Education category, Page 88
Highmark opens school grant program
Schools looking to support wellness programs, encourage professional development among school nurses or support the basic health needs of low-income students can apply for grants for the 2020-21 school year from the Highmark Foundation. Applications for the program, now in its eighth year, will be accepted from public, parochial and...
Water main break closes North Allegheny’s Marshall middle and elementary schools
North Allegheny’s Marshall elementary school and middle schools will be closed Thursday because of a water main break on the Marshall campus, the school district said. All after-school activities scheduled for Thursday, including the Marshall Elementary School Orchestra concert that was scheduled to be held at the North Allegheny Senior...
Harrisburg University, Nerd Street Gamers partner for new esports degreeVideo
Harrisburg University has launched a new esports degree in partnership with Nerd Street Gamers. Beginning this spring semester, students at the Pennsylvania school will be able to enroll in Harrisburg’s esports program, which will help provide with them skillsets for a career in this industry, reports Cheddar Business. Nerd Street...
Game Commission honors Latrobe student for bringing help to entangled deer
A Greater Latrobe ninth-grader’s sharp eyes and caring response helped free a white-tailed deer trapped in Unity this past fall. Pennsylvania Game Commission officers surprised Parker Williams on Friday when they arrived at her school and presented her with a certificate, recognizing the initiative she took on Nov. 4 to...
Penn-Trafford wrestler diagnosed with MRSA, school says
A Penn-Trafford High School wrestler recently was diagnosed with MRSA, a contagious staph infection, the school district said Tuesday. The wrestler, who was not identified, is receiving medical treatment and will not return to the team until he receives a medical clearance, said Tony Aquilio, high school principal. The student...
IUP, Duquesne, Robert Morris to bolster addiction prevention programs
When students at Indiana University of Pennsylvania return to class Jan. 21, they will be among the first in the state to benefit from a new program designed to prevent opioid abuse. IUP, which received a $99,888 state grant to underwrite the effort, was among 13 colleges and universities selected...
Pitt medical school appoints new dean to replace Arthur Levine
A leader at Indiana University, the nation’s largest medical school, will take over as senior vice chancellor for the health sciences and dean of the School of Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh in June. Dr. Anantha Shekhar, who serves as executive associate dean for research affairs and several other...
Celebrity basketball game will benefit scholarships for Hispanic students
The Pittsburgh Metropolitan Area Hispanic Chamber of Commerce will host its second annual Celebrity Basketball Game to raise money for scholarships supporting the region’s Hispanic community. The game will be at 2:30 p.m., Jan. 11 at the Wunderley Gymnasium at Penn State’s Greater Allegheny campus in McKeesport. The game will...
Central Michigan professor named dean at Seton Hill’s School of Business
Seton Hill University has named Debasish Chakraborty, a professor of economics at Central Michigan University, as dean of the Greensburg university’s School of Business. University President Mary C. Finger announced Chakraborty’s appointment Wednesday and said he will begin his tenure on March 16. Chakraborty’s appointment comes as Paul Mahady, former...
Point Park introduces new master’s program for environmental journalism
Point Park University will offer a Master of Arts in Environmental Journalism degree, with courses starting this fall. The 36-credit program combines journalism courses with graduate-level environmental science courses. “A unique facet of this program is its focus on coursework in environmental studies, enabling students not only to understand the...
Pittsburgh Public Schools looking to sell 4 vacant schools
Pittsburgh Public Schools is trying to sell four vacant school buildings and a sizable parcel of land to developers with plans that will help the neighborhoods and the district. The district distributed a request for proposals Monday through Fourth River Development for prospective bidders to purchase and redevelop its surplus...
Slate of new school directors seated in 2 North Hills districts
Newly elected school directors in two North Hills school districts have been sworn-in for seats that they won in the Nov. 5 general election. School board members serve four-year, unpaid terms in office. North Hills School District Only one of the four incumbent members of the North Hills School Board...
Yough principal joins alma mater’s inaugural ‘Under 40’ classVideo
Amy Larcinese remembers playing “school” as a child, writing on her chalkboards and instructing a classroom of stuffed animals, baby dolls and cousins. “I just knew that I always wanted to work with kids and try to make a difference,” she says. She also recalls riding along with her firefighter...
