ABC CREATE L.E.A.D.S.

We are excited to announce a partnership with ABC CREATE that has been forged through the PA Smart Advancing Grant writing process and also through past relationships of our curriculum department staff. ABC Create has been awarded a grant and is partnering with ARIN to provide push in professional development with interactive remote robotics & coding classes for students & educators through their ABC CREATE L.E.A.D.S program. The goal of this work through the PA Smart grant is to provide more opportunities for CS learning across our region.

100% of our districts have taken advantage of these FREE and AMAZING learning opportunities for over 2200 students and almost 50 teachers! Additionally, 9 districts have teaches participating in the professional development. Please note, if your district has teachers involved in the professional development, you'll need to connect your business office with Freeport Area School District to learn how stipends are being handled for this grant.

We don't offer coding and robotics lessons to make every student want to become a software engineer. Opportunities such as this help students learn pattern recognition, decomposition of problems, pattern abstraction, and algorithmic design. In essence, it teaches them how to think, while helping them develop a growth mindset and a design mind for thinking about problems. Lessons where students have multiple approaches to a problem and an opportunity to see various strategies help build resiliency, adaptability, problem solving and critical thinking skills that they will need to be career and life ready . It's not just coding, it's so much more!

3-hour, virtual professional development for beginner level teachers

• All teachers who attend will receive a free Micro:bit, Hummingbird, or Finch. ABC CREATE teachers will need to pick up their devices at PSNK; ARIN IU teachers will need to pick up their devices at ARIN IU.

• All teachers who attend will receive a $40/hour stipend

• Sessions are the same content, offered on different dates for greater flexibility

• Click the images below for a video overview of the tool.

2-hour, professional development for teachers to gather together, in-person, to learn more about micro:bits, Hummingbirds and/or Finch robots. Teachers can share ideas, ask questions and work on new classroom projects.

• All Robot Botluck PD will be held in-person

• CS/STEAM Coaches will be available

• All teachers who attend will receive a $40/hour stipend

• Pick the location that works best for you

Contact Stacie Isenberg, Curriculum Specialist, sisenberg@iu28.org, 724.463.5300 x1216