69th Annual PCSS Conference

All New Format

2023 conference format was a new one for PCSS.

View the 2023 PCSS Program. 

2023 PCSS Program .pdf   |  Sessions Master .docx  |  Sessions Grid .pdf |  Exhibitors .docx

The 2023 conference theme was Forging the Future of Social Studies.

10/20/23 – Gilded Age & the Progressive Era 
Location: Heinz History Center (Pittsburgh)
Program Abstract: Explore Bill of Rights Institute resources to help engage your students in examining how the United States adapted to the rapid technological, social, economic, and political changes that occurred in the decades after the Civil War. Teachers left with classroom-ready lessons!

Next on the agenda was the  Conference's Opening Ceremony with an awards reception, the celebration of past PCSS presidents, and a parade of presenters and sponsors, all held in the unique and historic location of Pittsburgh's Fort Pitt Museum with the museum opening up to PCSS visitors.

Soldiers and Sailors Museum was sponsored by longtime PCSS exhibitor Veterans National Education Program.   Keynote remarks provided an inspirational kickoff before we moved onto the Pitt campus!  Among those welcoming attendees is the 2023-24 President of the National Council for the Social Studies, Wesley Hedgepeth, a Politics and History Teacher at Collegiate School in Richmond, Virginia.  William Mark Peduto, the 60th mayor of Pittsburgh from 2014 until 2022, also addressed the group.

The kickoff ended at 9:45 a.m. as participants moved to  Posvar Hall, a seven-minute walk from the Soldiers and Sailors Museum.  Nearly 30 sessions were held on the 1st and 5th floors of Posvar and over 25 Exhibits were spread out over the first floor.  A fun fact about that floor of the building—it is where the old Pirates baseball stadium, Forbes Field, was located, and home plate is still embedded on the first floor there.

The first round of sessions started in Posvar Hall, with a variety of 30-minute and 60-minute sessions mixed in with the 90-minute sessions throughout the day.

The second session ran from 11:45 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. Box lunches were available in the exhibit area at 12:30 p.m.

The third and final session ran from 1:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. 

Act 48 credits were available throughout the day.

At the conclusion of the conference, PCSS held a light reception and raffle.  The PCSS Board then met from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. and was open to all.

4:00 p.m.  PCSS Fall Board Meeting in Room 1502

The Board meeting was followed by dinner on your own.  

Questions?  Email [email protected] or call/text 717-571-7414