Five counties in North Central Indiana may have a great opportunity for students in the near future. Plymouth Schools Superintendent Dan Tyree said a one-to-one grant could come to the county to provide unique technology to students.
“Five counties in North Central Indiana received an offer from Project Lead the Way that they would provide a one-to-one grant to us that would be large enough for every school and every grade to offer Project Lead the Way,” explained Tyree. “If every grade in every school were to do it in that five county area, it would be about a $2.8 million grant.”
Marshall County’s portion would be $280,000 – $70,000 of which has already been earmarked for the project.
Tyree explained that Project Lead the Way is the number one STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) curriculum that is available to schools.
“It provides rigorous, relevant science, technology, engineering and math lessons in the areas of design, biomedical sciences and computer science. The grant is going to provide access to the curriculum and it will also provide training of the teachers and some of the software that is needed to run the curriculum.”
Tyree used the example that when Toyota moves into an area, management will not hire anyone unless they’ve been through the curriculum provided through Project Lead the Way.
“Industry has found that the middle skilled jobs, all the way up to the high professional jobs, Project Lead the Way is an excellent way to get students ready for careers.”
A meeting is scheduled for Jan. 28 for elected officials, industrial leaders and school leaders where several speakers will try and talk about the importance of Project Lead the Way. Tyree hopes to gather support for more funding for their portion of the one-to-one grant.
The five counties that will be a part of the Project Lead the Way initiative are Marshall, St. Joseph, Kosciukso, Fulton and Elkart Counties.
