26 July 2010

Exploradelphia (explore Philadelphia - get it?? :-)

Hearing about Mill Creek farm's community food map. Looking to produce one of these for North Philadelphia!

taking a good sniff
nature's goodness - beeswax
compost heap
Living Roof : reduces energy consumption (and saves moolah) and acts as a storm/rain water receptacle. How cool is that?!
beeware!
A group tour of crops, including a brief history of Mill Creek.


Mill Creek Farm, 49th & Brown Sts. 


21 July 2010

holding your breath with Former Mayor Street

The first group contest -- holding your breath. 
The contest begins -- look at that focus!
The audience sits in suspense.
Two minutes in...
Can he keep it up?
The last two standing.
And the winner with his prize -- twenty bucks.

Former Mayor Street with some bITS program staff

Jeff, Alan, Former Mayor Street, Nick, and Rich, left to right.

serious faces

Oni in the red striped shirt and Fue in the bow tie, and bITS participants at today's event with Former Mayor Street

at today's bITS Welcoming event

Former Mayor Street handing out money.
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David and some of the Mock Trial interns-

David, a defensive tackle for Temple University's football team,  is on the left.
At the bITS Summer 2010 Welcoming Event today.

bITS Summer 2010 Welcoming with Former Philadelphia Mayor John Street

An eager participant volunteers for one of Mayor Street's activities.
At this point the group of ten volunteers know what they have to do:  don't smile or laugh for five minutes, while facing the group--the last one still with a serious face wins.  You can see that some of the students are already having a difficult time.
She just laughed and had to take a seat.
Concentration and dedication to the task at hand.
Mayor Street testing one of the last two, and in the background, a volunteer from the group trying to get the student in the striped green shirt to laugh by playing an old man with a cane/umbrella.  Green Shirt won, but Mayor Street, with all his charisma and cunning, was able to get him to laugh in the end.
All of us at bITS, ITSRG, and Temple University in general want to thank Former Mayor John Street for giving us an engaging, crowd-pleasing talk   As we in the office remember it, his two main points were to not let your future depend on luck, and, in his closing message, to remember that:  "The man or woman who stops to throw a rock at every barking dog never arrives at his (or her) destination."  Street emphasized the need to have a plan in life and to follow it through.  There are always distractions and hardships, but if you have a plan, you can go back to it when the proverbial dogs are barking loudly and the going is difficult.

Thanks again to Former Mayor Street for coming today.

20 July 2010

ITSRG's mascot...



This pig in particular, and pigs in general, are very important to Dr. Masucci. If you see her around Temple's campus, feel free to ask her about her pig memorabilia collection.

our resident art professor and inspiration



This summer at bITS, we are lucky to have Walter Gholson, III back with us, helping instruct our Urban Art group in artistic practice, as well as situate and contextualize the importance of art in describing the urban experience in North Philadelphia.

Charnett being Charnett



Charnett Moffet, our ITSRG/bITS program facilitator and all-around glue-that-keeps-us-functional, helping get bITS interns situated on the first day of programming.