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UPPER ST. CLAIR TODAY, 1820 McLaughlin Run Road, Upper St. Clair, PA 15241 or usctoday@uscsd.k12.pa.us This past June, Ernst & Young LLP announced the winners of its 2014 EY Entrepreneur Of The Year™ award for Western Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Included in this group of nine leading entrepreneurs was John Burke, chief executive officer of Armada. Selected by an independent judging panel, the winners were revealed at a gala at the Wyndham Grand Pittsburgh Downtown hotel. The Entrepreneur Of The Year Program honors entrepreneurs regionally, which then leads up to the national awards. Now John Burke in its 28th year, the program has expanded to recognize business leaders in more than 145 cities from over 60 countries throughout the world. John and his wife, Lisa, live in USC with their two children, Delaney and Patrick.
Earlier this year, Rachel Geffrey, USCHS Class of 2014, earned the Girl Scout Gold Award, the highest award in girl scouting. The leadership-based award project challenges girls to identify and investigate an issue, build a team, create and present a plan, gather feedback, take action, and educate and inspire. Girls are required to complete 80 hours of work, 15 of which must be leadership related. Most Gold Award recipients spend between one and two years on their projects. Rachel chose self-injury—the act of Rachel Geffrey deliberately harming your own body— as the focus of her project. She researched the subject and created a brochure to help educate people about the issue and a blog to provide a safe place for people to share their stories. In addition to scouting, Rachel was co-captain of the varsity rifle team and a member of the Book Club and National Honor Society. Rachel has also had her poetry published in the school’s literary magazine, Montage, and as part of an online national poetry contest. The daughter of Eileen and Wayne Geffrey, Rachel is attending Chatham University as a creative writing major. To learn more about self-injury, visit Rachel’s blog at www.wordstolivebyproject.blogspot.com.
Suburban Dry Cleaners, located in Upper St. Clair, Pinebridge Commons, recently celebrated 36 years in the business. Aware that the company’s accomplishments are not simply attributable to genius leadership or hard-working employees, owner Frank Capo states, “We grew and prospered because we found some great friends who gave us continuous support along the way. So this is a thank-you note for using our services, being dedicated customers, and for helping to put Suburban Dry Cleaners, with its five locations and a coin-operated laundromat, on the map.” 1580 McLaughlin Run Rd, Pittsburgh, PA 15241, 412-221-2065 90
UPPER ST. CLAIR TODAY
Fall 2014
Bridget Keefe, USCHS Class of 2012 and daughter of Jim and Maureen Keefe, interned at UPPER ST. CLAIR TODAY this past summer. Entering her third year at Miami University of Ohio, she is working towards a degree in finance with a minor in marketing. Bridget enjoyed writing for the magazine (see article: “Stones, Wires, and Pearls, Oh My!” on page 87) and learning about the stages of editing and other aspects of our community publication. After working with the magazine and its staff, Bridget hopes to get involved in more creative writing opportunities in the future. Bridget’s brothers, Gavin and Connor, attend USCHS. Alexa Gross (USCHS Class of 2012) moved from New Jersey to Pittsburgh with her parents, Richard and Claudia, and her younger sister, Julia, 11 years ago. TODAY interns, Alexa Gross and Bridget Keefe The family settled in Upper St. Clair and the girls attended the District’s schools. Upon graduation, Alexa headed off to Washington & Jefferson College, where she is a junior, double major in communication arts and Spanish, with an emphasis in public relations and a concentration in professional writing. This past summer, she prepared for her junior year as an intern at USC TODAY and a full-time employee at UPS. Alexa looks forward to reading her work in our community’s publication (see “USCHS Serves Up Competition” on page 66).
Howard Hanna Real Estate Services recently named Bill Russo as its Pennsylvania Southwest regional manager. Russo, a vice president of the company, managed the Upper St. Clair office for the past 20 years. Howard Hanna’s Southwest region includes neighborhood real estate offices in Mt. Lebanon, Collier, Peters Township, Sewickley, South Hills, South Side, Upper St. Clair, and Washington. After joining Howard Hanna in 1987 in the Mt. Lebanon office, Bill managed the Upper St. Clair office since the early 90s. During his tenure in the Upper St. Clair office, he Bill Russo helped the office grow to become one of the top real estate offices in Western Pennsylvania. Active in the community, Bill is a big supporter of the Children’s Free Care Fund. Last year, the Upper St. Clair office was the top fundraising office of Howard Hanna in Pennsylvania. In addition, Bill has served as Howard Hanna’s representative on the board of directors of the Realtors Association of Metropolitan Pittsburgh (RAMP) and has co-chaired their annual “R Day” event. Bill and his wife, Kim, are long-time residents of the South Hills, where they raised their sons, Eric and Anthony.