This post is brought to you by The Grable Foundation and The Motherhood. All opinions are my own.

Educators and innovators are doing extraordinary things every day and we can’t talk about them enough! Remake Learning, the Grable Foundation and the HundrED Spotlight are featuring Pittsburgh as an extraordinary place where students are flourishing under the guidance and inclusion of innovative programs.

I wanted to share with you specifically the awesome things going on at the Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild – maybe it will inspire you right where you are!

In November 2019, 12 of the Pittsburgh programs selected by the HundrED (out of 82 submissions!) will be presenting their educational innovations in Helsinki, Finland at the annual HundrED Global Innovation Summit.

From the Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild to programs where students work alongside cancer research, coding, and even radio programming – the innovative programs being featured in Pittsburgh are phenomenal and inspiring in K-12 education.

What is the Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild?

The Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild was founded in 1968 by an at-risk teenager in a high poverty area of Pittsburgh and is now in a world class facility dedicated to educating and inspiring urban youth through the arts.

What started as a community based ceramics program, now incorporates STEAM-based learning into four art-making studios! They believe that environment shapes behavior, and this has blossomed into an internationally recognized model for arts, education, mentorship and workforce development.

From fabric arts to photography, ceramics and other digital arts programs, there are a variety of arts programs that use a traditional master-apprentice model to help low-income youth from the Pittsburgh Public Schools graduate from high school on time.

Through the expressed love and interest in design, photography, and other arts, high school students develop a close relationship with a mentor. Twelve centers across the world are already in place and they hope to build 1000 more!

Check out this statistic – 98% of students who attend MCG graduate on time. That’s HUGE!

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“People are born into this world as assets, not liabilities. It’s all in the way we treat people (and ourselves) that determines a person’s outcome.”

Bill Strickland, Founder

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What is HundrED?

HundrED is a global organization (based in Finland) that shares educational innovations they have researched from across the globe! They are a non-profit organization that inspires and believes in kids all over the world, helping to lift up innovators and kids’ aspirations through expertise and experience.

Why Feature Pittsburgh?

Why is HundrED featuring Pittsburgh out of all of the cities in the USA? For more than a decade educators in the Pittsburgh area have been pushing the limits of learning and reaching high! Their innovative and coordinated educational ecosystem holds the bar for children to flourish and dream.

Under the banner of Remake Learning it has become a regional network of more than 600 schools, museums, after school programs, libraries and other intensely engaging sites to support young people. To learn more about these innovations visit here.

Watch this video to see a closer look into the Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild!

How Can You Help?:

*Share share share! The more people that are aware of amazing programs and potential like this the more kids are helped! Help me get the word out about this fantastic program that reaches so much of Pittsburgh’s youth! Discover more about these incredible innovations here!

*Start your own Center for Arts & Technology! This of course is not something to do lightly, but if you have been considering taking a step in this direction there are resources for you!

*Get involved in your own community! Whether that’s volunteering, starting a program locally, or helping spread the word about an already established program – do something to benefit your local area~

Share with your friends!