Project Lead the Way Prepares Students for Successful Careers
careers, education, workforce,
Lenoir County is at the leading edge of education for the 21st-century economy, thanks to South Lenoir High School’s participation in the nation’s premier pre-engineering program.
Founded in 1997 in Rochester, N.Y., Project Lead the Way grooms middle and high school students for careers in engineering. The program has partners in all 50 states and in Europe, with 35 participating schools in North Carolina.
“This program is a great advantage for our kids to start a career for themselves,” says SLHS Principal Jay P. Thomas. “There are so many types of engineering and so much you can do with it.”
South Lenoir is in its fourth year as a PLTW partner and is the ninth high school to earn national accreditation with the program. This designation means that the school’s PLTW teachers are certified master teachers, and students can earn college credit for their work through a dual-enrollment partnership with Lenoir County Community College.
“The PLTW classes are modeled after college introductory engineering classes, and the students gain firsthand experience in the different engineering specialties. That prepares them for the rigors of college and gives them a better idea of what they want to concentrate on once they get there,” Thomas says.
Students use industry-standard software programs and modeling kits to design and build one-of-a-kind structures. They also make regular presentations about their projects, just as engineers would do in the field.
“This is a hands-on, project-based approach to learning. If they build something and it doesn’t work, they take it apart and rebuild it to figure out why,” Thomas says. “It teaches them critical-thinking and problem-solving skills that will be helpful even if they don’t end up going into engineering.”
Community response to the program has been enthusiastic.
“The teachers and the parents love the excitement and the passion of the kids in the program, and the students love the hands-on approach and the fact that they’re working on the computer every day,” Thomas says.
For his part, he’s proud of the way his students have become advocates for Project Lead the Way.
“They organize and present their own open house every year, and they’re doing presentations for the middle school kids, trying to get them excited about the program,” Thomas says. “I’ve really enjoyed watching them blossom into good leaders by having the opportunity to be in this program.”
Story by Kathryn Royster
