Pittsburgh and Washington Teams at the Intensive Session, July 2011. (Left to right: National Fellows Sonia Henze and Sally J. Martin; David H. Waldeck, Professor of Chemistry, University of Pittsburgh; National Fellow Karen C. Kennedy; Prajna Parasher, Associate Professor of Film and Digital Technology; National Fellows Marsha Liberatore, Eric J. Laurenson, and Nancy VanKirk.)
The Pittsburgh Teachers Institute, bringing the resources of Chatham University and Carnegie Mellon University to an entire school district that now has 64 schools serving 25,000 students, began in 1999 by working with 20 elementary, middle, and high schools, representing the three regions of the district. Pittsburgh Teachers Institute seminars have been approved for increment credit, which qualifies participating teachers for salary increases with the school district; they have also been approved by the Pennsylvania Board of Education for Act 48 credit, which the State of Pennsylvania requires that teachers earn to retain their teacher certification.
The founding director of the Institute was Helen S. Faison.
