Career Center receives national Project Lead the Way certification

Project Lead the Way has awarded Grant Career Center National Certification signifying that its College Tech Prep Engineering Design Program has met stringent, national quality standards.

Grant Career Center has joined an elite group of nationally recognized secondary schools that provide a cutting edge engineering design curriculum for their students.

The PLTW curriculum, when combined with college preparatory mathematics and science courses, introduces students to the scope, rigor, and discipline of engineering and engineering technology prior to entering college. PLTW was introduced at Grant Career Center in the 2005 school year and has graduated 43 students and has a current enrollment of 21 students.

Grant has recently completed the certification process and it has been enlightening to all involved.

Tobin Huebner, PLTW instructor said, "The data compiled for the certification report emphasizes the success rate of our students. It is an amazing number of students that have continued on to college and found success in the engineering field."

By involving the educational and business community through the formation of its Partnership Team, Grant Career Center has realized the importance of support from professionals in the field, as well as community residents, who see the benefits of the program, both to the students and to the local economy.

The certification process involved a self-assessment phase that culminated in a site visit by a team of nationally trained certification specialists.

The certification team met and interviewed teachers, administrators, counselors, students, parents and community representatives, and reviewed students' course portfolios.

Thanks to the successful completion of the national certification process, Grant Career Center PLTW students will be able to earn college credit for their coursework at Grant from one of many Project Lead the Way affiliated universities.

It is well established that the United States is facing a critical shortage of scientists in scientific and engineering fields in the next 10 years. Project Lead the Way's goal is to increase the number and quality of engineers and scientists graduating from the nation's colleges and universities.

Today, the PLTW network comprises more than 2,500 middle schools and high schools in 50 states, the District of Columbia, Canada, and England. PLTW currently enrolls about 275,000 students.