As summer winds down, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on some of the highlights, milestones, and moments that have shaped the first half of the year. From celebrating 10 years of Remake Learning Days to lifting up youth leadership in civic learning, the energy across our network has been deeply inspiring. As always, I’m grateful to be in this work alongside so many of you.
Highlights: Youth Voice, Personalization, and the Power of Partnership
Our regional working groups have been busy convening, sharing, and co-creating across a wide range of topics. In March, the Civic Learning Ecosystem hosted a high-energy showcase celebrating youth-led civic engagement efforts. That momentum carried into June, when young people unveiled the first version of a regional civic learning map at the Mapping the Ecosystem event and to be a part of Civic Season.
Meanwhile, the Personalized Learning Working Group brought together educators and partners at The Power of Personalization summit, where student voice took center stage in conversations about AI, project-based learning, apprenticeships, and real-world skills.
The Pittsburgh Regional STEAM Ecosystem held its quarterly meeting at Duolingo’s headquarters this spring, where members toured the space and heard from Dr. Kendra Ross about Duolingo’s social impact work.
And in Washington County, the Rural Schools Collaborative gathered at the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum to plan for a fall summit focused on small schools and big ideas.
We also launched our Pulse Check series with focused conversations on Outdoor Learning and AI in Education, two topics that continue to evolve and generate strong interest across our network.
Remake Learning Days: A Decade of Hands-On Wonder
This spring, we celebrated ten years of Remake Learning Days. And what a celebration it was!
Across Southwestern Pennsylvania, more than 350 hands-on learning events took place in libraries, schools, parks, and museums.
We kicked things off with discoverED, a statewide experience that brought 500 young learners to the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh and reached over 16,000 first- and second-grade students across Pennsylvania through a virtual design challenge focused on building bridges for salamanders. (Yes, you read that right and yes, it was awesome.)
Moonshot Grants: New Pathways, Big Ideas
In February, we launched a new round of Moonshot Grants this year, with a focus on aligning proposals with the work of our regional working groups. More than 100 proposals were submitted, offering creative, bold visions for what learning can look like when we trust communities to lead.
Several past Moonshot projects have recently been featured in the media, including the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy’s Outside Voices project, which empowers teens to explore green spaces and co-create solutions for community health and sustainability. And a student from the World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh shared her experience advocating for youth voice from Pittsburgh to SXSW in a thoughtful PublicSource article.
Pittsburgh’s Learning Ecosystem on the Global Stage
Our region continues to earn attention as a leader in future-facing, learner-centered education. In March, Pittsburgh hosted district leaders from across the country during the Digital Promise League of Innovative Schools Summit, which featured 13 site visits across local schools and learning spaces.
Remake Learning was well represented at national gatherings like SXSW EDU, AASA’s National Conference on Education, ASU-GSV, and the Aurora Institute Symposium.
At SXSW EDU, we supported a 60-person regional delegation and hosted a gathering that brought more than 100 people together to share ideas and build relationships.
On the global stage, I was honored to represent our network at the World Economic Forum and Catalyst Now’s Global Summit in Bogotá, Colombia. These events made it clear that what we’re doing here in Southwestern Pennsylvania resonates around the world and there’s growing interest in learning ecosystems as a driver of educational transformation.
Media Moments: Sharing Our Story
Remake Learning members have been featured in more than 80 media stories since the beginning of 2025, including these featured stories:
- The Pittsburgh Tribune shared how an alliance of regional school districts is innovating instruction
- WESA profiled how 3D-printed violins are expanding access to music education in local schools
- Technical.ly highlighted how the Fly Like a Girl drone academy is closing the gender gap in aviation careers
- HundrED featured Remake Learning in its reflections on the World Economic Forum in Davos
- The 74 published an opinion piece co-authored by the Grable Foundation’s Gregg Behr and League of Innovative Schools director Jillian Doggett about the high concentration of public education innovation in the Pittsburgh region
- The Tribune Review reported on Pennsylvania’s first unified eSports league
- SchoolCEO magazine reported on the cutting edge school districts in the Pittsburgh region
- NBC News featured California Area School District’s Moonshot projects in a special video report
- Public Source published a first-person essay by Taylor Allderdice student Natalia Connor about her and her peers’ work to build youth leadership
- WESA reported on the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy’s Outside Voices program putting teens in position to shape the future of the city’s green spaces
These stories and so many others remind us that this work matters. It’s noticed. And most importantly, it’s working.
As we look ahead to the fall and all that it entails, I’m feeling more hopeful than ever about what’s possible when communities come together to reimagine learning. Whether you’re organizing a working group, hosting a learning event, designing with students, or cheering from the sidelines, thank you for being part of this journey.
