The Kutztown Area School District and Berks County Intermediate Unit marked the official launch of the Eastern Pennsylvania Innovation Catalyst (EPIC) Network with a kick-off event on Wednesday, January 29, 2020.
The event was held at the Kutztown Area Middle School. The Kutztown Area School District and the BCIU serve as EPIC Catalyst Satellite sites with flexible instruction spaces built for hands-on activities for students as well as professional development workshops for educators.
EPIC provides enhanced professional development opportunities through a partnership with the University of Pennsylvania’s Experiences in Applied Computational Thinking (EXACT) program. All 18 school districts in Berks County have an EPIC master teacher who takes courses through the program and shares their knowledge within his or her home district.
In addition, the EPIC Resource Libraries provide materials that can be shared across the county, helping to eliminate disparity between districts when it comes to STEM education.
The EPIC Network was created from a $500,000 Advancing Grant provided through Governor Tom Wolf’s PAsmart initiative.