Homeless Children’s Education Fund
JORDAN ANDERSON
Mobile classroom 'Winnie’s Wagon' will help students experiencing homelessness in Western Pa.
In the summer of 2021, Kaitlyn Nykwest, director of educational services at the Homeless Children’s Education Fund, found that kids in shelters or otherwise unstable living situations weren’t getting the academic support they needed, especially in the middle of a pandemic.
So, she gathered up tables, chairs, art supplies, workbooks and other learning materials to tutor children wherever they were – whether a shelter kitchen, library or park.
And she did it out of her own SUV.
That is, until now, as the Homeless Children’s Education Fund has unveiled a new mobile classroom called Winnie’s Wagon.
Developed in partnership with the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh, the bright blue van is equipped with a host of educational tools to support unhoused children across the Pittsburgh region.
Winnie’s Wagon, which debuted Wednesday at the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh, is the only mobile classroom in Southwestern Pennsylvania serving the homeless student population, the organization says. The program will function primarily through referrals from local schools and social services agencies.
“I've worked with the Homeless Children’s Education Fund for over 10 years,” she said. “And I've spent a lot of time with students from the shelters and housing agencies. I wanted to dream up with our team, how can we make sure that we're reaching those students? Not just in their academic skills, but their social and emotional learning too.”
The result is a classroom of sorts on wheels, lending more flexibility for kids experiencing homelessness. As Ms. Nywest stepped inside the vehicle, one of the first things she pointed to was a tablet sitting on the table.
“A couple of things we have are this Osmo tool, which is an interactive device where we can learn the letters of the alphabet – we have many sets of those,” she said. “We’ve got all kinds of resources, a whole host of books and literature materials. I had all this stuff in a small bin. There’s much more we can do.”
As the organization showed off Winnie’s Wagon for the first time, Homeless Children’s Education Fund CEO AJ Jefferson told the Post-Gazette that it took 19 months of fundraising and designing to come to fruition.
“This is a mobile, dynamic, tech filled classroom to go out to the students that we serve every single day through our Mobile Learning Program,” she said. “When you think about the fact that we serve a highly mobile community, and the last thing on their mind is education, because they don't know where they're going to stay that night. We have to prioritize education and be flexible about education.”
During the event, Ms. Jefferson described her disbelief when she learned that the Mobile Learning Program had been operating out of Nykwest's own car after joining the organization in 2022.
“I kept saying, ‘Your SUV?’” Ms. Jefferson said. “And she says, ‘Yes, my SUV.’ I made a commitment to Kaitlyn that we would someday have a fleet of educational units that supported our Mobile Learning Program …This is the first step.”
State Rep. Aerion Abney of the 19th District, who spoke alongside his two young children, praised the program’s creativity. He said the organization’s staff will soon join him and his colleagues in Harrisburg to discuss their work so it can “be replicated across the state.”
“I think a lot of times as professionals and practitioners, we tend to create programs and activities that are convenient for us, that work around our schedules … we tell people who want services, you got to come to us during these hours,” Mr. Abney said. “Winnie’s Wagon says we're going to do things differently. We're going to meet you where you are. We're going to come to you and provide the tutoring and educational enrichment that you deserve.”
Anne Fullenkamp, senior director of creative experiences at the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh, envisions Winnie’s Wagon as a national model for creating “functional, responsive, beautiful” learning spaces accessible to all children.
“We jumped in with both feet to work side-by-side to develop something that would really become a community catalyst that can go out and meet the needs of all the kids, not just our northwest community,” she said. “All children deserve a quality education.”
Jessie Mimidis and Victoria Herzer, child and family coordinators at the Light of Life Rescue Mission, are excited to see a new learning opportunity available outside of the traditional educational system, as they work children in the shelter who haven’t been in school yet or have unmet educational needs due to a developmental delay.
“I'm already thinking about a family that could benefit from this,” Ms. Mimidis said. “I think it helps because it's portable, it's on the go. And they can be excited, like, they're coming to me, they care about me.”