Programs and Activities

Since the creation of PEPP Academy in 1990, the primary focus of the Penn State Educational Partnership Program (PEPP) has been to provide participating students with the academic assistance and tools to succeed in school.  The Partnership continues to offer program activities that provide experiential, academic, personal growth and career/job exposure opportunities to Partnership participants at an age that is early enough (prior to high school graduation/college matriculation) to be positively effected by Program intervention. 

The PEPP Mirror Program is an example of a PEPP statewide initiative designed to provide applied academic instructional content in an after-school setting that “mirrors” the academic content covered in the regular classroom for specific subject areas such as Math, Science, Reading, and Social Studies.  The program uses the same materials, standards, and content areas of the regular classroom, but enhances it in the PEPP after-school environment through the completion of activities listed at the end of each textbook chapter that are not covered in the school day. 

During the academic year, in addition to PEPP Academy and PEPP Institute "extended-school-day" programs, the Partnership offers a variety of programming and activities designed to encourage high indivdual achievement (i.e. PEPP Scholars) and fosters concepts of teamwork, academic skill building, enhanced self-esteem, college preparation, campus visitation, career exploration, and positive citizenship.  These include, but are not limited to: Spelling Bee Competitions, Penn State Greater Allegheny Campus (PSGA) visitation and college-level classroom participation, guest speakers, individual presentations by PEPP Learning Assistants (PSGA student tutors), field trips to Pittsburgh museums, the zoo, the Carnegie Science Center, and other entities that offer opportunities for individual student growth and exposure to new and exciting venues.

Throughout the summer months, PEPP-McKeesport participants, from grades 4 through 8, attend various week long “Kids College” summer experiential programs, sponsored by Penn State Greater Allegheny, that provide participants with a wide range of activity choices focusing on teamwork, communication skills, athletic programs, computers, technology and the like.  Some of the sessions include:  PowerPoint for Kids, Web Design, Crime Scene Investigator (CSI), Robot Building, Lego Mind-Storm Robotics, Let’s Act, Let’s Sing, and other interactive classes.