Project Lead the Way

Project Lead the Way
Posted on 03/02/2022

Project Lead the Way Gives Students Extra Opportunities
By:  Robin Friedrich
#BulldogNationAheadofthePack

Across the U.S. millions of students are being empowered to unlock their potential by developing the in-demand, real-world knowledge and skills necessary to thrive in life beyond the classroom with a science stem program called Project Lead The Way (PLTW). Here at Mexico Public Schools we are preparing our students to be lifelong learners and independent thinkers with this program. 

Project Lead The Way has four components throughout a student’s education. PLTW Launch began in 2015 for all of our elementary students. PLTW Launch taps into students' exploratory nature, engages them in learning that feels like play, and encourages them to keep discovering. Students learn about topics such as sunshine and weather, animal adaptations, properties of matter, environmental changes, chemical weathering and properties of the universe, along with many more. 

PLTW Gateway began at Mexico Middle School in 2018 and offers Medical Detective, App Creations and Design and Modeling to their students. These classes provide students opportunities to lead their own discovery with hands-on programs. Each classroom focuses on engagement, drives collaboration, and inspires “aha! moments” as well as deep comprehension. As students engage in PLTW’s activities in computer science, engineering, and biomedical science, they see a range of paths and possibilities they can look forward to in high school and beyond. 

From launching space explorations to delivering safe, clean water to communities, engineers find solutions to pressing problems and turn their ideas into reality. At the Hart Career Center PLTW Engineering classes began in 2012 and empowers students to step into the role of an engineer, adopt a problem-solving mindset, and make the leap from dreamers to doers. The program’ s courses engage students in compelling, real-world challenges that help them become better collaborators and thinkers. Students take from the courses in-demand knowledge and skills they will use in high school and for the rest of their lives, on any career path they take.

            Teaching science offers students an opportunity to increase their overall understanding of how and why things work. Science teaches kids about the world around them. Project Lead the Way is relevant, inspiring, engaging, and foundational to their future success for students at Mexico Public Schools.