Education category, Page 31
Pro-Palestine encampment with Pitt students enters 3rd day in Oakland
University of Pittsburgh students and others entered a third day of a pro-Palestine demonstration Thursday morning with a growing encampment at Schenley Plaza across from the Cathedral of Learning. The encampment included over 30 tents. They were surrounded by small Palestinian flags and banners reading, “Stop The Genocide” and “Ceasefire...
KRUNK Movement students release original album with Earth Day theme
Climate change and the environment are issues that students of Hazelwood’s KRUNK Movement aim to help with, one song at a time. “Su(Stained) Reality,” an album created by the students, is an examination of social and environmental justice, climate change and health. Featuring 10 original songs, the album was released...
Demonstrators move protest off Pitt campus to Schenley Plaza
A group that includes University of Pittsburgh students began Tuesday occupying the lawn outside of the Cathedral of Learning to demand the school divest itself from war-related investment in Israel. As the crowd grew throughout the day, the protest moved across the street to Schenley Plaza. The students announced their...
After hiring new architect, Hempfield ‘moving forward with a stronger team’ for renovation project
A new architect was hired Monday to work on Hempfield Area School District’s long-stalled high school renovation project. The school board hired Crabtree, Rohrbaugh & Associates of Mechanicsburg to replace Bellevue-based Core Architects, which resigned from the district’s high school renovation project in February. The district’s solicitor and administration will...
Kenneth Mash re-elected leader of Pa. state university union
Kenneth Mash has been re-elected president of the Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties, the 5,000-plus member union for professors and coaches across the State System of Higher Education. The union on Monday announced result of voting by delegates across the state. Mash, a political science professor at...
PennWest presidential search narrowed down to 3 candidates
The search for a leader who can quell enrollment and financial woes at Western Pennsylvania’s largest state-owned university has narrowed to three people. Still in the running for the presidency of Pennsylvania Western University are: • Jon Anderson, provost and vice president for academic affairs/professor at Southern Utah University (Cedar...
Biden’s new Title IX rules protect LGBTQ+ students, but transgender sports rule still on hold
The rights of LGBTQ+ students will be protected by federal law and victims of campus sexual assault will gain new safeguards under rules finalized Friday by the Biden administration. The new provisions are part of a revised Title IX regulation issued by the Education Department, fulfilling a campaign pledge by...
FAFSA mess leads to deadline extension for students to apply for state grants
Students hoping for a Pennsylvania state grant to help pay for college have an extra month — until June 1 — to submit the federal form that is needed to be considered for financial aid. The Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency (PHEAA) on Thursday announced that it has pushed back...
Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh announces its new superintendent of schools
Seton LaSalle Catholic High School Principal Lauren Martin will have a new job next school year. Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh’s Bishop David Zubik has appointed her superintendent of Catholic Schools effective July 1. The superintendent search began in January after Michelle Peduto announced her retirement after five years as superintendent...
Shapiro says Pennsylvania will move all school standardized testing online in 2026
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said Thursday that his administration will move all standardized school assessment tests online in an effort to save more classroom time for instruction, create a user-friendly exam for students and relieve a burden from teachers and administrators. Shapiro, in a news conference at Northgate Middle School...
Columbia University’s president rebuts claims she has allowed school to become a hotbed of hatred
WASHINGTON — The president of Columbia University took a firm stand against antisemitism Wednesday as she parried accusations from Republicans who see the New York campus as a hotbed of bias, but she hedged on whether certain phrases invoked by some supporters of Palestinians rise to harassment. Nemat Shafik had...
FAFSA delays slow college choices and could foreshadow bigger problems
If this were a normal year, millions of prospective college students would have reviewed competing financial aid offers weeks ago and settled on their campus choice for the fall. For them and their families, that decision represents peace of mind that their future path is clear. For campuses, it means...
