The big theme for The Bisbee Project this summer is simply: “connections”. We’ve been keeping busy with all sorts of different activities, but when it comes right down to it the common thread is all about building connections in some way or another. Our guiding principle, as always, is one of service to our local communities. We believe that when you are doing something positive in your area, in doesn’t take much to see how seemingly small actions right in your backyard can have big consequences elsewhere.
We are proud to announce another successful year for our Scholarships for Service program. Our Class of 2009 awardees recently graduated from eight Central PA high schools and are on their way off to the challenges of college and future careers in service. As always, we are continually on the lookout for ways to support PA’s historical heritage with our Preserving Pennsylvania grants, and we continue to highlight the stories of some very talented and dedicated individuals with our Profiles in Service roster. Aside from these, we have been busy building connections through a whole variety of activities.
Dan is following up his experiences developing counterinsurgency strategy in Baghdad by doing research on the history of counterinsurgency and post-conflict governance en route to his PhD in world history at the University of Pittsburgh. Dan recently attended the World History Association annual conference at Salem State College in historic Salem, Massachusetts. The WHA is the professional organization dedicated to the advancement of a history that makes connections across vast spans of time and space, builds bridges between divergent academic disciplines and brings together scholars from all levels of education, from high schools to research universities.
Steve is displaying Pennsylvania’s entrepreneurial spirit by launching an internet start-up company dedicated to harnessing the global power of the internet to connect local businesses with local capital and local customers. The new platform, called cogster, will help investors who are looking to put their money in “Main Street” instead of Wall Street.
Whether you are in Baghdad or along the banks of the Susquehanna, the actions of individuals at the local level are always connected to what’s going on in the big picture.
