Dennis Henderson is an innovative educator and dedicated to establishing a world class a project-based restorative learning environment focused on social justice through entrepreneurship, engineering, sustainability and law related education.
Fortunate to serve as a leader within a environment consisting of amazing educators, parents, and community partners committed to providing a high quality public education, for 17 years, Dennis has had the opportunity to collaborate and implement many amazing projects on the Northside that are relevant to the Remake Learning Network. To name a few, Mr. Henderson’s students are introduced to programming basics and established a VEX Junior Robotics Team at MACS. In only their second year of competing in the regional competition, last year the MACS Vex Robotics team qualified for states and placed among the top teams in the state tournament.
Partnering with the Citizens Science Lab, the young ladies of MACS participated on the Sea Perch Project in which they designed underwater remote-control robots, competed regionally and had the opportunity to travel to Atlanta to experience the national competition this past spring. Mr. Henderson also a partnership with the Drew Mathieson Center where all 6th grade students are introduced to horticulture and 7th and 8th grade students are provided the opportunity to take landscape design where they work with a client to gather the information and analyze the site to design an appropriate landscape for them.
Working with a product engineer, MACS students learn create numerous functional real-world objects from everyday items in their Makers course. The students at MACS also participates in the Future City Competition they have won numerous awards for their engineering concepts and urban designs.
Mr. Henderson also serves on the board of Venture Outdoors where he has been instrumental in bringing outdoor recreational activities such as kayaking and geocaching to youth throughout the region and fostering stewardship of the environment through the establishment if the Junior VO Leadership Camp.
These are just a few of the many programs and collaborations Dennis has established to provide youth the access to create and solve real-world problems necessary for students to succeed in the 21st Century.
As the Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Manchester Academic Charter School, Dennis is the facilitator for collaborating with the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh to design projects that will be featured in the upcoming Museum Lab.
Thankful for every blessing and lesson, Mr. Henderson is most grateful to have Dr. Monica Henderson as his wife of 17 years and two beautiful daughters Denia and Jacey, a great family, wonderful friends.