All four St. Joseph School District middle schools have now achieved National Recognition for Project Lead the Way’s Gateway to Technology (GTT) Program.
GTT focuses on building a solid foundation in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics education.
The primary purposes of the GTT national recognition program are to recognize schools that have successfully demonstrated a commitment to the quality national standards of the GTT program.
“Project Lead the Way has taken off in the St. Joseph School District,” said Jaime Dial, Director of Secondary Education for the District. “We are proud of the leadership role our middle schools have taken in the Gateway to Technology program. Having all four middle schools achieve National Recognition is a reflection on their excellence in STEM education.”
The Gateway to Technology program provides an introduction to Project Lead the Way’s Pathway to Engineering (PTE) courses for grades 9-12. Students at Spring Garden Middle School, led by teacher Scott Link, start out with design and modeling and learn to create their ideas using 3D modeling on the computer. They also learn about automation and robotics, including learning to write code to give robots specific commands.
“One of the awesome things about the program is that kids learn some skills and find out what they are good at, then they are able to teach other kids, so they become teachers in the classroom,” Link said in a news release.
“They are really excited about helping other kids.”