Kirkwood Community College’s Washington County Regional Center
Washington, Iowa (May 13, 2015)–Kirkwood Community College’s Washington County Regional Center announced today that it has received national certification for its Project Lead The Way (PLTW) program that has been offered at the Washington County Regional Center since the building opened this past August. PLTW, a nonprofit organization and the nation’s leading provider of STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) education programs, offers a rigorous world-class curriculum that allows students to apply what they are learning in math and science class to real-life activities, projects and problems. PLTW also prides itself on high-quality professional development of its teachers and an engaged network of business, community and university partners to give students the fullest experience.
The national PLTW recognition program distinguishes schools for successfully demonstrating a commitment to PLTW’s national standards. Additionally, certification as a PLTW school provides students with recognition opportunities at PLTW affiliate universities when they successfully complete select PLTW courses in high school. PLTW has more than 50 college, university and research partners, including the University of Iowa and Iowa State University.
In order to remain competitive in the global economy, America needs approximately 400,000 STEM college graduates annually, according to a National Business Roundtable report. Currently, the U.S. is graduating only 265,000 annually. PLTW is providing students with the skills, foundation and proven path to college and career success in STEM areas to increase the number of STEM graduates.
“We’ve seen how the PLTW program draws more students to engineering, math and science and gets them thinking about college and their careers,” said Tera Pickens, director of the Kirkwood Washington County Regional Center. “We are extremely proud to be PLTW certified and ecstatic that our students are eligible for college-level recognition, which may include college credit, scholarships and admissions preference.”
As part of the recognition process, Pickens and a team composed of teachers, staff, students and members of the community submitted a self-assessment of the school’s implementation of PLTW’s Engineering program. A site visit by a PLTW trained team followed. PLTW’s 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 an Advisory Council) is comprised of teachers, counselors, administrators, post-secondary representatives, business and industry professionals and other community members who actively support the PLTW program within a school.
“The Kirkwood Washington County Regional Center should be congratulated for demonstrating its commitment to PLTW’s quality standards,” said PLTW President and CEO Vince Bertram. “The real winners here, however, are the regional center’s students. 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 Kirkwood Washington County Regional Center students for the global economy.”
Jeffrey Richard, PLTW teacher, added, “The beauty of PLTW courses is that our kids get to experience how a concept they learned in science applies to real-world projects, including robotics. Rather than sit passively and listen to a lecture, our students are building, developing and creating. It’s the kind of hands-on experience that will engage more students in science, technology, engineering and math—fields that they might otherwise never have considered.”
About PLTW:
Project Lead The Way (PLTW) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and the nation’s leading provider of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) programs. PLTW’s world-class, activity-, project-, and problem-based curriculum and high-quality teacher professional development model, combined with an engaged network of educators and corporate partners, help students develop the skills needed to succeed in our global economy. More than 6,500 elementary, middle, and high schools in all 50 states and the District of Columbia currently offer PLTW courses to their students. For more information, visit www.pltw.org.