At 2 p.m. on a chilly January afternoon, the elementary floor of the Clairton City School District’s building was buzzing. What was going on? “Beartopia.” The name nods to Clairton’s Bears — a district long known for its powerhouse football program — but this version of Bear pride is built around leadership, responsibility and imagination. The school had transformed into “Beartopia” — a world run by students in which each classroom is a business venture. This microsociety unfolds just two-thirds of a mile from the hulking, smoky Clairton Coke Works. Today, as the city attempts to turn a corner after the sale of its biggest business and a tragic explosion, its 793-student school district is searching for creative ways to inspire scholarship.
