If Greensburg Salem’s STEAM Carnival sparks a desire to learn in even just one student, teacher Michelle Wiltrout will know she did her job.
The carnival, a decade-long tradition at the district’s Hutchinson Elementary, is one of more than 200 “Remake Learning Days” activities in Southwestern Pennsylvania aimed at inviting the community into local students’ learning.
The Burrell and Franklin Regional school districts are also participating.
Remake Learning, a nonprofit based in Homestead, launched the initiative in 2017. Members share best practices, collaborate on new ideas and seek funding and professional development focused on creating a more engaging learning environment. This year is the organization’s 10th anniversary.
In the Burrell School District, students at Charles Huston Middle School were taking part in the district’s third annual “Community Connections” night Tuesday, which this year has incorporated aspects of Remake Learning. It also worked with Parents as Allies, which is an offshoot of the Kidsburgh nonprofit that works to foster better family-school engagement.
“I feel like Remake Learning has come up with innovative ways to allow kids to express themselves,” said Burrell parent and Parents as Allies member Twaina Williams. “I was a Remake Learning ambassador last year, and we got to go to different schools, see what they were doing, and also talk with them about how we were using Remake Learning concepts.”
Students benefit from hands-on learning
At Greensburg Salem, Wiltrout was inspired by Remake Learning Days’ focus on hands-on, project-based learning to launch the STEAM Carnival, which invites community members and local businesses to demonstrate various science, technology, engineering, art and math topics to students through interactive presentations.
Each grade level will make its way through a handful of presentations Thursday, including an invention project by Roechling Industrial in Mt. Pleasant; a pollinator garden presentation by Penn State Master Gardeners; a manufacturing activity by the BotsIQ robotics and engineering program; and an acting lesson by Westmoreland Performing Arts in Greensburg.
“There’s so much research that shows that learning together with others beyond your regular classroom teacher really brings excitement to the kids’ learning,” said Wiltrout, the STEAM teacher at Hutchinson Elementary.
“It sparks their curiosity — ‘What are these people doing for a job and why are they coming to our school?’”
Burrell teacher Autumn Turk said staff is looking to create what she called “studio” learning sessions next year.
“Our arts and humanities teachers are planning to relate projects the kids are doing to local, real-world careers,” she said.
Hands-on learning creates more neural connections in students’ brains, allowing for stronger information retention, according to a 2024 literature review by educators at C.K. Tedam University of Technology and Applied Sciences in Ghana.
It also enhances problem solving and critical thinking skills and motivates and engages students, the literature review says.
“Lectures and textbooks can make abstract concepts hard to understand,” according to the review. “In contrast, hands-on learning helps students understand complex topics by seeing and touching scientific phenomena.”
And according to the state Department of Education, those skills will be needed among the next generation of workers.
STEM jobs are predicted to increase by 9% through 2026, according to the Department of Education.
More than 70% of jobs are expected to require computer science skills over the next decade.
Burrell, Franklin host ‘Remake Learning’ activities
Burrell’s Community Connections night was a celebration of STREAM projects (science, technology, reading, engineering, arts and math) with activities designed to engage learners in playful, hands-on scientific exploration with an athletic twist. It included a miniature golf course that incorporates computer coding, a sports-themed robotics game, a 3-D pen station, a drone obstacle course and more.
Students could build and race toy-sized paddle boats, or follow a blueprint to construct a block-built robot at the BotsIQ booth.
“Beyond STEAM, (our event included) an art showcase, student musical performances and dance routines from A Step Above,” said Burrell maker-space facilitator and learning coach Courtney Barbiaux. “For me, as a member of the community, a parent and a teacher in the district, it’s important to offer events like these, to not only have the opportunity to mingle but also for the community to get into our schools and see some of the fantastic things that are happening.”
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Barbiaux said middle-school teachers focus on project-based learning in all their classes, and she tries to find ways to incorporate different STEM concepts where they apply.
“If you can make it relevant to something they’re excited about, you’ll see interest from students,” she said.
Franklin Regional will host the district’s annual STREAM Expo on May 13-14, offering district families and the public an evening to see how students are putting their knowledge to use.
The school district, through its nonprofit Franklin Regional Panther Foundation, awarded an $11,500 grant in 2017 for the purchase of robotics kits and other materials. Franklin Regional Communications Director Tina Gillen said that coincided with a “STREAM Forward” pilot program with Newlonsburg Elementary students, which led to the first STREAM Expo in 2018.
“The kids did more than we ever thought they could as little ones, and it took off from there,” Gillen said.
The expo has expanded to include students from kindergarten through eighth grade. High school students help design STEM activities and work with younger learners under teacher supervision.
Participants can sign up to participate in more than a dozen activities taking place each night, from guiding a robot through a maze of puzzles and challenges to conducting science observation and experiments in the nearby creek to extracting DNA from strawberries with the high school’s Science National Honor Society.
Today, Remake Learning’s network directory includes more than 350 people, ranging from Carnegie Mellon University engineers to university art department directors, school administrators, education policy experts, teachers, librarians and more.
Gillen said the best part about Remake Learning, which is sponsored by the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh, is it’s not restricted to just the school district.
“They came up with the idea to offer learning activities in schools or community centers, so it’s not just for FR, it’s for anyone who wants to come,” she said. “I think they figure that each place will host different opportunities, so people can find something that interests them no matter what.”
The Franklin Regional STREAM Expo will take place from 5:30-8:30 p.m. May 13-14 at its intermediate school, 4125 Sardis Road.
For more, see FRSDk12.org and click on “STREAM Expo 2025” under the “Community” menu.