Pitt’s School of Education to Celebrate 100 Years of Excellence

Issue Date: 
March 14, 2011
Alan LesgoldAlan Lesgold

To celebrate 100 years as a school that has trained some of the nation’s top educators, the University of Pittsburgh School of Education will host a Centennial Gala at 6 p.m. April 2 in the Carnegie Music Hall, 4400 Forbes Ave., Oakland. In addition, the school will present a Motivation and Engagement Conference May 5-6 on Pitt’s campus.

Tickets for the gala—which is open to the public and includes dinner, awards, and dancing—are $100. Those wishing to attend must RSVP by March 18. For more information about the gala, contact Michael Haas, the school’s director of constituent relations, at mbh26@pitt.edu or 412-648-1789.

“Pitt’s School of Education opened its doors at a time when a national sentiment was emerging—that good teachers needed to learn how to teach as well as to know the subjects they taught; about 20 years ago, that same sentiment emerged again,” said Alan Lesgold, dean of Pitt’s School of Education. “Our education faculty members take students who are well informed in the subjects they aspire to teach and teach them how to teach. They also prepare leaders in child care and those who will manage the affairs of schools, school districts, colleges, and universities. The teachers and school leaders who graduate from Pitt’s School of Education are highly respected by school districts here in Western Pennsylvania and across the nation.”

For Lesgold, the 100th anniversary not only marks what Pitt’s School of Education has accomplished, but also points to the work that needs to continue.

“In our second century, schools that train our nation’s educators need to ascertain what combination of human and machine intelligence produces effective and affordable learning success so that all children can learn effectively,” Lesgold said.

“And, as has been Pitt educators’ goal from the beginning, the School of Education needs to persist in treating the development of effective teaching not only as a technical matter, but also as a means of fostering moral strength and leadership,” he added.

In commemoration of the school’s 100th anniversary and to assist those who want to become teachers, a Centennial Student Resource Fund is being established to provide support to students with outstanding academic records who are pursuing a professional degree in education.

Keynote speaker for the May 5-6 Motivation and Engagement Conference will be Pedro Noguera, the Peter L. Agnew Professor of Education at New York University. The conference will be available on WebEx and will include virtual discussions and conference follow-up. For more information on the free, public conference, contact Linda Berardi-Demo, assistant dean of operations and enrollment management in Pitt’s School of Education, at 412-648-1782 or lberardi@pitt.edu.