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If there is one thing Felicia Mycyk loves to do, it's coach. The current head track coach at Ambridge High School has provided wisdom and guidance for athletes of numerous sports and age groups throughout the years.
Although any opportunity to coach is valued, Mycyk says her experience as an assistant for the Ambridge Mighty Mite team in 2015 is one that wasn't the most enjoyable but helped her grow. Assistant coach Felicia Mycyk looks over the Ambridge Mighty Mite football team during a playoff game during the filming of "Friday Night Tykes: Steel Country."ESQUIRE NETWORK "There were some problems exposed on that show that a lot of us knew about but didn't admit until we saw them on TV," she said. "On my end, it showed me that I need to speak up more. I know I'm right, I know I'm good, I know my value." In a town filled with impressive gridiron resumes, Mycyk's is far from the bottom of the barrel. After excelling in athletics her entire life, she worked her way into landing an opportunity with the Pittsburgh Passion, a semi-professional women's football team. Despite her experience within the game, Mycyk feels as though her knowledge wasn't always put to use. On the show, she had multiple disagreements with Smith during practices and games. "Watching those back taught me that I wasn't being assertive enough," she said. "I had ideas but didn't do my best to put them to use." - Assistant coach Felicia Mycyk I had ideas but Mycyk had confidence far before she saw herself on the show but believes she has even more now. The mother of four makes a living helping others finding the leader within themselves and has received numerous awards and honors for her efforts as a mentor and motivational speaker. Unlike what she saw from herself in the show, Mycyk said she now knows to use her voice when she feels it can make a difference. While she aims to help people in all areas of life, Mycyk's passion remains in the world of sports. Last spring, she helped Ambridge's Bethany Naughton take home a medal at the PIAA Track and Field Championships. This fall, Mycyk will be working with the high school football team as the speed and conditioning coach. If a mistake is made or an adjustment is needed, it can be assured that Mycyk will be there to weigh in on how the problem can be solved. This article by Noah Hiles originally appeared in the Beaver County Times.
2020 was about having 20/20 vision, but now in 2021, we found out that there was a need for corrective lenses.
How many times have people had preconceived notions about you or you passed judgment on someone before even hearing their opinion or viewpoint.
"Sometimes you wanna go
Where everybody knows your name And they're always glad you came You wanna be where you can see (ah-ah) Our troubles are all the same (ah-ah) You wanna be where everybody knows your name" A few years ago I worked for a political campaign. At a team meeting about neighborhood canvassing, there was a discussion on what dates and locations to visit. One of the members told me that I cannot go to a few towns because my skin color would hurt the candidate in the polls. Also, my safety was a concern. It set me back for a millisecond and reminded me that not everyone was as progressive as the candidate. It was more shocking that the person that said it to me was a young male in his 20s.
We made it through the first nine weeks!
I had to adjust a few areas in our life with the kids at home when I am working remotely. Here are my top 3 tips for those whose coworkers are their children who work in different departments. The image with this post is from 2017. It's written by a guy from Omaha, Nebraska, that I met in Chicago, Illinois, at a Rotary Zone Leadership Development Summit. I love that this popped up in my timeline today because all of the conversations that are about companies and organizations looking to build diversity, inclusion, and equity committees
 We did it — four events in one weekend! It was a challenge but we organized four Community Heart & Soul picnics in local parks throughout Ambridge. We followed CDC recommended guidelines which allowed residents to have a low-pressure experience meeting our leadership team and learning about how Ambridge Heart & Soul will become the basis for building our community’s shared values and unique action plan.
I can honestly say, I love where we are at in this journey. Community Heart & Soul is about storytelling and how it can help communities build brighter futures together. The goal is to involve as many residents as possible, including those who are underrepresented and have not typically had a voice in their community’s planning processes. During our picnics, residents were welcomed and encouraged to visit five stations to help set the stage for meaningful and transformative action plans. " Ambridge Community Heart & Soul solicited feedback from residents at community picnics. Photo credit: Rustbelt Mayberry Photography / Ambridge Heart & Soul. Each station had a different experience:
AMBRIDGE HEART & SOUL FOLLOWED CDC GUIDELINES FOR SAFETY AT THEIR SUMMER PICNIC EVENTS. PHOTO CREDIT: RUSTBELT MAYBERRY PHOTOGRAPHY / AMBRIDGE HEART & SOUL It will be an uphill battle to earn people’s trust in a town where it wasn’t always easy to be heard. Fortunately, there is training and support from the Pennsylvania Humanities Council and the folks at Community Heart & Soul that will help everyone join together and collectively make a lasting impact. This is not new terrain for me as a longtime advocate for civic engagement in Ambridge. The Community Heart & Soul program builds on my own work of making meaningful change through conversations and storytelling. We are on our way to greater inclusivity and shared decision-making with these recent picnics, which engaged those missing voices and helped us learn more about what is important to our community. The next step is identifying shared values, called Heart & Soul Statements. We are setting the stage for meaningful and transformative plans for action! RESIDENTS WROTE THEIR HOPES FOR THE TOWN ON CHALKBOARDS AT THE AMBRIDGE HEART & SOUL PICNICS. PHOTO CREDIT: RUSTBELT MAYBERRY PHOTOGRAPHY / AMBRIDGE HEART & SOUL I can already envision us doing the strategic group events — that we have yet to plan but will be coming in the future — because we laid the foundation and started the conversation. I see our Community Heart & Soul events allowing safe discussions where residents want to connect, converse, and answer real questions about their community in places like the library, parks, and more. Resident-driven starts with residents seeing themselves in positions to be heard! Kudos to our team for being exactly what this community needs to make Ambridge what we all know it can be! Relish the process because we will see results in each event moving forward. I’m pumped! |
