In a Forum piece, Gregg Behr, executive director of The Grable Foundation, asserted the importance of teaching “soft skills” in schools (Jan. 14, “The Future Belongs to Those With ‘Soft Skills’”). These skills, such as communication and critical thinking, are key to helping young people thrive in their future careers and lives. As the head of a school that has made these skills central to our approach, I would like to share some examples of how we cultivate them.
• Starting freshman year, each of our students spends one full day per week interning at a Pittsburgh company or nonprofit. Students conclude each internship with a capstone project in which they suggest solutions to a challenge at their host organization.
• We implement project-based learning throughout our curriculum. For instance, through rigorous and real-life learning, students select a community problem to solve using design, with community partners acting as both “clients” and expert advisers.
• In our Cultural Literacy courses, students explore history through the lens of literature. Team projects for the classes have included designing phone apps that examined the Flint water crisis and shared the story of a young Syrian refugee. Tasked with telling the stories of others, whose experiences are sometimes quite similar to their own and sometimes vastly different, students build empathy and also hone their own perspectives, data fluency and voices.
Partnerships with employers, cultural institutions and community members allow us to lead students into deeper learning, where they explore the applications and implications of the knowledge they’re building. I believe that through collaboration and an equity lens, we can implement approaches like these throughout our region, ensuring that Pittsburgh’s youth are equipped to be its future innovators and leaders.
LISA M. ABEL-PALMIERI
Head of School
Holy Family Academy
Emsworth
The academy is an independent Catholic high school.
First Published: January 25, 2018, 5:00 a.m.
