Appalachian Teaching Project students seek input from Connellsville residents

Across the Appalachian region, more than 2,000 students from more than 20 universities take part annually in the Appalachian Teaching Project, an applied research and training program that helps support economic development in Appalachia’s communities.

On Oct. 14, a group of students from the University of Pittsburgh want to hear from residents in Connellsville, where they’ll host a noon roundtable meeting at the Connellsville Canteen, 131 West Crawford Ave.

“We’re part of either urban studies or sustainability classes,” said Pitt student Allyson Doolittle. “We meet every Friday and we’re working alongside the Appalachian Regional Commission on a 10-year project to study out-migration in the Appalachian region.

The group is tasked with studying the “brain drain,” or migration of residents out of Fayette County, and potentially reversing its effects.

Philadelphia native Lindsey Golden worked with the Appalachian Teaching Project last year when she was a senior at Pitt.

Golden said the project is an opportunity to “build a relationship with Fayette County as opposed to “saving” the county, particularly Connellsville. Our research group consists of students from a breadth of majors and minors that are excited to funnel our diverse educational background into research that would support Connellsville’s economy.”

Golden’s group last year created an “asset map” of notable places in and around Connellsville.

“This year we’re expanding into Uniontown,” Doolittle said. “So we’re interviewing people from the areas on and off the asset map, to communicate and find out why people live where they live, if they want to leave and why, and how they’ve seen the area change in the past few decades.”

After conducting numerous telephone and Zoom-call interviews, the Oct. 14 public meeting will be the group’s first face-to-face discussions.

“At the end of the semester, we’ll submit our findings to the Appalachian Regional Commission in Washington, D.C., sharing what we found and what could potentially benefit these communities.”

According to officials at East Tennessee State University where the Appalachian Teaching Project began, class projects over the years have helped communities respond to a wide range of issues.

For more, see ARC.gov/appalachian-teaching-project.