There are countless out of school programs in and around Pittsburgh’s metropolitan area, their foci run the gamut of topics from science and math to design and urban farming. Here are just a few of my favorite programs that are making powerful impacts in our communities:

AmeriCorps KEYS Service Corps

If you aren’t familiar with AmeriCorps, it helps to consider them a domestic form of the PeaceCorps, its sister program. There are many different programs that reside underneath the umbrella of AmeriCorps, though KEYS (Knowledge To Empower Youth) addresses the education sector and is one of the largest AmeriCorps programs in the Pittsburgh area.Their vibrant and diverse team is made up of individuals who are dedicating ten months of their lives to make a difference in the lives of at-risk youth within and around Pittsburgh.

Grow Pittsburgh; Edible Schoolyard Program

Based on the seed-to-table learning model initiated by Alice Waters in Berkeley, CA, Grow Pittsburgh’s Edible Schoolyard Pittsburgh integrates garden and cooking activities into the regular classroom curriculum to improve young students’ eating habits, invest students in their school communities, and enhance students’ academic performance.

Homewood Children’s Village

As the moniker implies, HCV is based in the Homewood neighborhood of Pittsburgh. It is a community with an incredibly rich history, though it has fallen to the way side over the past few decades due to racial/social disparities. HCV’s mission aims to simultaneously improve the lives of Homewood’s children and to reweave the fabric of the community in which they live.

Higher Achievement

Higher Achievement is a research based and academically focused after school program. Founded in Washington D.C. in the 1970s, it now has programs in Baltimore, Richmond, and of course, good ol’ Pittsburgh. Their all about the ‘forgotten middle’, aka 5th through 8th grade, Higher Achievement scholars spend 650 hours a year learning an advanced curriculum that is aligned to state standards.