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C-MHS Certified For PLTW Program

C-MHS certified for PLTW program

Staff Report  /  February 9, 2012  /  Views: 378  /   1 Comment

TYLER ALCAZAR (left) and Austin Palanca are enrolled in the PLTW course at Crete-Monee High School.

Crete-Monee High School announced recently that it has received national certification for its Project Lead The Way (PLTW) program that it has been offering since 2008.

PLTW, a nonprofit organization and the nation's leading provider of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education programs, offers a rigorous curriculum that allows students to apply what they are learning in math and science class to real-life engineering and technology projects.

The PLTW certification program recognizes schools for successfully demonstrating a commitment to PLTW's national standards and provides students with the opportunity to apply for college credit when they complete select PLTW courses in high school and receive other college-level recognition at PLTW affiliate universities. PLTW has more than 40 affiliate college and university partners.

In order to remain competitive in the global marketplace, America needs to award 400,000 science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) four-year degrees annually. So says a National Business Roundtable report put together by:

the Business-Higher Education Forum, Business Roundtable, Council on Competitiveness, Information Technology Association of America, Information Technology Industry Council, Minority Business RoundTable, National Association of Manufacturers,

And: National Defense Industrial Association, Semiconductor Industry Association, Software & Information Industry Association, TechNet, Technology CEO Council, Telecommunications Industry Association and U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Currently, the U.S. is graduating only 265,000 STEM degree-holders. PLTW is providing students with the skills, foundation and proven paths to college and career success in STEM areas to increase the number of STEM graduates.

Julian Lagunas, instructor of one of the PLTW courses offered at Crete-Monee said, "PLTW classes are great because they offer real life problems and give students the opportunity to create unique solutions using ideas and principles that engineers utilize."

As part of the certification process, Brian Riegler, principal of CMHS, and a team composed of teachers, staff, students, and members of the community, submitted a self-assessment of the school's implementation of the PLTW's Pathway To Engineering (PTE) program. A site visit by a national PLTW certification team followed.

PLTW's certification team met with teachers, school administrators, counselors, students and members of the school's Partnership Team. A PLTW school's Partnership Team (sometimes referred to as Advisory Councils) is comprises teachers, counselors, administrators, post-secondary representatives, business and industry professionals and other community members who actively support the PLTW program within a school.

"Crete-Monee High School should be congratulated for demonstrating its commitment to PLTW's quality standards but the real winners are Crete-Monee students," said PLTW CEO Vince Bertram.

"Students benefit from PLTW's innovative, project-based curriculum that encourages creativity, problem solving and critical thinking. We look forward to many more years of working together to prepare Crete-Monee students to become the most innovative and productive in the world," Bertram added.

Teachers are a critical component of the success of the PLTW program. All teachers are required to complete an intensive two-week professional development course during the summer before they can teach a PLTW course.

Students who enroll in PLTW courses also benefit from the organization's strong university and industry relationships. Such alliances allow students to begin working toward their college degrees and gain valuable experience through internships and through their association with local engineers and technology professionals who serve as mentors, provide in-classroom visits and tours of their facilities.

Crete-Monee student, Luke Johnson, is glad he enrolled in the PLTW courses. "PLTW offers hands on applications of basic math, physics, and science. Not only does the class require creative problem solving, but it is the only class in high school that really prepares you for the real world. Colleges love to see it on an application and personally, I love the unique classroom experience."

CMHS instructor, Michael Pacton added, "The addition of PLTW to CMHS's curriculum provides a tremendous amount of enrichment to the traditional math, science and technology classes students already take. In addition, many of our students will earn college credit which will allow them to skip expensive introductory courses when they do reach their future university."

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CMHS Parent

on February 15, 2012 at 15:02

Congrats to CMHS for the certification. I am glad to see the diversity in programs there. Keep it up!

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