PEPP TURNS TEN AT MCKEESPORT
The Penn State Educational Partnership Program (PEPP), an early intervention program designed to help youth acquire skills and attitudes that will enable them to go on to college, is marking its 10th year of service this semester in the McKeesport community. In fact, in a few months, PEPP will herald the Penn State graduation of a former McKeesport Area School District student who entered the program a decade ago as a seventh grader. Farrah Casey will become the first Penn State graduate who participated in the entire partnership program. Casey is expected to graduate in May with a bachelor's degree in food science. Darrell G. Thomas is the assistant partnership director across the state and the director of PEPP McKeesport. He's been involved with the program since its inception in the Reading School District in 1988. Over the last decade, PEPP has served more than 1,200 students in McKeesport, Reading and Philadelphia combined with the help of nearly 900 Penn State students who have played a role as tutors. For a longer version of this story in this week’s Intercom, go to http://www.psu.edu/ur/INTERCOM/pepp.html
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RESEARCH FINDS WAY TO PREDICT ACCIDENTS
Engineers have developed a computer-based technique that not only reliably predicts the probable number of accidents due to wet pavement on a particular section of highway but also can suggest corrective actions to improve safety. "With this approach, state departments of transportation may eventually have a tool to help identify which road sections to fix first in order to get the best return on safety and economic investment," said Bohdan Kulakowski, professor of mechanical engineering and director of the University's Pennsylvania Transportation Institute. Researchers on the project include D.C. Jie Xiao, doctoral candidate in mechanical engineering, and Moustafa El-Gindy, director of PTI's Crash Safety Program. For full story, go to http://www.psu.edu/ur/INTERCOM/research.html
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INDEPENDENT LIVING IS FOCUS OF PROGRAM APRIL 26, 27
Teachers, parents, and students can learn how to create an independent living program for individuals with challenges through "Learning About LifeLink: A Model Transition Program," that will be held April 26-27 at The Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel. The conference will focus on LifeLink, an independent living program created by "The Wild Dream Team," a group of special education students with challenges who began exploring the transition to adult life in 1990. Through LifeLink, high school students are able to live in apartments accompanied by a transition coach who oversees their stay and helps them with various life skills. The conference is an outreach program of the State College Area School District and Penn State's College of Education. For more information, go to http://www.outreach.psu.edu/C&I/LifeLink/
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TAKE A LOOK AT THE LEGACIES OF LOGGING, FARMING
As spring finally comes to Happy Valley, Legacies producer Cindi Deutchman takes listeners and Web-page readers on a trip up Purdue Mountain to a three-generation farm where Phyllis Thomas is now growing several acres of perennials for a growing market. and north west to the history of a logging camp near Burning Wells. Both programs add depth with click-through Web pages for more information. For more, on Legacies, go to http://wpsu.psu.edu/Legacies/legacies.html.