Second annual Project Lead The Way event set for January 10 at PKI

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln College of Engineering is partnering with the Omaha Public Schools to host the second annual Project Lead the Way (PLTW) Partners in Engineering Pathway event on January 10 from 10 a.m. to noon at the Peter Kiewit Institute in Omaha.

Teachers, parents, and students from both UNL and OPS will provide displays, take part in panel discussions and demonstrate past award-winning projects. Light refreshments will be served and door prizes will be awarded.  There will also be a drawing for an iPad.

The schedule of events:

• 10 a.m.-noon, PKI hallways: Projects and displays.
• 10 a.m.-noon, PKI atrium: Magnet school information tables.
• 10 a.m., PKI 158: Robotics demonstrations
• 11 a.m., PKI 158: Welcome (College of Engineering and OPS), student panel discussions (current students and PLTW alumni), parent and teacher panel discussion, question and answer session.

PLTW's curriculum is hands-on and project-based pre-engineering courses for elementary, middle, and high school students, preparing them with skills needed for success in higher education. The PLTW curriculum teaches fundamental problem-solving and critical-thinking skills in traditional career and technical education (CTE), while integrating national academic and technical learning standards and STEM principles. U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan stated that this integrated curriculum creates one of the "great models of the new CTE succeeding all across the country." PLTW was recently cited by the Harvard Graduate School of Education as a "model for 21st century career and technical education."

The PLTW curriculum is offered in a subset of OPS schools. Student application information for the 2015-16 school year will be available at the OPS magnet school tables in the PKI atrium.