Nancy Pierce is the new director of the Compass Academy, an after-school program serving students in the city of Erie.

Pierce's passion in the education field has always been focused on student engagement. She loves to engage students in activities such as creating solutions or developing problem-solving skills. Some say she has a passion for teaching “out of the box." She would say she has a passion for teaching out of the classroom.

Pierce has worked in the field of education for almost 40 years. Highlights of her experience include her role as a camping class teacher, where she took students on monthly three-day trips for an outdoor experience such as canoeing, cross-country skiing, or a ropes course.

Another highlight of Pierce's work is her role as a school-wide enrichment teacher. In her role, she created special school-wide monthly programming and events, pushed into classrooms to do hands-on projects with the whole class, and worked with small groups of students on thematic projects.

Pierce has taught in all grade levels from pre-school to eighth grade.

Pierce has worked as a school principal for 14 years, focusing on multi-age experiences that included camping, environmental education, outdoor clubs, school-wide theater productions, and winter math carnivals, to name a few.

Pierce fully embraces the idea that more educational opportunities need to be provided outside of the classroom and champions the Mercyhurst Education Department’s motto, "Teach Anyone. Anywhere.”