Students to tackle real-life blight near school

Barrett Elementary is focus of project

Barrett Elementary School has been a stable presence in Homestead for decades, but its surrounding neighborhood hasn’t fared as well.

“There’s no kind way of describing it,” said Edward Wehrer, Steel Valley School District superintendent. “It looks like urban blight.”

The school, on East 12th Avenue between Ann and Amity streets, is across the street from a building that burned down two years ago. Next to the school are long-abandoned apartments, and behind it are two garages on the verge of collapse.

“I will tell you what this is,” Mr. Wehrer told the school board last week. “It is unacceptable. We are better than that. We are much better than that. And the Creating Value program is going to make a difference.”

Creating Value is a district initiative in project-based learning, and students at Steel Valley High School are undertaking a project called Transforming Twelfth to make major improvements in the vicinity of Barrett Elementary.

“We’re trying to give them the

skills that the private sector desires,” Mr. Wehrer said. “They’re making a tangible difference in their schools and in their community.”

Transforming Twelfth began with students in the Creating Value program participating in training through the LUMA Institute, an educational component of MAYA Design Inc., a company based Downtown.

“While we were at LUMA, we learned all these different strategies to help us think collaboratively,” said Abigail Caspar, a Steel Valley sophomore who lives in Munhall.

The students brought their new knowledge back to the high school for the second phase of the project: transforming the former wrestling room into a wellequipped meeting center. Through a collaborative process, they arrived at a design and last week started taping off areas in anticipation of construction.

“Essentially, the wrestling room is practice for us,” said freshman Bret Nowowiejski, also of Munhall, who explained that the skills they learn will prepare them for work near Barrett Elementary.

Possibilities for 12th Avenue include adding green elements to the adjacent asphalt parking lot; demolishing the building next door to make way for a playground; and either tearing down the building across the street or repurposing it as a place for “green” projects.

The Creating Value program has received $30,000 through the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, and the district has made a grant application to the Pittsburgh Foundation. Other money is expected to be available from organizations that support distinctive educational and environmental initiatives, Mr. Wehrer said.

He emphasized the importance of project-based learning to real-life applications “that actually bring value to a school district or community or both.”

The experience of working on such projects can help to distinguish Steel Valley students with college admissions offices and potential employers.

“That’s like an Eagle Scout project on steroids,” Mr. Wehrer told the school board.