69th Annual PCSS Conference

All New Format

The Friday through Saturday, conference format is a new one for PCSS.

View the 2023 PCSS Program to see what is going on Friday and Saturday this week. 

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

This year's conference theme is Forging the Future of Social Studies.

10/20/23 – Gilded Age & the Progressive Era (click to register)
Time: 8:00-3:00 PM 
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 will leave with classroom-ready lessons!

Next on the agenda is 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 at 5 p.m. Food (heavy appetizers) and drink (beer, wine and soda) will be available starting at 5:30 p.m.   The formal program begins at 6:15 to 7:45 p.m., followed by dessert and coffee upstairs on the 2nd floor (great city view).

Soldiers and Sailors Museum is where our Saturday events will begin with an 8:00 am continental breakfast sponsored by longtime PCSS exhibitor Veterans National Education Program.   Keynote remarks will provide an inspirational kickoff before we move 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, will also address the group.

This kickoff will end at 9:45 a.m. as participants move to  Posvar Hall, a seven-minute walk from the Soldiers and Sailors Museum.  Nearly 30 sessions will be held on the 1st and 5th floors of Posvar and over 25 Exhibits will be 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 starts in Posvar Hall at 10 a.m. and goes to 11:30 a.m., with a variety of 30 minute and 60 minute sessions mixed in with the 90 minute sessions throughout the day.

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

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

Act 48 credits will be available throughout the day.

At the conclusion of the conference, PCSS will hold a light reception and raffle.  The PCSS Board then meets from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. and it is open to all.

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

The Board meeting is followed by dinner on your own.  

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

Best wishes, and see you in Pittsburgh!