Since 2021, Remake Learning has catalyzed more than 50 Moonshot ideas, totaling more than $3.5 million invested in bold ideas that have the potential to shape the future of teaching and learning in the greater Pittsburgh region of southwestern Pennsylvania and northern West Virginia.
Today, we’re thrilled to announce the recipients of our latest round of Moonshot Grants. These 17 projects represent our largest Moonshot Grant cohort ever–an impressive addition to the regional effort to remake learning.
We received 70 applications this round, showcasing an impressive lineup of bold, innovative ideas, each with the potential to push forward-thinking ideas in our region. Over the course of our careful and rigorous review process, several themes emerged to indicate our region’s collective priorities for the future of learning.
Blazing New Pathways
This theme envisions broader and more inclusive certification pathways built on mentorship and collaboration. These projects seek to qualify more educators to teach specialized areas by prioritizing practical qualifications and direct field experience.
Attack Theatre: Catalyzing and Codifying Connectivity: Nurturing a Dance-in-Education Ecosystem
Their bold idea: Making dance a cornerstone of creative learning.
In collaboration with Central Westmoreland County Career Technical Center, Seton Hill University, and the Pennsylvania Dance Education Organization, Attack Theatre will develop an inclusive pipeline to help educators earn certification in PK-12 dance education.
DePaul School for Hearing and Speech: Grow-Your-Own-Integrated Deaf Education (GUIDE)
Their bold idea: Solve the Teachers of the Deaf shortage.
In partnership with LaRoche University, Robert Morris University, Minot State University, and Utah State University, DePaul School for Hearing and Speech will develop an alternative to the traditional 4-year Teacher of the Deaf (TOD) degree program. Utilizing paid mentors and master teachers, along with more practical and earlier fieldwork, they will enable a faster track to TOD certification.
Carlow University: Experiential Learning and apprenticeship for Trauma-Informed Industry and Art Education Training
Their bold idea: Help arts and trades educators identify and respond to student trauma.
In collaboration with Industrial Arts Workshop, Carlow University will develop experiential learning and apprenticeship opportunities for arts and trades educators to enhance their readiness to teach high school students through trauma-informed practices.
Traversing the Learning Landscape
This theme envisions accessible family-inclusive learning sites situated in the real world. By breaking down traditional barriers and valuing family and community expertise, these projects aim to empower students with comprehensive support and experiential learning opportunities.
The Dragon’s Den: Bridging Communities: Empowering Youth with Customized Learning, Cross-Neighborhood Exploration, and Mental Health Support for a Brighter Future
Their bold idea: Become a conduit connecting young people to opportunities beyond their neighborhood.
The Dragon’s Den will provide equitable learning opportunities by transporting teens from Homestead to educational programs across Allegheny County. Participants will reflect on their experiences and teach younger children the new skills they’ve gained, fostering leadership, responsibility, and confidence through peer-to-peer learning.
Brentwood Borough School District: Brentwood Connect: Play, Learn, Grow
Their bold idea: Eliminate barriers for students and families to participate in physical enrichment.
In collaboration with the AIU Math Science Collaborative, Jewish Family & Community Services, ad Hello Neighbor, Brentwood Borough School District is launching a program that offers inclusive movement activities for students, adult learning experiences for parents, and family meals to foster community connection, healthy living, and holistic development for both students and parents.
Seneca Valley School District: Learning Without Limits
Their bold idea: Ensure that every student, regardless of background, has access to the resources and experiences that open doors to a brighter, more just future.
Seneca Valley School District will integrate curriculum-aligned enrichment opportunities beyond the school day, including visits to museums, science centers, and performing arts theaters, to ensure that all of the district’s students develop both the skills and the knowledge necessary to thrive as proficient readers.
Creating Inclusive Learning Environments
This theme is about creating inclusive learning environments that empower students of all abilities to collaborate, build essential skills, and envision new career pathways. These projects use innovative platforms to promote mutual empowerment, empathy, and career-readiness.
Fox Chapel Area School District: EmpowerPlay: Unified Esports for All
Their bold idea: Shift inclusion programs from a service paradigm to an empowerment paradigm.
In collaboration with the PA interscholastic Esports Association, the PA Association for Middle Level Education, Pittsburgh Public Schools, Freeport Area School District, Beaver Area School District, South Fayette Township School District, and Brentwood Borough School District, Fox Chapel Area School District will launch a competitive unified esports league to bring together students with and without intellectual disabilities.
Woodland Hills School District: Unifying Communities Through Unified Robotics
Their bold idea: Create a robotics career pipeline that welcomes each and every student.
