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PLTW is a new thing to Northwest Indiana. Gavit High in Hammond Indiana, have adopted the program. This coming up school year will be the first year for the program in our school system. I received a letter today that I was accepted. Myself and another member of our robotics team were the only present high schoolers that were accepted. PLTW which is a four year program is meant to be a pre-engineering course. Our school in partnership with Purdue University Calumet have raised the millions of dollars to cover the expense of this program. Our school (Gavit) is the first school out of the district that have adopted this program, and have covered the expenses.
What our school has done is take resume's off all incoming freshman and reviewed their records to see who would be most applicable for this type of program. The PLTW program in my mind are for people that are looking to be in the engineering field.
What our school has done is partnership with Purdue University Calumet to offer a advanced curriculum, along with state of the art lab settings. In addition we have had one of our teachers at Gavit go through the training to become a PLTW teacher. Our Gavit teacher along with many professors at Purdue will work together in an in-lighting lab to better benefit the selected students.
What was interesting was the outpouring of people who wanted to become part of this program. The program which was offered only to advanced students. I have met with all of the people involved in our local PLTW program, and it is truly a great addition to any school system.
From what I have talked about with many of the mentors and professors at Purdue Calumet, it appears to be a great program for those looking to further their learning in the field of engineering.
Another great addition to our program is that since it begins before regular school hours, you can get the credit without missing out on any other school credits. We have also worked out in the partnership that PLTW in Hammond will also count as a college credit. This way if you attend college at Purdue you will have many of you're intro classes out of the way.
I would recommend PLTW to every school district that sponsors FIRST teams. The program takes FIRST one step further, right into the classroom.
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