Ex-teacher in Bucks County charged with taking up-skirt photos of students
OTTSVILLE — A former high school teacher has been charged with secretly taking indecent photos of three students and posting them online. Francis Reppert, 26, of Quakertown in Bucks County, outside of Philadelhia, was arraigned Thursday on charges of indecent exposure and invasion of privacy. He was released on $500,000...
Baldwin-Whitehall’s McAnnulty Elementary closed over boiler malfunction
Early Friday morning, prior to student arrivals at McAnnulty Elementary School in Baldwin-Whitehall School District as the teaching and professional staff began to arrive in the building, a malfunction was detected with one of the boilers in the building, according to a news release from the district. Carrie Butler, Baldwin-Whitehall...
‘Quid pro quo’ tops banished words list
In an apparent nod to President Donald Trump, and to the great relief of newspaper editors near and far, the experts at Lake Superior State University announced Wednesday that “quid pro quo” topped its 45th Annual Banished Word List. The small public university, located on Michigan’s northern Peninsula, began publishing...
5 Pittsburgh schools among state’s highest in arrests, citations as security debate continues
Five Pittsburgh schools are among the top 25 in the state for arrests and citations, according to data from the Pennsylvania Department of Education. The figures are fuel to the fiery debate over school security and police officers in the buildings. “I don’t believe there should be police presence in...
Sloan teachers, students move into first fully renovated classroom wing
When Sloan Elementary School teacher Janine Mickel attended a meeting with VEBH, the architects spearheading the design of the Sloan “elementary campus” project, she was told they “planned to bring the outdoors into the classroom.” Standing in a freshly renovated wing of the building that is complete and occupied by...
Deer Lakes High School students use emoji paintings to encourage frank conversationsVideo
Art students at Deer Lakes High School are hoping students and staffers will stop and see the emoji. Not the cartoon-like images on their cellphones, but ones on the walls. Emoji allow people to express emotion digitally through a variety of faces that display different expressions and picture characters. They...
Pittsburgh nonprofit hosts essay contest, scholarship for ‘ambassador’ camp
Tired of incivility, social media fights and partisan divisions? A Pittsburgh-based nonprofit is doing its part to promote respect and civility by sponsoring the ninth annual Luminari scholarship for “I Want to be an Ambassador!” camp. The 2020 Luminari Award essay competition is open to all Pittsburgh-area students currently in...
Former state rep will present ‘The State of Education in Pennsylvania’ in Murrysville
As education experts in Pennsylvania go, it’s tough to top Ron Cowell. In addition to 24 years as a state representative with 12 years on the House Committee on Education, Cowell has been president and executive director for the Education Policy and Leadership Center in Harrisburg since 1999. He has...
Kiski Area improves performance, diversity in Advanced Placement courses
The number of Kiski Area High School students taking Advanced Placement tests is nearly nine times higher than it was three years ago, and students are passing four times as many tests, according to data the district shared this week. The high school also offers AP courses to far more...
White teacher sues Woodland Hills alleging racial discrimination
A Woodland Hills School District teacher who holds advanced degrees in administration and educational leadership is suing the district and alleging he wasn’t hired as an assistant principal because of his race. Charles Kost, of McDonald has been a teacher at Woodland Hills for 15 years. He has a master’s...
Duquesne University’s ‘puppy dog eyes’ study among most influential of 2019
A research paper that studied how “puppy dog eyes” evolved to help dogs communicate with humans was ranked as one of the top 100 most influential studies of 2019. The paper, co-authored by Anne Burrows, a biological anthropologist in Duquesne University’s Department of Physical Therapy, ranked 27th in the Altmetric...
Reparations mark new front for U.S. colleges tied to slavery
BUFFALO, N.Y. — The promise of reparations to atone for historical ties to slavery has opened new territory in a reckoning at U.S. colleges, which until now have responded with monuments, building name changes and public apologies. Georgetown University and two theological seminaries have announced funding commitments to benefit descendants...
