Schools across the country are making their classes fun and worthwhile by participating in Project: Lead the Way, an organization that develops curriculum to improve the competitiveness of science and technology development. This curriculum is utilized in elementary, middle, and high schools nationwide. Assistant principal Kristina Martin hopes to implement Project: Lead the Way into the school’s curriculum in the next five years by getting the administration to accept the budget and properly train all math, science, and technology teachers.

“It sounds organized and like a real plan,” said junior robotics member Josh Thomas.

This project is applied to the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) curriculums of many neighbors to Ray-Pec. The “STEM” program can be found in Lee’s Summit, Lee’s Summit North, Truman High, and many other schools in Missouri and throughout the nation. Project: Lead the Way is changing the way of learning in these schools by requiring students to think critically, problem solve, and collaborate. The project also requires hands on work which encourages a deeper understanding of what the students are learning.

How will the administration implement the program? The school board has to agree on an acceptable budget and train the appropriate teachers before the project can be launched. Project: Lead the Way offers students a wide range of career exploration. The curriculum projects how far you may go with each career and what requirements must be fulfilled to get there. The interactive experiments and activities appeal to students’ interests by engaging them in hands on collaboration with each other.

“It’s not traditional, it’s more hands on work and experimentation that will be used in future careers,” said assistant principal Mrs. Martin.

Project: Lead the Way is a non-profitable organization that develops curriculum for science, math, and technology classes for elementary, middle, and high schools in the US. Coming to Ray-Pec in the next demi-decade, the project will expand students’ understanding of what they are learning and why. In the activities and experiments having fun plays a large role in the curriculum. The use of teamwork is important too because in STEM career fields it is necessary. Curriculum is changing not only to prepare students for exams but to also encourage a passion for a career that they desire.