Brian White, superintendent of Butler Area School District, spoke at a joint hearing of the Pennsylvania Appropriations and Education Committees Thursday, Oct. 5, regarding funding and resource challenges faced by his school district and others across the state. Submitted image

Two grants announced by Butler Area School District superintendent Brian White at Monday’s district school board meeting will bring innovative learning and assessment tools to Butler district students in the coming year, he said.

The $50,000 Moonshot Grants were awarded by Remake Learning, a multistate nonprofit based in Homestead in Allegheny County, that supports innovation in the field of education.

“Moonshot Grants allow school districts to take a risk on potentially groundbreaking ideas, a risk you would not take with tax dollars,” White said. “What’s an audacious idea that can really make a difference?”

Remake Learning’s grant committee agreed that several of Butler’s “audacious ideas” were worth funding this year.

Building on the success of two previous Moonshot Grant projects, White said the district’s 2024 regional grant will fund three initiatives to create learning opportunities outside the classroom: the creation of a mobile media lab, public art and STEM projects, and learning passports.

The pop-up media lab will take the form of a makerspace, a learning space or hub in a school, library or other location where students can collaboratively make things, experiment and learn using tools, materials and technologies within arm’s reach.

To ensure the unit is mobile, Butler’s project could utilize a transportable cart-type unit on wheels, with storage, power and counters, White said.

The lab will provide technology and software for students to produce videos, podcasts, graphic design and other digital storytelling projects. The work they produce — and the processes they pursue to create it — could be showcased through digital platforms and even public exhibitions.

The project could open year-round opportunities to deliver hands-on, curriculum-aligned activities at schools and community events, White said.

The second initiative funded by this grant will allow for the public exhibition of student-engineered work. Digital platforms will be crafted to deliver interactive STEM public art and installations.

A “Butler Learning Passport,” the third initiative to be funded by the district’s regional Moonshot Grant, will encourage students and community members to collect stamps in their passports for attending workshops, events and educational sessions at museums, libraries, community centers and other partnering organizations.

Another $50,000 national Moonshot Grant will support a pilot program to test merit-based learning assessment as a companion to traditional report card or transcript grades at the high school level.

The grant was awarded to the Butler school district in collaboration with Baldwin-Whitehall School District in Pittsburgh and Mineola School District in New York.

The project builds on the success of “badge books” at the kindergarten level in Butler and other districts.

Unlike a report card or transcript that only lists a course grade, a “badge book” presents an inventory of skills — potentially both academic skills and soft skills — that can provide evidence of a student’s holistic learning accomplishments and milestones.

At the kindergarten level, a “badge book” has provided a sense of accomplishment and motivation for students along the learning journey and links parents via QR codes to additional learning resources, White said.

But it could do even more for students preparing for college and the workforce.

“Employers seek more than just grades from new employees,” White said. “They want to know if a new employee can work in teams, if they can be a problem-solver. This project will pilot a new method to measure and represent those skills.”

The project is in the development phase, White said, and will last about 12 months. A pilot program is possible by next fall.