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Elkhorn's Project Lead the Way helping ensure tomorrow's workforce

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Photo by Bill Olmsted

A group of students collaborate on a classroom assignment in an Elkhorn Area High School engineering class.

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Photo by Bill Olmsted

A earlier classproject for Elkhorn Area High School's introductory engineering class, had students design and build puzzle cubes.

Photo

Photo by Bill Olmsted

A piece of computer software helps student in the Elkhorn high school introductory engineering class complete a variety of technical drawings. Shown is an exploded view of a puzzle cube class project.

ELKHORN — Nothing is too far fetched in this classroom.

A coffee cup with a built-in stirring mechanism? Uh huh.

A coffee cup with temperature control? Yup.

A coffee cup with an electronic locator? You betcha.

That's because this classroom at Elkhorn Area High School is the site for Project Lead the Way, a national program established more than 10 years ago to prepare middle and high school students for careers in engineering by engaging them in real-world projects.

"This is the application of knowledge, rather than just the giving of knowledge," teacher Paul Martell said of the program. "This is where the knowledge is used."

Elkhorn Area High School this year began offering Introduction to Engineering, and 40 students enrolled.

"We hook them in this class," said teacher Barry Butters.

Higher-level engineering classes will be added in future years to comply with the Project Lead the Way curriculum, he said.

Filling a need

Project Lead the Way started slowly in Wisconsin, said Brent Kindred, technology and engineering consultant at the state Department of Public Instruction.

"It started off as something that was a good alternative—a rigorous and relevant alternative—to bolster what was already happening in technology education," he said of the program.

The cost of starting a Project Lead the Way program—between $50,000 for a middle school program to $95,000 for a high school program—was prohibitive for the majority of schools, Kindred said.

But funding from Bob and Patricia Kern of Waukesha, owners of Generac Power Systems, has been the "spark plug to really ignite this program," he said. Grants from the Kern Family Foundation give schools the resources they need to prepare their students for high-skill, high-wage engineering careers, he said.

Kindred said Project Lead the Way is filling a need in Wisconsin.

"There's really no question about it," he said. "The program is so darn engaging. … It's getting kids in the pipeline. … It's ensuring tomorrow's workforce."

Elkhorn Area High School is among more than 150 middle and high schools in the state that participate in Project Lead the Way, ranking Wisconsin at No. 5 in participation in the program.

Butters said the school hopped on the bandwagon because several schools in the area already were participating in the program.

"We wanted to provide the same opportunities to students at Elkhorn, so those who might pursue an engineering degree (in college) are well prepared," he said.

'Outside the box'

Rachel Radunz doesn't think like everyone else.

But in Project Lead the Way, that's OK.

"This teaches students a new way of thinking," Martell said. "Here, you can't come up with a wrong answer, you just have to support the answer you came up with."

Radunz, a freshman, recalled the first project the students had to tackle: designing a children's wooden puzzle—a cube made of five pieces.

"It was like a Rubix cube you could take apart," she said.

The students used Autodesk design software—the same software used by professionals—to design the pieces and assemble the cube in three dimensions.

"I went about it a little different than other people," Radunz said. "I looked at the whole cube, and then I took pieces out of it to get my individual pieces. A lot of people built onto the pieces instead."

Radunz said Project Lead the Way has changed her thinking.

"It's taught me how to think outside the box," she said. "We thought our ideas were outside the box at first, but our teachers always say, 'No, you're still in the box.'"

Radunz said the program's teaching philosophy is a welcome change for students accustomed to a more traditional method.

"They'll say, 'You didn't do it the way everyone else did, but you did it right, and that's OK,'" she said.

"That's good to hear."

Butters and Martell are planning to add Principles of Engineering and Digital Electronics to the lineup of Project Lead the Way classes next year.

The teachers are working to earn Project Lead the Way certification, which would allow students to apply for college credit at participating schools.

"We're only in our first year," Butters said, "but we're going for it."