| University Communications | For Immediate Release |
| Drew Wilson, Director, Media Relations | |
| 412.578.2095 (phone) | |
| 412.260.6807 (cell) | |
| 412.578.2080 (fax) | |
| agwilson@carlow.edu |
Pittsburgh, Pa. – Carlow University has received a $205,000 grant commitment from the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation to establish a satellite on its campus of Carnegie Mellon University’s CREATE Lab.
The satellite is being established collaboratively with Carlow’s School of Education and The Campus School of Carlow University, and it will focus on interdisciplinary practices in education and high performance learning. The Campus School will implement two CREATE Lab projects, Arts & Bots and GigaPan. Ths School of Education will serve as the lead for another CREATE Lab project, The Children’s Innovation Project (CIP), and will be implementing it at Pittsburgh Allegheny K-5.
“The CREATE Lab Satellite model is a great approach to innovation in learning. We have learned in West Virginia that combining CMU’s robotics and computer science talent with progressive centers of professional development leads to measurable advances in the classroom,” said James Denova, vice president of the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation. “Carlow University’s Campus School and teacher preparation program provide the right ingredients for expanding this partnership model into Pennsylvania. We are pleased that Carlow University will join Marshall University, West Virginia University, and West Liberty University in what has become a growing CREATE Lab Network.”
The CREATE Lab, part of Carnegie Mellon’s Robotics Institute, stands for the Community Robotics, Education and Technology Empowerment Lab. The CREATE Lab satellite at Carlow will be a joint initiative of The Campus School and Carlow’s School of Education, and will focus on four main outcomes:
• Design curricular approaches for teacher education courses and practica experience (pre-service) that align with integrated STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics) education practices and high performance learning;
• Provide professional development opportunities for in-service teachers and faculty to build knowledge and skills related to selected CREATE Lab projects, high performance learning, and co-teaching;
• Identify a developmentally appropriate scope and sequence for selected CREATE Lab projects; and
• Form an Education Innovation Cluster (EIC) to support and guide satellite activities.
“We believe having a CREATE Lab satellite at the Campus School will benefit the Campus School students and faculty, and also Carlow’s School of Education faculty and students,” said Suzanne Mellon, PhD, president of Carlow University. “We thank the Benedum Foundation for recognizing the potential in this unique opportunity for both students and faculty to learn and excel.”
For several years, the Campus School has featured a distinctive curriculum initiative known as STEAM RISES (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics as Rigorous Integration of Student Engagement in School). This initiative works to enhance both teaching and learning by embedding collaborative partnerships across grade levels and disciplines.
“We believe the STEAM RISES initiative is a natural opportunity for collaboration and integration with the CREATE Lab,” said Michelle Peduto, executive director and head of school for The Campus School of Carlow University. “It provides our faculty with the chance to enhance their own teaching methods in exciting and innovative ways. Ideally, we would like our teachers eventually to become trainers themselves.”
Carlow’s School of Education, in collaboration with The Campus School and other school partners, is primed to establish Carlow’s satellite emphasis on transformative teaching and learning practices through its high performance learning framework and scholar-practitioner model at the per-service, in-service, and higher education levels.
“The School of Education is committed to creating high performance learning environments that position the learner to optimize her/his learning experience. CREATE Lab projects are designed with this goal in mind. As the first CREATE Lab satellite in Pennsylvania, the School of Education has an opportunity not only to continue its collaboration with the Campus School but to partner with several universities in West Virginia: Marshall, West Liberty and WVU,” said Marilyn Llewellyn, PhD, dean of the School of Education. “School of Education faculty Lori Maxfield and Roberta Schomburg meet weekly with the CREATE Lab team and satellite partners to share what they’ve learned about on-going projects, pre-service teacher education, in-service professional development initiatives, and their collaboration with PreK-12 schools.”
Collaboration and sustained involvement with the community are significant components of the mission of the CREATE Lab, which is both a technology breeding ground and a community partner.
“The CREATE Lab is pleased to partner with Carlow to help future teachers prepare their students to become technologically fluent,” said Dror Yaron, director of Outreach for the CREATE Lab. “The next generation of students should look at technology as a raw material – something that can be used to achieve community and/or personal goals. We envision the four schools of education – three in West Virginia and Carlow – in partnership with CREATE Lab and ASSET STEM Education, to work together as a network to develop, validate, and share best practices. That has already begun to happen.”
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About the Campus School of Carlow University
The Campus School of Carlow University is an independent, coeducational, Catholic day school for Pre-Kindergarten through grade eight, and a Montessori Preschool program. The Campus School espouses Judeo-Christian values, features a strong comprehensive core curriculum and champions a holistic approach to learning that develops the creativity and unique gifts of each child.
About Carlow University
Located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Carlow University was founded by the Sisters of Mercy in 1929. Offering both undergraduate and graduate programs, Carlow University is a comprehensive master’s institution dedicated to learner-centered education at the collegiate levels and at the elementary school level in the Campus School of Carlow University.