Bettis Bus stops at Washington Park Elementary
Katie Anderson/Observer-Reporter
Retired Steeler Jerome Bettis handed out certificates to Washington Park Elementary students Thursday afternoon. The students are the first to participate in his STEM program Innovation Huddle.
Retired Steeler Jerome Bettis hands a certificate to Washington Park Elementary student Ayden Small in this 2020 photo. Small was one of many students to participate in Bettis’ STEM program Innovation Huddle.
Katie Anderson/ Observer-Reporter
Katie Anderson/Observer-Reporter
Washington Park Elementary student Ayden Small, 12, gives a presentation to retired Steeler Jerome Bettis Thursday afternoon. Small was one of many students to participate in Bettis’ STEM program Innovation Huddle.
Katie Anderson/Observer-Reporter
Retired Steeler Jerome Bettis talks to Washington Park Elementary students Thursday afternoon about their participation in his STEM program Innovation Huddle.
Katie Anderson/Observer-Reporter
Retired Steeler Jerome Bettis learns computer coding from 11-year-old Tristan Reynolds at Washington Park Elementary Thursday afternoon.
Students at Washington Park Elementary School got to show off their computer coding projects to a special guest Thursday, retired Steelers running back and Pro Football Hall of Famer Jerome Bettis.
The students have been working on projects since October, through “Innovation Huddle,” a program created and funded through Bettis’ Bus Stops Here Foundation.
“Back when I was in school, it wasn’t called STEM, but I always enjoyed math and sciences,” Bettis said. “So for me, when the opportunity presented itself to give back and make positive change, those were areas we wanted to focus on.”
The program is in its second year in the Pittsburgh area, with Washington Park being the only school to participate so far, as it was the pilot program last year.
“We’ve seen such a positive response from the communities,” said Bethany Vietmeier, executive director of The Bus Stops Here. “Our goal is to expand to at least one school in the surrounding counties. In the fall, we plan to move into the Pittsburgh public schools.”
In the two years the program has been at Washington Park, the students have made strides. Bettis said the goal is to not only teach coding and other STEM areas, but to see the students really understand it. He said he wanted students to be able to demonstrate what they learned with hands-on activities and to be able to stand up in front of the room and present projects in front of a room full of peers, teachers and media personnel – which is exactly what they did Thursday.
“Thank you for doing this,” Bettis told the class of about 20 students. “This offers you guys success because the age we’re moving into is a digital age. I wish I had something like this even now.”
This year, the foundation received a donation of MacBook Pro laptops from CDW, a technology products company in Chicago, for the students to use. The after-school program for fifth- and sixth-graders meets two days a week.
“We’ve been working on many different projects, but the main thing has been coding activities,” said Lisa Brand, a K-6 technology competencies teacher at Washington Park who is also teaching the Innovation Huddle program there.
Her students have been using code.org, a free website, to learn how to write code and create websites. Along with coding and other STEM skills, her students are learning leadership skills and problem solving, she said.
“They have really grown throughout the year, and they seem to really embrace the challenges,” Brand said. “They just feel like they’re accomplishing something.”
Brand said the laptops also helped a lot this year, as they can split into groups and move around more easily.
Without Innovation Huddle, Brand said there’s no way the school would be able to provide such an “amazing” opportunity for the students.
“My students have other things happening, but they make this a priority,” she said. “It’s raised their attendance, and they stay focused in school because this is a reward for them. The skills that they’re learning are invaluable. It will give them leadership and confidence.”
The students aren’t the only ones who enjoy the program, Vietmeier said. Bettis loves to see how the students have progressed each year.
“Jerome is so involved in his foundation,” Vietmeier said. “He’s a self-proclaimed nerd.”
She said many of the kids want to talk to him about his football, but he “tries to open up their eyes” to different opportunities in STEM and entrepreneurship, as that was always a great passion of his.
“They’re now wanting to continue down this path and that’s the ultimate goal…to create that interest into the technology field,” Bettis said.