In collaboration with the PA interscholastic Esports Association, Special Olympic of Pennsylvania, VEX Robotics, Beaver Area School District, Western Beaver School District, West Allegheny School District, Hopewell School District, Blackhawk School District, and Elizabeth Forward School District, Woodland Hill School District will host a unified robotics competition that follows the spirit of Special Olympics, creating teams of students with and without disabilities who will work together to demonstrate their learning.
Butler Area School District: Transforming Butler Main Street: A Hub for Community Learning and Innovation
Their bold idea: Turn main street into a classroom.
In partnership with the city of Butler, Butler Area School District will transform Butler Main Street into an immersive learning environment that leverages local resources to offer diverse and inclusive opportunities for all, especially those from underrepresented groups.
Learning From, In, and With Nature
This theme prioritizes connecting students with nature through direct engagement with green technology, outdoor stewardship, or horticulture therapy. These projects value giving students and communities a voice and tools to shape their environments.
Grounded Strategies: Place- and Nature-Based Afrofuturist Experiential Learning for Visioning Brave Futures in Environmental Justice Communities
Their bold idea: Embed environmental experiential learning in an urban setting.
In collaboration with EvolveEA, the City of Pittsburgh Department of City Planning, Pittsburgh Water, UrbanKind Institute, and Periscope, Grounded Strategies will develop an outdoor experiential learning and research lab space focusing on sustainable tech and workforce development embedded in an urban environmental justice community, built on formerly vacant land.
Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy: Outside Voice: Inspiring Youth-Driven Action for a Greener Future
Their bold idea: Connect civic engagement, arts education, and outdoor recreation through nature learning.
In collaboration with the World Affairs Council and the Homewood YMCA, Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy will launch a 12-week project providing high school teens with interconnected outdoor experiences that support nature-based learning, park activation, art-making, recreation, and real-world civic learning.
Northgate School District: Greening Minds and Building Futures: A Holistic Student Empowerment Program
Their bold idea: Combine gardening and therapy to help students grow.
In collaboration with Chatham Eden Hall, Oasis Farm & Fishery, AHN Chill Network, and AGH Suburban, Northgate School District will offer horticulture therapy and paid internships for students working and learning in the school’s garden club.
Continuing the Mission
This theme recognizes that learning doesn’t stop after high school. These projects enhance existing pathways and build new bridges connecting rising and recent high school graduates with continued learning opportunities, all the while surrounding them with caring, supportive adult guides.
SLB Radio Productions: Mind the Gap: Building Bridges for High School Graduates
Their bold idea: Make the “gap year” a time of skill-building, career exploration, and community engagement.
In collaboration with the Community College of Allegheny County and Roadtrip Nation, SLB will pilot a fellowship program for recent high school graduates who hope to attend college, but who have not yet made concrete plans to do so. During their fellowship, these young adults will learn marketable skills, engage in career exploration, and help catalyze a new network for young adults aged 18 – 24 in SWPA.
The Forum for Western Pennsylvania School Superintendents: Reimagining the 12th grade year
Their bold idea: Turn 12th grade into life’s first step, instead of school’s last step.
The Forum for Western Pennsylvania School Superintendents will design a new approach to the 12th grade year that combines mentoring with in-school and out-of-school learning to create experiences that focus on essential skill development and social-emotional health.
Positioning Students for Empowerment
This theme finds ways to set students up for leadership and impact in the real world. These projects help students build confidence—while they’re also building practical skills–and develop their leadership skills in challenging, real-world situations.
ARYSE: Counter-Storytelling Librarianship: Centering Youth and Challenging Dominant Narratives
Their bold idea: Empower refugee youth to tell a trust story of displacement and migration.
In collaboration with the University of Pittsburgh, Alliance for Refugee Youth Support and Education (ARYSE) will develop programming that challenges participants to create their own counter narratives.
World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh: Using Immersive Learning Tools and a Train-the-Trainer Model to Equip a Global Network of Youth to Train Adults on Partnership-Building
Their bold idea: Hit the reset button on youth-adult power dynamics.
World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh will bring game design to youth-led training for adults, creating space for youth to serve as consultants for organizations through a “train-the-trainer” model across North America and beyond.
Homewood Children’s Village: Village Games+: Exploring Ethical A.I. in Game Design
Their bold idea: Help more Black students design their own future in STEAM.
In partnership with Carnegie Mellon University Robotics Academy and Partner4Work, Homewood Children’s Village will build on its successful game design program by incorporating AI tools while addressing the ethical implications of its use.
Congratulations to each and every one of our Moonshot Grant recipients. And great appreciation and recognition to all who applied. We’ll be sharing updates and stories as projects take flight in 2025. Be sure to subscribe to the Remake Learning newsletter for the latest!
Moonshot Grants is made possible by The Grable Foundation and the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation.
