make lies in a merger of city government with outside municipalities. The move, according to their report, would lower taxes and save money by renegotiating labor contracts and by combining some services.

Founded in 1919, Junior Achievement is a worldwide organization dedicated to educating young people about business and free enterprise through classroom programs and volunteer visits by local businesspeople.

Kennedy said the southwestern Pennsylvania branch is the only one that holds a Jr. Benchmarks competition, which is modeled after the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Benchmarks series.

Sponsors for Jr. Benchmarks are the Post-Gazette, Junior Achievement, KDKA-TV, Duquesne University and Burson-Marsteller.

First Published: May 26, 2004, 4:00 a.m.

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