Burrell School District and Penn State New Kensington each will receive $25,000 from Arconic Foundation’s $1.1 million in donations in Western Pennsylvania this year.

The grants to 21 nonprofits will support education, social equity, environmental sustainability and human needs programs throughout the region.

Arconic Foundation invests in communities where Arconic Corp. has a presence. The global aluminum company employs more than 800 workers at its corporate headquarters in Pittsburgh, Arconic Technology Center in Upper Burrell and Kawneer in Cranberry Township.

“Arconic Foundation is building on our long history of partnership in the region, working with both new and past nonprofit partners,” said Diana Toman, Arconic Foundation president and chief legal officer at Arconic. “We are grateful for the opportunity to support and work with these organizations that share our values, demonstrate a deep commitment to the community, and show innovation in their approaches to improving the lives of those they serve.”

Two Alle-Kiski Valley grant recipients, Burrell School District and Penn State New Kensington, will use their Arconic grants to pay for science and technology education.

Burrell will apply the $25,000 grant to upgrading its “makerspace” in the middle school with new 3D printers, an embroidery machine, print-to-garment printers and an updated robotics kit, said Courtney Barbiaux, Burrell’s personalized learning coach and makerspace facilitator.

Every student will be able to use the new makerspace equipment in a new project called “Tech it Out.”

“The idea is to create a personalized learning project, taking content skill, tech integration, career ready skills and habits of mind (soft skills) and giving students the opportunity to solve local community problems,” Barbiaux said.

Arconic has been a donor and involved for years with Penn State New Kensington’s STEM program efforts.

Currently, the university is focusing on its ABC CREATE collaborative with 14 local school districts and the development of the Digital Foundry at New Kensington, a digital technology lab.

The university was thrilled to receive news of the Arconic Foundation grant, which will further tap into “Penn State New Kensington’s expertise and STEAM education knowledge, as well as that of our industry partners,” said Kevin Snider, chancellor of Penn State New Kensington.

The goal of the Penn State program is to develop “technology fluency and future-ready skill sets to prepare students in grades 9-12 for a life in the digital age and to supply our local industries with a workforce that can help them compete in the markets of today and tomorrow,” Snider said.

Colleen Smith, STEAM outreach coordinator for Penn State New Kensington, stressed the importance of a menu of educational experiences available for students from local school districts.

“ABC CREATE brings its understanding of teaching and learning, and the Digital Foundry adds the real-world use cases for the learning,” Smith said.

High school students will learn more about potential STEAM careers while studying and working with professionals from the Digital Foundry, she said.

Sherri McCleary, executive director of the Digital Foundry at New Kensington, said that while the nonprofit serves the needs of the current workforce and businesses, it also serves the next generation.

The Digital Foundry will focus on high school students “to support and influence them during a critical stage of decision-making about their future direction,” McCleary said.

Other grant recipients

Arconic boosted its grant-making by 30% this year for a total of $1.1 million in grants.

Other grant recipients included Pennsylvania Women Work, a nonprofit based in Pittsburgh, which received $38,000.

PA Women Work offers help to those who are unemployed and underemployed for free.

“Our career services are vital for women and other at-risk populations across our community looking to better their lives and find employment,” said Kristin Ioannou, executive director of PA Women Work. The funding from the Arconic Foundation will provide job seekers with career support and a volunteer networking partner through its 3 Cups of Coffee program that can help open doors to employment, she said.

Other Arconic grants: Education priority grants were awarded to BotsIQ, Carnegie Science Center, Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, Sarah Heinz House, The Challenge Program, The Education Partnership and the United Way of Southwestern Pennsylvania.

Social equity grants were awarded to Gwen’s Girls, Latino Community Center, Venture Outdoors and the Women and Girls Foundation.

Environmental sustainability grants were awarded to Allegheny Cleanways, Pittsburgh Botanic Garden, Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy, Human Needs Funding Priority, Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank, Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh and Veterans Leadership Program of Western Pennsylvania.

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