Plymouth Community School Corporation (PCSC), has been given the green light from Project Lead The Way, Inc. (PLTW), the nation’s top provider of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) programming, to become a PLTW “Launch School”. This means starting this 2014-2015 school year, (PLTW) (STEM) curriculum will be taught to elementary school children in grades K-5 at the school corporation’s four elementary schools and our intermediate school.
The rigorous, world-class (STEM) curriculum focuses on engineering, biomedical science, and computer science. This latest partnership will enhance Plymouth School’s (STEM) programming corporation wide. Adding his K-5 element creates a K-12 pipeline for STEM study that is taught throughout the entire school corporation!
Plymouth School Superintendent Dan Tyree says that Project Lead the Way is the number one (STEM) curriculum that is available to schools. It provides rigorous, relevant science, technology, engineering and math lessons in the areas of design, biomedical sciences and computer science.
“We have offered (PLTW) classes at both the junior high and the high school level for the last five years. Besides being very popular with our students, these classes have become a bridge to the labor force and schools of engineering. The classes are rigorous, but students from all walks of life excel in the curriculum,” said Tyree.
Five PCSC teachers who will be implementing and training other PCSC teachers on the (PLTW) K-5 curriculum, just got back today from a three-day, required 20-hour (PLTW) K-5 enrichment training course.
To offset start-up costs associated with teacher training, participation fees, and required equipment a grant for $270,000 dollars was awarded by (PLTW) to Marshall County schools.
However in order to qualify for the (PLTW) grant, Marshall County schools had to first, match the grant amount. PCSC is happy to report with the help of the United Way and Marshall County Economic Development Corporation (MCEDC), and community donors, a matching mount of $270,000 was raised! So in total, $540,000 of grant funds are available to Marshall County schools that want to implement (PLTW) programs.
Nikki Rumpler, a new PCSC Launch teacher said, “We are very excited to begin implementing Project Lead the Way at the elementary level. This program focuses on science learning through a variety of hands-on activities, projects, and problems. It’s a great way to introduce our students to the engineering design process and it will give them a taste for (STEM) education at a very young age.”
Plymouth High School (PLTW) teacher Rich Schieber says, “Implementing the (PLTW) in grades K-5 will give students throughout our entire school corporation a wider knowledge level of study, so when they come into the program at the middle and high school levels, it will really make a humungous impact.
Jason Doody, will be a senior at Plymouth High School this fall, he is enrolled in Mr. Schieber’s (PLTW) class. Doody has been part of (PLTW) classes since his eight-grade year and plans to pursue mechanical or civil engineering in college. He says, “I didn’t realize I was this passionate about science, technology, engineering, and mathematics until eight-grade year when my school started offering the (PLTW) program.” He believes offering the (PLTW) curriculum at the elementary level will ignite interest and excitement in (STEM) science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
