Project Lead the Way
STEM in District 30
Today’s students need to develop knowledge and skills that allow them to thrive, no matter their chosen life and career paths. They need to become comfortable taking intellectual risks, adept at collaboration, confident in the face of challenges, and skilled at devising solutions — these are essential skills.
Middle school is the perfect time for students to explore and learn that there is more than one way to reach a solution, to become designers and inventors, and to work together to create new things and develop new knowledge.
District 30 emplooys a hands-on, project-based STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) curriculum that emphasizes critical and creative thinking.
In 2016, District 30 partnered with Project Lead The Way (PLTW), a national organization, committed to working with schools in the implementation of innovative and rigorous science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) programs. A rigorous STEM program will also expose young people to the practice of “design thinking”. This approach to creative thought is centered on continual improvement and learning from mistakes. Failure is looked upon as a natural step towards success, and not an end to an idea. This is a significant step in helping our students to become “innovation ready”.
Project Lead The Way
The Project Lead The Way curriculum for middle school students challenges, inspires, and encourages them to delve deeper into subject areas. Students get rigorous and relevant experiences through activity-, project-, and problem-based learning. Students are able to use industry-leading technology to solve problems, while gaining skills in communication, collaboration, critical-thinking, and creativity.
PLTW is divided into independent, quarter-length units. The program is designed to be taught in conjunction with our rigorous academic curriculum. PLTW courses are aligned with national standards in Math and ELA, Next Generation Science Standards, and CSTA K-12 Computer Science Standards. Courses and units are designed to complement and enrich the existing math and science courses.
Project Lead the Way Curriculum
- Design and Modeling (Sixth Grade)
- Automation and Robotics I (Seventh and Eighth Grade)
- Automation and Robotics II (Eighth Grade only; Automation and Robotics I prerequisite)
- Medical Detectives (Seventh and Eighth Grade)