Learn More about Farmington Schools New STEM Curriculum

students in grades 8-11 and their parents will learn more about new curriculum options in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) courses during a meeting held at 6:30 p.m. Jan. 31 in the auditorium at .

Changes in the STEM curriculum were driven by recommendations from the district's Choice Options committee, made in February of 2011.

Farmington, and high schools have adopted Project Lead The Way (PLTW) and will begin offering its STEM courses in the 2012-2013 school year. PLTW is a not-for-profit organization that provides middle and high school STEM education programs to 4,200 schools throughout the country.

“PLTW has a long history of successfully engaging students in STEM subjects,” said Heidi Skodack, Farmington High School Architectural and Engineering CAD/Technology teacher. “This will give Farmington students a huge advantage over their peers when it comes to college and career readiness, and it will increase the pool of highly-skilled workers for local industry.”

According to a press release issued by Farmington Schools, the organization designs and offers schools project-based curriculum in energy and the environment, biotechnology, engineering design and development, and more. Courses can be used as electives or as part of a school’s core science and math curriculum. 

PLTW’s university relationships provide students opportunities for college credit, scholarships and admissions preferences. School-based PLTW Partnership Teams complement the curriculum by recruiting local business and industry professionals to serve as mentors and share real-world experiences with students.

“In today’s global economy, Americans are competing not just against each other but against peers in countries like China and India,” said Vince Bertram, CEO of PLTW. “It is more critical now than ever for our education system to help students develop the critical-thinking and problem-solving skills they’ll need so that the U.S. remains economically competitive.”

For more information, visit farmington.k12.mi.us.