Middle School Student Purpose & Impact Summit

Registration - Middle School Student Purpose & Impact Summit

Thursday, April 23, 2026
9:00am-2:00pm
Sewickley Academy, 315 Academy Ave, Sewickley, PA 15143
Cost: $150/student; 1 adult chaperone no charge, $40/additional adults
Audience: Teams of 6-10 6th - 8th grade students and adult chaperone from PAIS Pittsburgh-area schools.

The Middle School Student Purpose and Impact Summit, in its second year, creates a space for students to explore their natural gifts, share stories, listen deeply, and ultimately set goals as they build a “Purpose Map.” Along the way, students connect more deeply with their in-school and out-of-school peers and begin to see how their unique identity is a gift to their school and beyond. With a focus on Earth Week, students will explore the UN Sustainable Development Goals and connect their gifts to their impact on the world community and the environment.

Takeaways:
 • Greater awareness of one’s interests, talents, and gifts
 • Ideas about how one’s PURPOSE can be brought to the world
 • Create a Purpose Statement and Purpose Map that will serve as a guide
 • Empathy and understanding of peers and their PURPOSE
 • Deeper relationship with school peers and a connection to peers from other independent schools

Facilitator: Jessica Catoggio, Director of Professional Learning, World Leadership School
JESSICA CATOGGIO has deep experience coaching teachers around project-based learning. She is passionate about building communities and aims to connect with others through differences and similarities. She values inquiry, curiosity, and in-depth questioning and helps teachers create dynamic classroom communities in which all students thrive. Jessica is a veteran teacher with 20 years experience in both public and independent schools, including the last 13 years as a lower school teacher at Collegiate School in Richmond, VA. While at Collegiate, Jessica evolved her project-based approach after taking multiple PBL trainings and receiving her coaching certificate from the University of Virginia’s Curry School of Education. At Collegiate, she coached her colleagues through the stages of project-based learning and helped lead an effort to establish capstone projects.