Presenters
Paige Penrod - Teacher Created Materials
Jack Goins/Isaac Zefo - Pathway2Careers
August 2026 School Counselor Advisor Eblast
Phase 1 Schools due March 31, 2027
Avella Area SD
Bethlehem Center SD
Brownsville Area SD
California Area SD
Carmichaels Area SD
Central Greene SD
Connellsville Area Career & Technical Center
Connellsville Area SD
Jefferson-Morgan SD
Southeastern Greene SD
West Greene SD
Building Financial Futures: Hands-On K–5 Personal Finance with LEGO® Bricks
Discover how play-based, brick-building challenges make financial literacy tangible and actionable for K–5 students. In this interactive session, educators will learn how to seamlessly integrate LEGO® brick challenges—from budgeting and opportunity cost to entrepreneurship and investing—directly with Pennsylvania’s Personal Finance Standards and Grade-Level Competencies. Through hands-on STEM collaboration and real-world problem-solving, you will gain practical, classroom-ready strategies to move financial concepts off the worksheet and onto students’ desks.
Cost: Free
Act 48: Hours - 5
Intended Audience: K-5 educators
This workshop is going to be offered 3 times:
Wednesday, September 30th, 2026
Wednesday, October 7th, 2026
Monday, November 9th, 2026
Helping Students Explore Cybersecurity Careers
A School Counselor’s Guide to Cybersecurity Pathways
October 2 | 8:30 a.m.–3:30 p.m.
Allegheny Intermediate Unit — IMS Meeting Room
Hosted in partnership with NCWIT’s Advising for Future-Ready Students program, CyberHub PGH, and PaTTAN, the day will feature an excellent group of panelists representing K–12 education, higher education, and industry. A representative from the U.S. Cyber Range will also share resources available to K–12 schools.
Participants will learn how to:
Identify high-demand career opportunities and postsecondary pathways.
Help students navigate industry credentials, CTE options, and degree programs.
Expand equitable access to technology, cybersecurity, and digital citizenship opportunities.
The event includes Act 48 credits, complimentary breakfast and lunch, and free resource toolkits.
Please consider registering and sharing this opportunity with colleagues who advise, counsel, or coach students as they plan for their futures.
Register for 10.2.26 - A School Counselor's Guide to Cybersecurity Pathway
Pittsburgh, PA — Computer Reach, the Western Pennsylvania nonprofit that has been putting computers into the hands of families who need them for 26 years, is launching a new initiative aimed squarely at one of the most stubborn barriers to student success: not having a working computer or internet at home.
The Problem: A Computer-Shaped Hole in the School Day
Thousands of students in the region are unable to complete schoolwork at home simply because there’s no working computer and/or broadband internet in the household. Homework doesn’t get done, school portals go unchecked, and parents are locked out of their child’s education online — not from a lack of effort, but from a lack of access. Computer Reach designed Homework-Ready Homes to close that gap directly, prioritizing neighborhoods where home broadband and device access lag furthest behind. This program focuses primarily on low-income K–12 students across the Greater Pittsburgh region. Parents of families that are eligible will need to contact the guidance counselor at their child’s school.
Homework-Ready Homes will deliver and setup a refurbished computer, a printer/scanner/copier and home WiFi internet (if needed at an additional charge see our Budget WiFi page). The refurbished computer/ printer/scanner/copier are free but there is a one-time delivery and setup charge of $99 per hour that includes travel time to your home. This delivery and setup charge includes going over the basics of the equipment, logins and software.
What sets Homework-Ready Homes apart isn’t just the equipment — it’s how it arrives. Computer Reach Digital Navigators travel directly to each family’s home to deliver the computer equipment in person:
Set up the computer, printer/scanner/copier, and WiFi internet on-site
Walk the student and a parent or caregiver through a hands-on onboarding session
Introduce the basics of safe internet use, school portals, and the core apps loaded on Computer Reach’s universal desktop
Make sure the family is ready to actually use the technology — not just own it
Every computer in the program ships with a standardized set of Universal Desktop Apps — a lineup developed with the Greater Pittsburgh Digital Inclusion Alliance (GPDIA) to be dependable, widely used, and free to help you get started. Oversized desktop icons make the apps easy to find for users with vision issues.
The lineup includes:
Web browsers: Chrome and Firefox
Productivity suites: Microsoft Copilot 365 (Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Outlook, OneDrive, and Copilot), LibreOffice (Writer, Calc, Impress, Draw, Math), and Apple’s iCloud suite (Pages, Numbers, Keynote, Notes, Photos, and more)
Design and communication: Canva and Zoom
AI tools: Claude, Gemini, and ChatGPT
Community resources: direct access to Computer Reach’s eBay store, Budget WiFi program, warehouse store, and personal tutoring; GPDIA partner services; and PA-211, which connects families to food, shelter, counseling, and other support services
During the home visit, the Digital Navigator guides the student and parent/caregiver through our desktop applications so the family knows exactly what’s available and how to use our recommended applications.
Computer Reach treats the device, the skills training, and the ongoing support as one package, not a one-time drop-off. Every family enrolled in Homework-Ready Homes receives a full year of technical support, backed by a help desk they can call when something breaks or a question comes up. Digital Navigators handle every step of the process, from the initial home visit to the ongoing troubleshooting that keeps devices running long after delivery day.
That combination — hardware, hands-on training, and a real safety net when things go wrong — is what turns a donated computer into a tool a student can actually rely on.
Homework-Ready Homes draws on nearly three decades of Computer Reach’s work providing direct computer services to homes throughout Western Pennsylvania. The organization has long understood that closing the digital divide takes more than distributing devices — it takes people willing to show up, set things up, teach the basics, and stay reachable when help is needed.
With Homework-Ready Homes, that philosophy is now built directly into a program designed to reach the students who need it most: one home, one Digital Navigator, and one working computer at a time.
Families interested in our Homework-Ready Homes need to get a referral from the School Counselors at their school district. Note that we cannot address families directly — to be fair we only accept school referrals.
School Counselors will contact us at 724-242-7344, and submit lists of eligible students.
Families will be notified by a Computer Reach Digital Navigator to schedule a delivery/setup date.
Breakout Rooms
How are you currently reaching and supporting your most "hard to reach" students or families this year?
Career Mobile Lab - Scheduling and Services
Scheduling the Mobile Lab - IU1 Request for Career Readiness Services
Mobile Career Lab Services - Mobile Career Lab Services