As Shannon Wanless reflected on a unique day of social-emotional learning collaboration and discussion, she came away beaming with optimism. Wanless, the Director of the Office of Child Development at the University of Pittsburgh, has long been a champion of social-emotional learning (SEL) and its importance in well-functioning societies and school systems. On Thursday, she […]
The AIU and Project SEEKS SES hold SEL day Read Post »
A few years ago, the University of Pittsburgh and the Office of Child Development started pitching a program about positive racial identity, entitled P.R.I.D.E (Positive Racial Identity Development in Early Education). No institution felt comfortable taking on the program, so the University of Pittsburgh started it themselves, slowly easing it into the systems they work
The V.I.B.E program — a three-person violence intervention and prevention team at Sto-Rox— stands for Violence Intervention Building Empowerment, but Hassain Estes, the leader of the program, likes to sometimes refer to them as something else. “Personally, I feel like we’ve got the dream team,” Estes said. “We work together well, and that builds everything
SEEKS-funded V.I.B.E program making a big impact at Sto-Rox Read Post »
The Duquesne City School District makes equity a priority. On a day-to-day basis, the district is constantly looking for new ways to properly access and educate each and every student equally. Lucy McDonough, the district’s special education consultant, has furthered those efforts since joining the district this school year. “That’s been a goal of mine,
Duquesne to expand Pressley Ridge services through Project SEEKS SES Read Post »
The Verbal Behavior (VB) Program at the AIU offers a comprehensive approach to teaching language and communication skills to students with autism and other complex needs. As we celebrate Autism Acceptance Month, formally known as Autism Awareness Month, let’s take a moment to recognize this remarkable program and the critical service it provides to our
Autism Acceptance Month: A Spotlight on our Verbal Behavior Classrooms Read Post »
Years of experience in the grant and evaluation realm have taught Sheila Bell a number of things. Chief among them: good intentions can’t reach their potential without fully formed plans. Project SEEKS SES is an initiative that started off with good intentions. The ACHD identified post-pandemic social and emotional challenges with school-aged children and aligned
Logic Models: A necessary and important element of Project SEEKS SES Read Post »
A couple of years ago, Anna Arlotta Guerrero realized that a teacher shortage was on the horizon. Guerrero, an Associate Professor of Practice at the University of Pittsburgh, said a perfect confluence of factors has led the profession down this road. The COVID-19 pandemic brought some teachers out of the profession, and now baby boomers
Project SEEKS SES hopes to help address educational staffing shortage Read Post »
When discussing why the Allegheny County Heath Department (ACHD) chose the AIU to facilitate Project SEEKS SES, ACHD acting director Patrick Dowd said the choice was simple. “We had to find a partner that could do a bunch of things at the same time,” Dowd said. “That was how we landed on the Allegheny Intermediate
The AIU holds first Project SEEKS SES stakeholder meeting Read Post »
When Liz Miller learned about Project SEEKS SES, she knew that she’d be an apt partner for the work. Miller wears a number of hats, but has made waves within the mental health and education realm for her work with the Pittsburgh Study, a “longitudinal, community-partnered study focused on child and adolescent thriving and racial
Project SEEKS SES and the Pittsburgh Study partner together Read Post »
Lee Davis prides himself on his empathy. Davis, the founder of Lee Davis & Associates Consulting, grew up in Braddock and went to Woodland Hills, seeing and experiencing violence around him regularly. Those experiences shaped the man he is today, a man who looks for solutions when he sees violence happening in communities in Pittsburgh.
VIBE Anti-Violence Team Funded By New SEEKS Program Read Post »