Oakland is hammock city when sun’s out in Pittsburgh
When Yasmine Zaky noticed the sea of colorful hammocks hanging between trees in front of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, she knew she needed one of her own. “Seeing all these people (while I was) walking past here every day — I was like, ‘Oh, yeah, I definitely need one,’...
Rostraver couple’s $1M donation will help complete Westminster College science center
Bill Maurer of Rostraver got the straight to the point when asked about his family’s $1 million donation to Westminster College. “I’m getting old,” he said. “I know there’s a need for all independent colleges as opposed to a state school, and I think it’s appropriate for those who can...
Harvard again requiring standardized test scores for those seeking admission
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Harvard University announced Thursday that it is reinstituting standardized tests as a requirement for admission beginning with the class of 2029, joining other colleges that are again mandating tests for those hoping to enter the schools. In June 2020, Harvard began a temporary test-optional policy under which...
Pennsylvania’s $10M student teacher stipend program to launch
Anyone planning to do their student teaching in 2024-25 better set their alarms on Thursday to be ready around 9 a.m. when applications for stipends through Pennsylvania’s new $10 million Student Teacher Support Program become available. The stipends will be awarded on a first-come, first-served basis. The process begins with...
Panel discussion on book ban impact to be held at Greensburg YWCA
Community organization Voice of Westmoreland will hold a panel discussion on the impact of book bans and challenges both locally and nationally at the Greensburg YWCA on Thursday. Titled “What Do We Lose By Banning Books,” the event runs from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Founders Room at 424...
College students are flocking to the Marriage Pact, mostly for fun, but some find lasting love
NEW YORK — It’s the stuff of movies: Two friends vow to marry each other if they’re not hitched by a specified future date or age. Well, the Marriage Pact, an annual matching ritual that has become popular on nearly 90 college campuses around the U.S., has turned that dusty...
Tennessee Senate advances bill to arm teachers a year after deadly Nashville school shooting
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Republican lawmakers in Tennessee advanced a proposal Tuesday to allow some teachers to carry handguns on public school grounds, a move that would mark one of the state’s biggest expansions of gun access since a deadly shooting at a private elementary school last year. The proposal cleared...
More Republican states sue to block Biden’s student loan repayment plan
WASHINGTON — Another group of Republican-led states is suing to block the Biden administration’s new student loan repayment plan, which offers a faster path to cancellation and has already been used to forgive loans for more than 150,000 borrowers. Seven states led by Missouri filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday challenging...
Carnegie Mellon announces $110M AI initiative
Carnegie Mellon University has joined Japanese higher education institutions and the University of Washington in a $110 million partnership for AI research and innovation. CMU and Keio University in Japan will collaborate on ways to advance AI technology. The partnership includes faculty, researchers and students. They will also collaborate with...
Faculty union of state university system overwhelmingly votes to ratify labor contract
The union representing 5,000 state university faculty and coaches across Pennsylvania voted overwhelmingly to ratify a four-year labor agreement, union representatives announced Friday. Of the members of Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties who voted, 96% were in favor of the deal. The deal now goes to Pennsylvania’s...
Pitt trustees vote to buy historic property, endorse 5-year plan
University of Pittsburgh trustees voted Thursday to create a new headquarters building for one of its schools, buy a historic site in Oakland and endorse a five-year strategic plan. Meeting at the university’s Oakland campus, trustees approved plans to make a building currently under construction at Fifth Avenue and Halket...
Hempfield Area schools awaiting funding for weapons detector upgrades
The Hempfield Area School District is waiting to hear back about funding before moving ahead with security upgrades, officials said this week at a safety and security meeting. The district has applied for $450,000 in funding through a competitive grant with the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency. The funds...
As Roe v. Wade fell, teenage girls formed a mock government in ‘Girls State’Video
NEW YORK — In the summer of 2022, days before the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, some 500 high school girls gathered in Missouri for a weeklong mock government camp in which they elected their own governor and seated an all-female Supreme Court that would rule on their own...
