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Making Spaces at WPSD. Join this exciting new initiative for our students!

The Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf is excited to announced that the School is joining an exciting new initiative – Making Space: Expanding Maker Education Across the Nation, which is a collaboration between  Google, Maker Ed, and Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh.  This creative program aims to develop a national strategy to integrate “learning through making” into schools across America.

Making Spaces employs an innovative model by providing schools with maker education expertise from a nearby museum, library, school district or community organization, known as a “hub.”  Ten hubs have been established across the country, one being the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh.

The Children’s Museum will collaborate with 10 schools in the Western Pennsylvania region to help each school launch their own maker space, as well as to provide guidance to schools as they tailor their approach to implementing maker education for their students.

WPSD is excited to announce that it has been selected as one of the local schools to partner with the Children’s Museum.  As a part of this initiative, a new maker space will be established in the School’s beautiful Learning Center, which presently serves as an area of study and research for students. It will provide a dedicated area that facilitates building knowledge through a variety of materials and activities.

The librarian and teachers will guide the students in critical thinking, problem solving, and collaboration with regard to six different areas: science, technology, reading, engineering, art, and mathematics (“STREAM”).  The vision is to challenge students to learn “outside of the book,” encouraging them to explore, experiment, and create.

As the only school for Deaf and Hard of Hearing children among the schools in the project, WPSD is proud to offer this innovative learning opportunity for our students and demonstrate its leadership in Deaf education in the region and the Commonwealth.  The project will launch at the start of the new school year in the fall of 2017 and efforts are well underway to train staff and prepare the Learning Center for this exciting new venture.

Parents, families and friends of WPSD can play an important role is this new project by supporting the creation and operation of our new “making spaces” project.  Donations of any amount can be directed toward this initiative by visiting Making Spaces at WPSD.  Together we can build a better future for our students. Thank you for your support for our students and the School!