From May 15 to 19, Cleveland and the surrounding region will host the first-ever Northeast Ohio STEM Ecosystem Presents Remake Learning Days, a showcase of connected learning that will offer free and low-cost events to students, parents, and caregivers.

The festival is part of this year’s slate of Remake Learning Days Across America (RLDAA), an expansion of the Pittsburgh-founded Remake Learning Days, first established in 2016 to showcase connected learning events that highlighted the future of learning throughout Southwestern Pennsylvania and West Virginia. This year, six new regions, including Northeast Ohio, will host Remake Learning Days festivals.

Tim Sisson, director of the Northeast Ohio STEM Ecosystem, is part of the team bringing Remake Learning Days to the region. He was inspired to bring the festival to Northeast Ohio while in his previous role as STEM curriculum manager for the Cleveland Metropolitan School District.

“When I first heard about Remake Learning Days in 2016, I saw it as a vision for the region and the city, to highlight the rich ecosystem of organizations supporting children, and an opportunity to see what the future of learning looks like for career and life readiness,” Sisson said.

When he took on his current role leading NEOSTEM, Sisson recognized a perfect opportunity to bring Remake Learning Days to the region, using the festival to get an entire educational ecosystem, from institutions of higher education, business, industry and nonprofits to neighborhoods and families, on the same page.

In particular, Sisson said, a number of stakeholders involved with RLDAA are focused on maximizing students’ out-of-school time.

“I think it’s important that we take the idea of learning beyond the classroom and extend it through everything we do,” Sisson said. “Only five percent of learning in a lifetime happens in the classroom. These kinds of opportunities really make a difference, and Remake Learning Days gives us a chance to inspire through exposure to learning.”

Sisson pointed to several events that exemplify the vitality of Northeast Ohio’s educational ecosystem.

The festival kicks off May 15 with National Lab Day at Cleveland’s NASA Glenn Research Center, a favorite destination for school tours. Sisson expects close to 300 middle-school students engaging in hands-on activities at the Center, where NASA designs tires in their SLOPE Lab for vehicles destined for the moon and Mars.

And on May 18, the Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD) presents Rock Your World with STEAM, a showcase of the talents of over 2,000 CMSD students featuring STEAM-focused performances and activities for students and their families. The event also showcases two major Cleveland attractions, the Great Lakes Science Center and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

Equity and accessibility are at the center of Remake Learning Days (as they are a focus for the Remake Learning network). Sisson noted a region-wide focus on attending to student trauma and paying close attention to the cultural relevancy of curricula.

For Remake Learning Days, Sisson and his colleagues are working hard to make sure as many students and caregivers as possible are aware of the festival. Marketing efforts will target schools, community and family support organizations, libraries, along with other community partners that can help get the word out.

“It takes a village, an entire region, to support our kids in learning and we can’t leave anyone out,” Sisson said. “We have to get everyone talking to each other if we’re going to address the challenges ahead.”

This blog is part of series highlighting the work of each participating region of Remake Learning Days Across America, led by national co-hosts Remake Learning, PBS Kids and Digital Promise and led locally by NEOSTEM. Remake Learning wishes to thank the national sponsors of 2019’s Remake Learning Days Across America: Carnegie Corporation of New York, The Grable Foundation and Schmidt Futures.