Pitt-Greensburg APEX 2025-2026
Service
Table of Contents
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YWCA Literacy Fair
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Blue & Gold Weekend
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Reading Under the Stars
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STEAM Day at Metgzer Elementary School
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STEM Day at Greater Latrobe Elementary School
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American Education Week - Gifts for Professors
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Jeannette Head-Start Holiday Party
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SOPA Hoops
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Parents' Night Out
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"Bags & Blankets" CASA Project
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Pitt Day of Giving
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Read Across America
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College Day
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CREATE Grant (Will be implemented in Fall 2026)
YWCA Literacy Fair
On September 13th, 2025, SPSEA partnered with the YWCA in Greensburg to hold the second annual literacy fair! While we had 25 students our first year, this year we had over 70 children participate. We had many stations including face painting, book readings, coloring, bracelet making, and games. Children from the Greensburg community attended this event for some fun as school was beginning. This year, more community groups were invited to participate, which led children getting more books and supplies, and families connecting with more community resources. YWCA is dedicated to eliminating racism, empowering women and promoting peace, justice, freedom and dignity for all.
Blue & Gold Weekend
On October 4th, 2025, students of SPSEA at UPG took part in the annual Blue and Gold Homecoming celebration weekend. Our chapter ran a “kids’ corner” for any children of staff, alumni, or the local community to come and enjoy some activities. These activities included coloring pages, bookmark making, face painting and sticker tattoos, games, and spin art.
Reading Under the Stars
​On October 17th, 2025, the University of Pittsburgh Greensburg SPSEA hosted the fun and engaging literacy event called "Reading Under the Stars," designed for all children in preschool through third grade. Each child that attended was encouraged to wear their Halloween costume and explore numerous interactive literacy stations set up for them. About halfway through the event, the story "Stellaluna" was read aloud. This set the tone for the remainder of the night filled with learning and fun! At the end, each child received a treat bag and a literacy bag as a thank you for attending. We had over 70 children at the event.
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STEAM Day
On October 17th, 2025, members of Pitt-Greensburg SPSEA led STEAM Day activities at Metzgar Elementary School. They participated in activities such as creating catapults, monster cages, and stations that correlated with the book "How to Catch a Monster". This was such a fun way to incorporate our engineering skills while getting ready for Halloween!
STEM Day
On October 21st, 2025, Pitt-Greensburg SPSEA members of Dr. Ostrosky's STEM class attended visited a fourth-grade classroom in the Greater Latrobe School District. The elementary students worked alongside the college students to build their own JudoBots. The experience ended in exciting head-to-head battles, where students tested their creations in friendly competition while applying what they had learned.
Jeannette Head Start & Elementary School Holiday Party
On December 5th, 2025, twenty-eight SPSEA members went to Jeanette Head Start preschool and Jeannette Elementary School to provide a holiday party for the children there. We worked with the students to make crafts, play games, and make a holiday present for their families. SPSEA also gave each teacher a present in recognition for all the work they do. Head Start is a federally-funded, lower-income preschool; our campus community provides the preschool students with a present to open the day of the party from Santa himself, a present of clothes to open Christmas morning, and $50 gift-card for the families to get food at the local grocery store for a holiday meal.
SOPA Hoops
On January 31, 2026, Pitt-Greensburg SPSEA assisted with an annual event called "SOPA Hoops"; SOPA stands for Special Olympics of Pennsylvania. Our SPSEA Chapter teams up with Special Olympics and the Men's and Women's Basketball teams to make this event a success. Pitt-Greensburg SPSEA made banners, VIP bags, and provided snacks for the athletes from Special Olympics. During the basketball games, we sat with SOPA athletes and got to enjoy the game. During the halftime of the Men's basketball game, the Special Olympics team competed in an exhibition game against each other. Pitt-Greensburg SPSEA cheered them on. After the game, we spent more time hanging out in the VIP lounge with the players and their families.
Parents' Night Out
On February 13th, 2026, Student PSEA members held our first-ever Parents’ Night Out event prior to Valentine’s Day. Parents could drop off their children for an evening (4p-8p) for an evening of supervised, age-appropriate fun. The Engaging Young Learners class prepared all the crafts, games, and activities. Student PSEA members showed up to implement the activities. The children participated in the crafts, games, activities, Just Dance/yoga, and watched a movie. This provided our Student PSEA members with insights on how to make activities be fun, while still providing learning knowledge.
"Bags & Blankets" For CASA
On February 28th, 2026, immediately following our Teacher Leadership Institute Conference, we hosted a brief outreach session in which we created tied fleece blankets and stuffed string backpack bags with pens, notebooks, coloring books, and crayons for children of CASA. CASA of Westmoreland is a volunteer-based organization providing a voice in the courts on behalf of abused and neglected children in Westmoreland County. This experience allowed us to do something special for the children of our community.
College Day 2026
On March 18th, 2026, we invited students aged 14 to 22 from Clellian Heights School for Exceptional Students to Pitt Greensburg. The Exceptional 1 class designed and implemented educational and fun activities with a carnival theme. Students made their own math exercises, projects related to the theme, and completed STEM activities. Student PSEA members also ate lunch and socialized with the students, making new friends and learning about the variability within special education. (Please note: Faces of students from Clellian Heights have been blurred or erased)
Read Across America
On March 5, 2026, 33 members from Pitt-Greensburg SPSEA attended Nicely Elementary School to celebrate Dr. Seuss Day with a fun-filled day for K-5 and life skills classrooms. The event featured a Readers' Theater performance of The Gruffalo, followed by a “Gruffalo Crumble” snack for all students. In each classroom, children engaged in a "Fenway and Hattie" and other dog/animal- themed crafts or activities, fostering creativity and a love of reading and learning. The collaboration between Nicely Elementary and the University of Pittsburgh volunteers made the celebration both engaging and memorable for everyone involved.
Notes for Professors for National Educators Week
During the week of November 17, 2025 and in honor of American Education Week, we thanked our professors for their dedication and commitment to bettering us as students. ThePitt-Greensburg SPSEA put a note with a bag of cookies in every professors' mailbox, thanking them and wishing them a happy Educator's Week!
CREATE Grant (Fall 2026)
This year, we secured an NEA CREATE Grant for a project titled, "My Teacher Looks Like Me: Representation in PreK–12 Classrooms". This grant addresses the underrepresentation of teachers of color in Westmoreland County, despite the increase of diverse populations of children. We will be working high school students who want to become teachers to read books with diverse characters to children within their school districts. Because the grant check arrived later, we will be implementing this in the Fall of 2026.
