Aug 21, 2018 By Harry Funk staff Writer hfunk@thealmanac.Net 4 min read

Most folks’ formative years are filled with experiences they’d rather forget, but bringing them back to mind can be constructive.

Jennifer Lanas remembers a certain ninth-grade mathematics teacher whose derogatory comments prompted her to avoid class and, by extension, matters involving math.

As she and fellow educators shared similar stories at St. Thomas More School in Bethel Park, they demonstrated how a certain human condition lends itself to improvement.

“Being vulnerable is where we learn to grow, but vulnerability is not often equated with leadership and executive presence,” Lanas explained.

“What if we change that dichotomy in this country, if we looked at our vulnerability as opportunities to share a common history, to bond over these experiences, but also to come back and strengthen our communities?” she said. “I think that can be the opportunity to develop leaders with the ability to empathize, understand and truly solve problems for real people.”

Such food for thought drives the Fluency Project, an initiative of the CREATE (Community Robotics, Education and Technology Empowerment) Lab at Carnegie Mellon University to help develop skills with the goal of enhancing the roles of students and their teachers in the educational process.

“We were interested in thinking about how technology can best be in service of learning,” project director Jessica Kaminsky said, “how students can use data and technology with the ability to understand, work with and produce, and build a whole different sense of agency and the ability to impact the world now and in the future.”

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“You want to try to establish and create a culture where people are comfortable being creative and sharing ideas.”

Joseph Rosi, St. Thomas More principal, has been involved with Fluency since he was a Bethel Park High School teacher. As the project enters its third academic year, he offered his school and adjacent church accommodations to host an Aug. 13 summit meeting for participants in the tri-state area representing environments from elementary and secondary to higher education.

“We have people from many different institutions who are all teachers in some capacity, and I think the other thing that’s special about us all coming together is it’s reminding ourselves just how much we still are learners,” Kaminsky said. “That’s a constant. The tools will change. The need to learn them will stay.”

Among the summit participants was Zac Shutler, superintendent of Bridgeport School District in Belmont County, Ohio, near St. Clairsville.

“You get a wide variety of people with different backgrounds and different interests, but ultimately we’re all on the same path,” he said. “And I think that path is self-improvement, improving ourselves as people, which will allow us to understand other people’s viewpoints.”

He has an interest in the empowerment aspect of the Fluency Project.

“You want to try to establish and create a culture where people are comfortable being creative and sharing ideas,” Shutler said. “Once that culture is established, I think it filters down into the classroom setting. If you’re the educator and you know that the school district supports ideas and is going to hear your voice, then I think you become more comfortable having that type of culture in your classroom.”

Lanas’ participation in the project corresponds with her long-term career goal. The Amwell Township native, who formerly taught in Trinity Area School District and most recently was coordinator of educational and cultural affairs at Nazareth College and Career Prep in Emsworth, wants to start a nonprofit that focuses on intergenerational mentoring.

“I think we have a lot to learn from each other, in terms of not just what can experienced individuals teach a younger generation, but I think there are a lot of gifts that a younger generation can give to others. And it’s important for young people to be put in positions where they are teaching and actively showing and demonstrating,” she said.

“Fluency has helped me realize that. When students are in the lead, and when they are empowered and they take over and teach, they develop the creative confidence to springboard and follow their curiosity to great heights.”

For more information, visit www.fluencyproject.org.