Educators from across the country gather in Pittsburgh to learn how to shape the future of education
Administrators from across the country are in Pittsburgh this week to learn from school districts in our region, as educators are showing them the futuristic way they're teaching students.
From flying drones to e-sports, to a coffee shop operated by students on campus, The League of Innovative Schools brought more than 350 superintendents to Pittsburgh to learn how other school districts are using technology to shape the future of education.
Baldwin-Whitehall School District is one of 13 league members in Western Pennsylvania.
"We look at how instruction has changed truly in the classroom, how kids are engaged in the classroom," said Superintendent Randy Lutz. "We look at things like the Baldwin Bean, the coffee shop, a student-run coffee shop here, or an innovation hub where the kids are actually making products for sale, both in the district and beyond."
It's not just about the classroom, it's also about the opportunity to prepare students for a changing world when they leave as graduates.
"You know, 70% of our kids are going right into the workforce," explained David McDonald, the superintendent of South Allegheny School District. "They're not going to college, so what we had to do was – a couple of years ago – make a shift. So, we kind of felt like we were failing. We had to start to do some things that we thought were right for kids, so we dove into workforce development."
We spoke with some of the superintendents and administrators in attendance, and not just the ones from the Pittsburgh area, but from across the country and they all said the same thing: collaboration, sharing ideas, and adapting with emerging technology.
"Education is about stealing from each other, and so when we're in a visit like this at Baldwin, hopefully we pick out a couple of things – I know I already have – that we want to bring back and infuse into our district," added McDonald.
"We're all trying to help kids, right? We're all trying to educate the next generation, make those kids as ready for college and career, and whatever their next steps are as possible," said Mamaroneck Union Free School District superintendent Chuck Sampson. "So, to leverage the power of the community is sort of a new way of approaching it."
It was all about using the power of community to help create future opportunity.
