A new program at Lincoln Southwest High School in Lincoln, Nebraska is helping students to realize their goals through career technical education programs.
According to reporter Dennis Burke of 1011now.com, who shared student Joana Torres’ success story, “Joana Torres is a senior at Southwest Lincoln High School. In a couple of months, she’ll be the first in her family to graduate from high school. And thanks to a Lincoln public schools program called “Project Lead the Way”, she’ll be going all the way to the University of Nebraska to study engineering next fall.†Torres is serving as a model for her siblings.
Burke also interviewed Eric Knoll, the Assistant Curriculum Specialist at Lincoln Public Schools, who said “I think a lot of students exposed to all the different options they have at Southwest high school, and all the other high schools in the district, really get into a good picture of what it looks like outside of these walls when they graduate. So, we want them to be college and career ready.”
According to their website, Project Lead the Way (PLTW) prepares students to be the most innovative and productive leaders in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and to make meaningful, pioneering contributions to our world. PLTW partners with middle schools and high schools to provide a rigorous, relevant STEM education. Through an engaging, hands-on curriculum, PLTW encourages the development of problem-solving skills, critical thinking, creative and innovative reasoning and a love of learning.
State Director Richard Katt shared that “Career technical education creates the opportunities for students to become career and college ready and to have a focus when they enter into postsecondary education.â€