North East Elementary Center celebrated the ribbon cutting for its new outdoor learning courtyard, designed to expand STEM education and hands-on learning opportunities for rural students, on Tuesday, June 2. This space is supported by a valuable partnership between North East School District and Mercyhurst University that enables a dynamic educational environment.<\/p>\n
Students are encouraged to use the courtyard as an environmental learning area and outdoor classroom, where they can nurture their minds and foster a sense of community.<\/p>\n
Since its launch in 2022, STEM & Vine has invested nearly $1 million, serving more than 1,000 students through programs including grants, camps, curriculum support, career exploration, and enrichment opportunities.<\/p>\n
The STEM & Vine initiative encourages young learners to continue to explore their curiosity, ask scientific questions, and learn beyond traditional classrooms by connecting with the outside world.<\/p>\n
Dr. Amy Burniston, the program\u2019s principal investigator and associate professor of Biology and Education at Mercyhurst, emphasized the impact of this initiative and partnership:<\/p>\n
\u201cMercyhurst University has been proud to serve as the lead partner behind STEM & Vine, helping connect students, educators, industry, and community organizations through innovative, place-based STEM education. This courtyard is a visible reminder of what can happen when a university and a school district work together to invest in student success.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"North East Elementary Center celebrated the ribbon cutting for its new outdoor learning courtyard, designed to expand STEM…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":209214,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[136,138,137],"class_list":["post-209213","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-erie","tag-erie","tag-erie-headlines","tag-erie-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209213","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=209213"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209213\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/209214"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=209213"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=209213"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=209213"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}