Engaging, Inspiring,
Empowering:
The PLTW Experience

Discover the PLTW Experience

Envision a hands-on learning environment that inspires students and teachers to believe in their abilities, empowers them to reimagine their potential, and prepares them to bring their dreams to life.

PLTW makes it possible.

The PLTW Classroom Experience

Imagine a classroom filled with engaged students who are collaborating with classmates on solving real-world problems, like programming electronic devices or devising how to clean up an oil spill.

Imagine a teacher supporting student inquiry and learning as a coach and facilitator, rather than a lecturer.

Imagine an environment where students are disappointed to hear the bell ring because they are intent on solving a medical mystery.

Imagine PreK-12 students who are already making a difference today and will go on to change the world tomorrow.

This is what happens every day for PLTW students and teachers at every grade level across the U.S.

I think that Project Lead The Way was made by dreamers for dreamers, and it's amazing to get to be a part of that. Any type of success that I've had ... I think that all comes from a real strong foundational basis that I gained from Project Lead The Way.

- Kelsie O’Brien, PLTW Biomedical Science Alumna United States Air Force Academy

For the past four years, PLTW has been a huge part of my life, and it's definitely changed my entire career path. I definitely wouldn't be wanting to study chemical engineering in college had it not been for PLTW.

- Keiana Cavé, PLTW Engineering Student Lusher Charter Middle and High School | New Orleans, Louisiana

PLTW has made me think of goals that I never would have even thought of in the first place, and given me the confidence to pursue them.

- Madeline Pasche, PLTW Gateway Student Hudson Middle School | Hudson, Wisconsin

I have learned hard work and dedication from the biomedical program. ... It just goes hand in hand with all of my other work, like AP Bio.

- Jonathan Muniz-Becerra, PLTW High School Student Eastlake High School | El Paso, Texas

As a senior in high school, I've been going around looking at all these different colleges, and walking through the biology departments, and I will be with my parents and I will look up at the walls and see all these posters about their human physiology experiments. I can look at my parents and point up there and whisper to them, ‘I can do that. I've done that before.'

- Ben Moreno, PLTW Biomedical Science Student Health & Science High School | Beaverton School District | Beaverton, Oregon

Preparing Students to Soar

Through PLTW’ s activity-, project-, and problem-based curriculum, students in pre-kindergarten through high school engage in true-to-life challenges like programming apps to solve problems for clients, cleaning up oil spills, and proposing methods to prevent the spread of illness. As they lead their own explorations, students are empowered to connect their learning to the real world, develop in-demand skills, and reimagine their potential.

It was the most intense professional development I have ever attended but also the most rewarding professional development that I have ever attended. I walked out with everything I needed to be a Project Lead The Way teacher. It was all right there. I had done the activities. I knew what to expect. I knew what I needed in terms of materials, and the curriculum was rock-solid and it was spelled out for me.

- Beth Fox, PLTW Gateway Master Teacher William Lenoir Middle School | Lenoir, North Carolina

I've taught more mathematics, more writing, more science, more history in a computer science class than I ever could in a traditional math class, a traditional science class. American education needs to blend. We need to stop trying to isolate our courses and our disciplines, and everything needs to be interdisciplinary. … I think Project Lead The Way is well on the way of changing the paradigm of American education.

- Darwin Shorters, PLTW Computer Science Master Teacher St. John’s High School | Charleston, South Carolina

Kids realize when they ask me a question, they're going to get a question back. At first kids don't like that. They're used to asking a question and getting an answer. When they ask me a question, I give them a question back and they have to kind of figure it out. They learn that if I don't know the answer and he's not going to tell me, maybe I better ask somebody else in class. I have kids from all different levels all mixed up in the same classroom. It's a heterogeneous mix and everybody's working together. It's amazing to see.

- Chris Hurd, PLTW Engineering Master Teacher Cazenovia High School | Cazenovia, New York

Transforming the Teaching Experience

PLTW empowers educators to lead relevant, hands-on learning experiences through an activity-, project-, and problem-based (APB) instructional approach. Whether challenging students to create animations from short stories or design prosthetic devices, PLTW teachers transform the classroom into collaboration spaces where interdisciplinary learning comes to life. In addition, PLTW teachers receive unparalleled support and comprehensive classroom resources that help them focus their time and attention on what they do best: engaging and inspiring students.

Empowered to Make Lasting Impacts

PLTW students and their teachers are using their best thinking to make a difference in their classrooms, in their communities, and beyond.

Professional Development for Innovative Teachers

Planning Your PLTW Programs for the 2023-24 School Year

PLTW Alumnus Spotlight: Emma Flinner

PLTW Partnership Expands K-12 STEM Pathways to More Students in Growing Community

How to Register for Beyond PBL: A Proven Learning Approach

Discover the Power of the PLTW Student Experience

Find out why PLTW students go to class early, stay late, and ask for extra homework.

Learn More

Engage in the PLTW Teacher Experience

Why do educators say PLTW has had a positive impact on their classrooms, their careers, and their lives? See for yourself.