| Future engineers getting a head start on college:[STATE Edition] |
| THERESA BLACKWELL. St. Petersburg Times. St. Petersburg, Fla.: May 17, 2004. pg. 1 |
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Copyright Times Publishing Co. May 17, 2004 East Lake High School sophomore Corey DeMontigny wants to pursue a career in engineering, and last week he learned two of his high school classes are taking him in the right direction. "Everything's going to count for something now," said DeMontigny, 16. One of Corey's top three college choices, the University of South Florida, recently reviewed East Lake High's pre-engineering program. The USF reviewer certified it a Project Lead The Way engineering program for high school students. Project Lead the Way, a nonprofit organization, promotes precollege engineering studies through partnerships between private companies, colleges and public schools. That means high school students in certified programs may get credit at numerous participating colleges, including the Rochester Institute of Technology; Purdue, Duke and Penn State universities; and the University of South Carolina. Thirteen counties in Florida have Project Lead The Way engineering curriculums in middle and high schools. East Lake is the only school in Pinellas that meets the program's requirements. For East Lake students planning to attend USF, that could give them the chance to test out of up to four credit hours of engineering classes. The student must have attained a 3.0 grade point average (out of a possible 4.0) in Project Lead The Way high school engineering classes, score at least 70 percent on a test for the college course and be enrolled as a student in specific USF engineering or computer programs. Eva Fernandez, USF director for recruitment and retention in the college of engineering, also coordinates Project Lead The Way engineering programs in Florida. "The focus is to enhance students' competencies in math, sciences and technology," she said. "This is just a great opportunity for them to get some strong technical skills." Fernandez reviewed the program at East Lake on May 5. "I think they have an outstanding program," she said. "They have demonstrated their commitment to the students and to the program." This year, the program includes two courses: introduction to engineering design and digital electronics. Several more classes will be phased in over the next few years, starting with computer- integrated manufacturing next year. Keith Arnold was once head of the East Lake High industrial design department, a department that is morphing from vocational education to engineering, from drafting table to computer. Two large rooms once occupied by vocational education students will be remodeled for the engineering students according to the recommendations of Project Lead The Way. "It's going to be fantastic," Arnold said. Arnold teaches drafting and design, a class he said will be phased out after next year. He also teaches introduction to engineering design and will teach other engineering courses as they are phased in. Paul Wahnish, a semiretired mechanical engineer and consultant on products for the marine industry, teaches American government and coaches cross country and girls basketball at East Lake. He also leads East Lake's Project Lead The Way engineering program and teaches digital design. He will attend two weeks of training this summer and teach a new computer-integrated manufacturing class in the fall. Wahnish was thrilled about the recent USF review. "We passed with flying colors," he said. "I'm so excited about it. It's a great program." In digital design class last week, Wahnish circulated quietly through the room filled with computers, 15 boys and one girl working on problems in preparation for their final exam. "If you want to use the simulation tool and put together the circuit, it should be pretty simple," he said to the class. "When you get through with it, go ahead and work on the truth table and the K-mapping of the Boolean Expression." Truth table, K-mapping, Boolean. Oh, my. "It's all simple math," said sophomore Jordan Smith, 15. Another student, sophomore Whitney Barnwell, 16, was consulting with classmates about her diagram of a circuit. "Should I just erase it" and start over? she asked. "Yes," the other students said. "Oh, I've got this," she said. "This is the one you connect, bring that over . . ." Time to pack it up, Wahnish interrupted. "Oh, there's no way we can stop right now," Whitney said. "I've almost got this figured out." Wahnish would like to see more girls in the program and about 20 of the 116 registered for next year are girls. He would also like to see students from all over Pinellas County who are interested in engineering take advantage of the program they are building at East Lake. "These are great kids," he said. "They are truly interested in what they are doing, so it changes the dynamic of the classroom. It's fun." - Times researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this story.
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People: DeMontigny, Corey, Arnold, Keith, Wahnish, Paul
Dateline: EAST LAKE