Middletown Area School District and Middletown Area High School had the privilege of hosting Governor Josh Shapiro and Pennsylvania Department of Education Acting Secretary Dr. Carrie Rowe as they held a
press conference about the Administration’s digital literacy toolkit. The kit provides Pennsylvanians with resources to build the skills they need to recognize biases, distinguish between credible information and misinformation, and create and share content responsibly while online.
MAHS Social Studies Teacher Mr. Josh Rytel spoke at the event and shared how the Department’s goal is to have all students become and remain lifelong learners, especially in the area of digital and informational literacy. He added that he and his colleagues want students to think critically to identify informational needs and discern primary and secondary sources, and which sources are reliable and which ones are not.
MAHS junior Sana Zareen also spoke at the event and shared how MASD prioritizes student safety and quality of education through digital filtering and ensures students thrive within a safe and enriching environment. She added that when she came to the District as a freshman, she was intrigued by the security filtering system. Sana noted that when she researches topics online, she looks for resources that are .gov or .org, and other items the author has written. She uses the same digital filtering system while online for personal use.
Also as part of the visit, students from the Youth and Government Club participated in a classroom discussion with the Governor about navigating the digital world responsibly and Artificial Intelligence. The Governor even tasked the students with providing feedback about the digital literacy toolkit and how the piece can evolve and be improved. At the end of the discussion, students presented the Governor with a Middletown t-shirt. He was grateful and said it would be displayed in a dedicated room at his residence.
While the District has hosted state dignitaries in the past, this is the first time a Governor has visited MASD. We were proud to showcase our District and even more proud of our students and their ability to articulate and interact with the Governor and other state leaders.
Visit the photo gallery below to see additional pictures of the event!