Pontiac Lincoln Middle School: Lots of Energy
The cornerstone on the old school building reads 1929. Inside Cathy Craven’s PLTW classroom, however, students are using the latest computers and software programs. The eighth grade class starts the school year outdoors with a rocketry unit. The class then moves indoors to discuss careers, master the Inventor program, and work with robotics. The class finishes the school year back outdoors drilling, sawing, sanding, painting, and racing wooden dragsters. They cram a lot of activity into eight short months.
D'AmaeA Allen-Seay inside the school seen on her computer screen.
D’MaeA Allen-Seay is glad to take the PLTW class, because, as she says, “We don’t always get a chance to do things like this. In other classes, we just do book work, but here we use the Internet to learn and we get experience in other things.” Besides providing an opportunity to do Internet research, the PLTW class may offer D’MaeA an even greater benefit. “I can actually do the projects in here,” she says, “and that makes me proud of myself.”
For Lillian Cintron, the PLTW class is also about exposure to new possibilities. She says, “I think it’s a really interesting class. It gives us an insight into different careers, for example, computer engineering and design. It teaches us about computers and computer technology letting us know about what we’re going to be working with in the future if we decide to take this career into consideration.” Lillian loves pets and is thinking about becoming a Veterinarian. She adds, however, “I’m still in the process of thinking about what career I want to go into, possibly engineering.”
Lillian Cintron loves both pets and computers.
One of the major projects the entire class learns is the use of Inventor, a computer program that allows students to create three-dimensional computer images of their own drawings and designs, a key ingredient in creating real objects. According to Victoria Nealy, “Inventor is hard to learn, but once you get the hang of it, it’s fine.” Mrs. Craven says, “When they looked at the program, at the start, probably 99 percent of these kids said ‘I can’t do this. This is too hard.’ It’s challenging but not hard. I showed them they could get through it and now they can do almost anything with it they put their minds to.”
Amazingly, Lisa Foster mastered Inventor in “about a week”! She says the PLTW class is her favorite class and that Inventor “had a different, unique way to it” that allowed her to “express more on the computer.” She says about PLTW, “There are new things you see almost every day.”
Victoria Nealy (left) and Lisa Foster (right) both mastered inventor.
Both Victoria Nealy and Lisa Foster said that the measuring they did in their math class aided them with their designs in the PLTW class. Other students, like Donte Taylor and Eduardo Flores, said they liked the chance to work “hands-on” with materials. Both were equally at home using Inventor. Donte Taylor used Inventor to design an impressive-looking mallet head. Eduardo Flores transferred into the PLTW class with no prior interest in computers or engineering but says “school is better” since he now has the PLTW class to look forward to. Alexandra Ayala laughs that her rocket “was a dud,” but about the PLTW class she says, “I love it.” Of the class and its projects, D’MaeA Allen-Seay says, “Everyone should learn how to do this.”
Eduardo Flores (left) and Alexandra Ayala (right) both love PLTW.
Mrs. Craven has her hands full with the 26 energetic students in her class, but she doesn’t seem to mind. She says, “I enjoy teaching and watching students progress throughout the year in hands-on, challenging projects that they have fun accomplishing and which at the beginning they thought were impossible.” Someone is noticing. Recently, the Society for Manufacturing and Education Foundation provided Mrs. Craven’s class with a $25,000 grant to pay for software and supplies. The SME Foundation also provided Mrs. Craven a further $12,500 for her to run the Gateway Academy class this summer. With this kind of aid and teaching, Pontiac Lincoln’s old facade provides its students a chance to work at the cutting edge.
Cathy Craven enjoys teaching the PLTW couse at Pontiac Lincoln.