ENVIRONMENTAL CHARTER SCHOOL (ECS) WELCOMES FIRST DIRECTOR OF STEM
Contact:
Deana Callipare, director of communications
(412) 247-7970 x200
For Immediate Release
ENVIRONMENTAL CHARTER SCHOOL (ECS) WELCOMES FIRST DIRECTOR OF STEM
PITTSBURGH (December 18, 2023)— The Environmental Charter School (ECS) is proud to announce the appointment of Elvin Peprah as the district’s first Director of STEM.
As a pioneer of this position, Peprah joins the Innovation Department to ensure modernized curricular content, instructional approaches, materials and infrastructure that can provide students with a competitive edge in the global community. Peprah will lead the integration of sciences, humanities, civic engagement and technology, arts and design in ECS’s newly formed Environmental Citizenship department, through a social justice, environmental sustainability and STEM lens. He will support the ECS district's strategic direction in areas of design, making, and innovation.
With a proven track record of educational leadership in maker spaces and a dedication to student and staff success, Peprah will lead and design new curriculum and programming, and support students and staff to grow a seed of an idea into a prototype and products. Having previously served as the Department Chair for Innovation and Computer Science at Georgetown Day School, Peprah brings his knowledge of project-based learning, human-centered design and initiatives that expanded the work of innovation and computer science with a focus on social justice and reaching underserved students.
“At the core of my educational philosophy is the conviction that 'our future will be built,'” Peprah said. “I believe we need to empower students to solve the problems of tomorrow and that starts with cultivating the mindsets of kids, teachers, and families that center on creative problem solving and creating experiences that allow us to practice it.”
Peprah is dedicated to equipping students with the knowledge and skills required to actively participate in shaping a better future for their communities and teaches by example as he is committed to lifelong learning, acquiring new skills and gaining insights from his students.
Peprah earned his bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Maryland and a master's in Integrated Innovation for Products and Services from Carnegie Mellon University. Throughout his tenure in K–12 education, Peprah has held a variety of positions in afterschool programming, museums, makerspaces, classroom teaching and administration.
As Peprah assumes his role at ECS, Vicky Hsieh, Executive Director of Innovation, expressed her excitement and hopes for her growing department: “I look forward to seeing students utilize new technologies while we increase spaces for making and tinkering, digital fabrication and curiosity. By implementing practices in systems thinking, human-centered design, technology and hands-on, project-based learning, we will foster a design thinking and maker culture in support of developing students into active, engaged global citizenry.”
ECS is excited to bring on Peprah’s expertise to continue to refine and elevate ECS’s innovative and sustainable programming district-wide.
About ECS:
The Environmental Charter School is a tuition free K–12 charter school in Pittsburgh, Pa. ECS combines the academic rigor of the best public schools with a multi-disciplinary, “out-the-door” learning approach rooted in real world problems that build active, engaged and empathetic citizens. For more information, visit ecspgh.org.
Photo Caption:
Elvin Peprah joins ECS as the district’s first Director of STEM.
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