Pittsburgh educators know their students benefit from collaborative, project-based learning. Now, the grown-ups will give it a go themselves, through a new initiative facilitated by the LUMA Institute.

The Expanding Innovations Project, launched last month, assembles small groups of school districts and local partners to work on a project of their choosing, with funding support.

• Fox Chapel Area School District, Woodland Hills School District, and the Pittsburgh Association for the Education of Young Children will collaborate on a 21^st century early-learning project.
• Elizabeth Forward School District will pair up with Duquesne City School District to come up with design challenges for students.
• Propel Schools, Hopewell School District, and Quaker Valley School District will partner to provide STEAM training for teachers.

Over the course of the year, each group will work to develop new ways to build 21^st century skills among their student bodies—skills that are based on students’ interests and that will serve them in the modern economy. LUMA, a Pittsburgh-based design education and training company, uses human-centered design techniques to help solve community problems in the digital age, and will lead trainings for the teams.

Expanding Innovations is supported by the Remake Learning Council, a commission of leaders from the education, government, business and civic sectors who work together to promote learning innovation and expand learning opportunities in the greater Pittsburgh region.

Supporting sustained inter-district collaboration is one way to do just that. School districts too often work in silos and miss out on key opportunities to share resources and ideas. In a region like Southwestern Pennsylvania—where schools have launched a virtual immersion lab, makerspaces, a STEAM magnet program, and innovative professional development programs—there is certainly a lot school systems can learn from one another.

Check back on the blog for an update on the participants’ projects later in the year.