Nearly 75 community leaders in education, government, nonprofits and business collaborated at a recent town hall community forum on campus to help draft educational policy recommendations to help eradicate poverty in Pennsylvania.
The forum, Words + Work = Action: A Public Policy Town Hall Community Forum on Poverty and Educational Transformation with House Majority Leader/State Representative Dave Reed, was held on Oct. 14.
Hosted by The Canevin Center for Educational Transformation and Social Justice in the School of Education, the event was led by Education Dean Dr. Olga Welch and Reed, who is the state representative for Indiana, Pa.
Reed has been traveling the Commonwealth during the past two years hosting more than 100 poverty forums and gathering ideas and recommendations as part of his highly acclaimed, bipartisan Beyond Poverty report.
As part of the forum, Reed was presented with the Crystal Apple Award for his dedication to all Pennsylvanians and for his work with the Canevin Center in helping to bring educational equity to all children. The award is the School of Education’s highest recognition and is usually reserved for honorary degree recipients nominated by the school, distinguished visiting scholars to the school and retiring faculty.
The event also marked the second anniversary of the School of Education’s bi-annual forums, which form the work of The Canevin Center’s mission to bring educational equity to all children.