Project Lead The Way

Project Lead The Way® (PLTW) is a not-for-profit organization that promotes pre-engineering courses for middle and high school students. Several schools throughout northwest Minnesota are beginning to implement this exciting new curriculum that makes learning come alive for middle and high school students. Schools implementing PLTW in our region include Bemidji, Cass Lake, Clearbrook-Gonvick, Fosston/Win-E-Mac and Badger.

PLTW forms partnerships with public schools, higher education institutions and the private sector to increase the quantity and quality of engineers and engineering technologists graduating from our educational system. PLTW has developed a four year sequence of courses which, when combined with college preparatory mathematics and science courses in high school, introduces students to the scope, rigor and discipline of engineering and engineering technology prior to entering college.
The courses are:

• Introduction to Engineering Design
• Digital Electronics
• Principles of Engineering
• Computer Integrated Manufacturing
• Civil Engineering and Architecture
• Biotechnical Engineering (in development)
• Aerospace Engineering (in development)
• Engineering Design and Development

Introduction at this level will attract more students to engineering, and will allow students, while still in high school, to determine if engineering is the career they desire. Students participating in PLTW courses are better prepared for college engineering programs and more likely to be successful, thus reducing the attrition rate in these college programs, which currently exceeds 50% nationally.

A critical component of the Project Lead The Way program is its comprehensive teacher training model. The curriculum these teachers are required to teach utilizes cutting edge technology and software requiring specialized training. Ongoing training supports the teachers as they implement the program and provides for continuous improvement of skills.

Understanding that another key to success is awareness, PLTW makes a concerted effort to inform school counselors through counselor conferences, brochures and videotapes about the benefits of the program, as well as the wide array of technology jobs and careers available to students who enter the field upon graduation from high school and college.

In addition, PLTW has developed an exciting Middle School Technology Curriculum: Gateway To Technology. This project-based, cutting edge curriculum is 40 weeks in length and is divided into four 10-week units from the following: Design and Modeling; The Magic of Electrons; The Science of Technology; Automation and Robotics; three new units in development: Environmental Engineering, Energy and the Environment, and Aerospace Engineering. Designed for all students, the units address national standards in math, science and technology. One of the goals is to increase interest and awareness of female and minority students in technology and related careers. Gateway To Technology will also encourage increasing numbers of students to elect the high school program.

For more information about Project Lead The Way, visit their website.

CONGRATULATIONS!

Congratulations to Bagley Public Schools on the award of funding from the KERN Family Foundation to implement PLTW in Bagley, MN!

Who is teaching Project Lead The Way curriculum in northwest Minnesota?

• Bemidji Public Schools
• Cass Lake/Bena
• Clearbrook/Gonvick
• Fosston
• Win-E-Mac
• Marshall County Central
• Badger