'Project Lead the Way' at Henry Sibley High School Grows Interest in Engineering

“Bright,” “Cheery” and “Alive” are not words usually used to describe a high school engineering class. But that was exactly the evaluation given by James Mecklenburg from the Minnesota State University in Mankato, who sat in on two periods of ’s Introduction to Engineering course two weeks ago.

The Introduction to Engineering class at Sibley is the first high school course in the new “Project Lead the Way” curriculum, which is chock full of computers, gadgets, circuits, sensors, robots, and funky materials.

“Sibley is on track to become a model program for Minnesota,” according to Mecklenburg, a project director who helps school districts across Minnesota with the nationally standardized curriculum.

Sixty-five Sibley students enrolled in the new class this fall.

Project Lead the Way, a non-profit organization based in New York, is dedicated to teaching problem-solving and critical-thinking skills to a national technical standard, while inspiring students to embrace science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) skills. The Harvard Graduate School of Education recently cited Project Lead the Way as a "model for 21st century career and technical education. “

“This course gives students the opportunity to experience the engineering process through a rigorous academic and practical application process,” said Doug Sisk, the technology education teacher who teaches the course at Sibley. “Project Lead the Way is sparking the interest of students to enter the engineering field.”

After attending a teacher boot camp last summer, Sisk got to work installing a design lab with 34 computer-aided design (CAD) workstations for digital modeling and a roll-up-your-sleeves fabrication lab for prototyping, machining, and performing experiments. Sisk hopes to add a Minnesota-made Stratasys fused-deposition rapid prototyping printer to the lab’s manufacturing machinery as soon as additional funding becomes available.

The West St. Paul-Mendota Heights-Eagan School District received a grant last year from the program to initiate teacher training and help set up the labs, which also include the design-and-simulation software called Autodesk Inventor  (and soon will have several microprocessor-controlled VEX robots).

Growth of the program, including achieving national certification, is dependent on future School District 197 budget decisions.

There are over 100 high schools in Minnesota now offering the industry-endorsed curriculum. Edina, Burnsville, Apple Valley, Minneapolis Washburn, White Bear, Eden Prairie, and Chaska are just a few metro examples of high schools that have already achieved national certification for the first four engineering courses.

Woodbury’s East Ridge High School may be the furthest along in Minnesota—it passed its certification audits for both the pathway-to-engineering curriculum and the new biomedical sciences curriculum earlier this year.

The Sibley staff acknowledged that implementing Project Lead the Way has nudged the educators beyond the comfort of their classrooms. They say it will spark more problem-solving conversations with leaders in engineering, post-secondary institutions, and industry organizations.  Sisk is already organizing a volunteer industry-based advisory committee to help with the task.

 “Providing more STEM-focused education is very important for our Sibley students as they enter an increasingly competitive global society,” said Pat Johnson, assistant associate principal at Sibley. 

“The Project Lead the Way curriculum aligns with our goal of providing students with the 21st century skills they need to be successful in their futures beyond high school,” Johnson said. “This curriculum is not about lectures and demonstrations, it is all about hands-on innovation.” 

The imaginative coursework may already be making an impact in other districts.  A national analysis of 200 freshmen transcripts showed 31 percent of Project Lead the Way students studied engineering, technology, or computer science in their first year of college, compared to only 8 percent of all first-time freshmen in baccalaureate institutions. A 2008 study found an encouraging 76 percent of Project Lead the Way students persevered with their declared technical major through the critical freshmen-to-sophomore collegiate transition.  

“I think that this course is going to have a great influence over students because it truly engages them,” Sisk said. “They are problem solving at a higher level, being exposed to more advanced equipment and technology, and are experiencing what it is like to work through a real-life engineering problem.”

For more information, visit Project Lead the Way’s national website, or Project Lead the Way-Minnesota.