Franklin Regional School District Hosts ABC CREATE Lab Teacher Training for Several Local Schools ranklin Regional FRANKLIN REGIONAL NEWS
This summer, Franklin Regional Middle School( FRMS) was the host site for an ABC CREATE training session, which empowers several local school districts to incorporate STREAM( Science, Technology, Research, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) education into the classroom through exciting, hands-on projects aimed at coupling art with robotics.
FRMS teachers, Jennifer Joyce and Krista Smith are Teacher Advocates for the program. They were with the program from its inception and provide coaching and guidance for educators in other districts. Franklin Regional was one of six school districts that was part of Phase I of the three-year project. The original districts included Franklin Regional, Burrell, Kiski, Allegheny Valley, Apollo Ridge, and Leechburg. Now in the second year of the program, Mrs. Joyce and Mrs. Smith work with Mr. Drew Martin, a math teacher at the Leechburg Area School District in Armstrong County, to help train other teachers who are part of the member districts.
During the training session, facilitated by Colleen Smith, coordinator for ABC CREATE Lab through Penn State New Kensington( PSNK), teachers from Franklin Regional, Deer Lakes, Allegheny Valley, Plum, and Leechburg collaborated on a hummingbird building project that will become an educational learning experience for their students during the 2016-17 school year. Teachers will have access to materials, tools, and the Hummingbird Building Kits, provided by the ABC CREATE Resource Library, to use during the school year for their students to engage in the project. Students will learn coding, problem-solving, critical thinking, collaborating, programming, engineering, and elements of art and design as a result of the Hummingbird project.
To date, the program has expanded to include 15 school districts including Franklin Regional, New Kensington-Arnold, Burrell, and Kiski( Westmoreland County); Deer Lakes, Fox Chapel, Allegheny Valley, Highlands, Plum, and Riverview( Allegheny
46 Murrysville
County); Apollo Ridge, Armstrong, and Leechburg Area( Armstrong County), and South Butler and Freeport Area( Butler County).
Funded by the Grable Foundation, ABC CREATE stands for Allegheny-Kiski Best Practices Collaborative CREATE Lab Satellite Network Hub. The program’ s vision is to empower students and educators across the Alle-Kiski Valley by encouraging a culture of sharing best-practices through processes, roles and a support infrastructure for the 15 member school districts.
Serving as a CREATE Lab Satellite Network Regional Hub, the Alle-Kiski Best Practices Collaborative will contribute to the creation of fluid learning pathways among diverse CREATE Lab projects. As a Satellite Network partner, ABC CREATE will enjoy access to creative technology and best practices developed and validated by the four schools of education comprising the CREATE Lab Satellite Network.
The ABC CREATE geographic concentration and large scale participation( starting with six public school districts and doubling the number within 3 years) holds promise for regional impact that goes beyond school walls.
The project focus over a three-year period centers on meaningful technology integration across all content areas by establishing a Carnegie Mellon University CREATE Lab Satellite Network Regional Hub with Penn State New Kensington serving in a coordinating role.
ABC CREATE relies on local innovation, identifying and highlighting( with the help of ASSET STEM Education) existing talent and STREAM best practices within participating school districts. PSNK supports the development and implementation of an action plan aimed to amplify and disseminate best practices from individual schools and educators with the overarching goal of establishing a set of common practices that cut across grade levels and content areas to empower educators and students at every district in the Alle-Kiski Valley.
ABC CREATE unites member districts in the Allegheny- Kiski Valley of Western Pennsylvania, and four educational organizations( Penn State New Kensington, the Penn State Electro Optics Center, Asset STEM Education, and Carnegie Mellon University’ s CREATE Lab) along with The Grable Foundation to impact the lives and opportunities of K-12 students.