Coon Rapids High School - Center for Biomedical Sciences and Engineering (CRHS) is a large community school for grades 9 through 12 in the north metro (Minneapolis-St. Paul) area. CRHS is one of five high schools in the Anoka-Hennepin School District.
The Center for Biomedical Sciences and Engineering program at Coon Rapids High School is a specialty program that integrates a rigorous in-depth focus on science, math, and medical or engineering courses. Through PLTW STEM curriculum, students experience a sequence of courses that are hands-on and use a real-world problem-solving approach. Students build transferable skills such as critical and creative thinking, communication, and collaboration, and explore careers related to biomedical science, engineering, and biomedical engineering.
Community is at the center of CRHS’s success. Through those community partnerships, an opportunity with Medtronic has paved the way for CRHS Biomedical Science students to step into the shoes of professionals and get hands-on experience in biomedical engineering.
Since implementing the program in 2013, all PLTW Biomedical Science students have had the opportunity to tie together the knowledge they gain field trip opportunities at Medtronic Physiological Research Laboratories (PRL), located in Coon Rapids. While at PRL, students complete engineering challenges, explore medical devices created by Medtronic, interact with professionals to learn about their role within medical device research, complete interactive activities, and observe a surgery video to see how a device is implanted.
Senior capstone students can also share their projects with Medtronic professionals at the Mounds View facility for a poster session, career panel, and tour of the facility.
“For our students, this experience provides them the opportunity to network with professionals through sharing their research, learn about career journeys as they are about to start their own, and see what it is like to work for a world-wide company who has a STEM focus,” said Lana Rice, Curriculum Integration Coordinator for CRHS.
For Wilbert (Will) Ijoyode, a CRHS senior who conducted research on how food processing affects polymerase chain reaction (PCR) detectability, the experience offered him diverse perspectives from those gained in his class.
“I took one main idea away from the career panel: life isn’t linear. Almost every speaker took twists and turns in their career path. Each of them took each step as a learning experience and managed to use those lessons daily. I believe that having people from different backgrounds working together at Medtronic allows for unique discoveries and innovations,” he said.
Amanda Thor was presenting her team’s second capstone project-- identifying if locally sourced alfalfa was genetically modified-- and enjoyed touring the Medtronic facility and engaging with professionals during the panel.
“I enjoy when people talk about how they got to where they are today since it gives me insight on my own time frame. Being able to interact and have a mutual understanding with them was something that I truly valued,” she said.
Athena Cooper’s capstone project focused on how processing foods affects the genetically modified products inside those processed foods since those foods can often be seen as controversial due to lack of research. This interested the group and they decided to see how long it would take to destroy the makeup of GMOs in processed foods.
“My favorite part of presenting at Medtronic was answering the questions people had. Everyone who came had different levels of knowledge of our experiment, so I liked explaining and answering the different levels of questions people had varying in complexity,” she said. “My group was able to teach people about what we learned throughout the process and I hope they took something away from our presentation.”
Isuna Tucker’s team focused on child safety in rollercoasters – an idea born out of investigating the impact of a shopping cart hitting an ankle.
“While at Medtronic, I loved seeing the engineering labs and all the different 3D printers. One of the Technicians told us how, using their technology, they were able to get a patient in California to have a life changing surgery within three days!” said Tucker. “I also appreciate how the Medtronic professionals we met were all engaging and took interest in our projects while talking to us.”
This experience wouldn’t have been possible without immense support from the Coon Rapid community – especially student parent, Coon Rapid City Council members, and Medtronic Innovation Director Wade Demmer.
“His investment in our community and passion for STEM has fueled his involvement within our program. Wade serves as a mentor for our students and is a strong advocate for providing meaningful real-world experiences within Medtronic,” said Rice.
Want to hear more from these students about their PLTW experience and where to see them innovating next? Check out part 2!
PLTW has comprehensive PreK-12 pathways in computer science, engineering, and biomedical science.
About Coon Rapids High School
Coon Rapids High School - Center for Biomedical Sciences and Engineering (CRHS) is a large community school for grades 9 through 12 in the north metro (Minneapolis-St. Paul) area. CRHS is one of five high schools in the Anoka-Hennepin School District. We are committed to providing opportunities that will help our diverse student body reach their potential!
The Center for Biomedical Sciences and Engineering program is a specialty program within Coon Rapids High School for students who want an integrated and rigorous in-depth focus on science, math, and medical or engineering courses. Through the Project Lead The Way (PLTW) curriculum, students experience a sequence of courses that are hands-on and use a real-world problem-solving approach. Additionally, students build transferable skills such as critical and creative thinking, communication, and collaboration. Students explore careers related to Biomedical Science, Engineering, and Biomedical Engineering.
About Anoka-Hennepin School District
Anoka-Hennepin School District is a member of the Northwest Suburban Integrated School District (NWSISD), which is comprised of seven adjoining school districts working together to provide learning opportunities for students that are multicultural, diverse, and promote racial integration. Students who live within the seven adjoining school districts can attend any of the specialty and magnet school programs (school choice) and receive free transportation.
PLTW provides PreK-12 schools, teachers, and students with hands-on, interdisciplinary STEM-based curriculum that uniquely prepares students for life and their future careers. PLTW rejuvenates teachers, providing world-class experiences that keep them on the forefront of how to prepare students for the demands of tomorrow. PLTW:
- Has provided professional development opportunities to more than 80,000 teachers giving them the support and resources needed to inspire students
- Offers best-in-class teacher training: PLTW Core Training with Master Teachers
- Continuously updates teacher resources that are available on demand
- Facilitates teacher networking opportunities
- Develops curriculum by a team of writers, many of whom are former teachers
Learn more about PLTW on pltw.org.
