October: Claire Miziolek

SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITY FELLOW
GTECH Strategies

Summary:
October was a very active month a GTECH. Though most of our sunflower sites were already harvested, the GTECH team spent much of the month winterizing the sites and gearing up for winter activities. That includes development for all projects as well as ramping up our educational efforts. Our Green Economy Initiatives are largely independent of weather and have been continuously active. GTECH has also been expanding our ReFuel Pgh Project and the oil donations from restaurants and individuals have been rolling in! It's been very exciting to see all of the projects going on and generally everyone has been very busy through October!

Green Economy Initiatives:
--Met with the Urban Leadership planning team 10/6 as well as Action-Housing 10/8 to discuss the project.
--1st GJAB (Green Jobs Advisory Board) Executive Committee Meeting on 10/7
--1st GJAB Outreach Committee Meeting on 10/11
--1st GJAB Research Committee Meeting on 10/13
--Helped teach about the VAN system to the Urban Leadership Institute on 10/30
--Attended and took minutes for the GJAB meeting on 10/26
--Attended the first SW PA Regional Green Team Meeting on 10/26

Education:
--Worked on a letter of Inquiry for a grant to fund education initiatives.
--Met with Operation Better Block to discuss education collaboration
--Taught a lesson about Green Communities to a class at Carlow on 10/19.
--Worked to revamp and expand GTECH's educational curricula in anticipation of future teaching engagements.

Reclamation:
--I worked to help analyze several vacant lots in Troy Hill as part of a large project.
--Help plan a large-scale harvest event for the Dwayne Cooper Garden of Hope which was on 10/26. My tasks included ordering food, coordinating entertainment/activities, and creating a visioning poster for the future of the project.
--Spread 25 cubic yards of compost with volunteers from CMU, Pitt, and Green Cities at our Wilkinsburg site on Peebles St on 10/10.
--Attended a community meeting for Millvale green projects on 10/19.
--Cleaned up GTECH's S. Oakland sunflower project with an Americorps group.

Administration/other:
--I took and synthesized notes for GTECH's weekly staff meetings and reclamation team meetings.
--I attended and represented GTECH at the PennFuture Green Power award ceremony.
--Attended the Black and Gold City Goes Green Partner Luncheon on 10/13
--Attended the Smart Growth Conference on 10/15
--Presented my work this year to a group interested in SCA
--This month I worked to collect submissions for and distribute GTECH's October Newsletter.

Volunteer:
--This month, I helped out at the Black and Gold City Goes Green Bloomfield Blitz! My team handed out CFLs and information to 15 houses!