CSHM Project Lead the Way Program

K-12 STEAM Education

Expand existing project, program, or initiative

The issue we seek to address is to provide an answer to the nation's growing need for entry -level practitioners, who greatly influence health-care delivery. The program is designed to promote and encourage our diverse high school students, starting as freshmen, from underserved communities to pursue a career-path in Medicine. We are located in a predominantly Hispanic community and the lack of Latino doctors, nurses and STEM professionals is glaring. Factors associated with this underrepresentation include high levels of family poverty linked to high secondary school dropout rates, inadequate educational background and work experiences, and lack of information on resources and opportunities. By having the PLTW program we can share wonderful opportunities with our families as early as middle school. We can help steer more youth into this program and advise them on what AP courses are required to pursue a degree in Science or prepare for a medical career.

Project Lead the Way provides transformative learning experiences for PreK-12 students and teachers across the U.S. PLTW creates an engaging, hands-on classroom environment and empower students to develop in-demand knowledge and skills they need to thrive. Project Lead the Way creates an engaging, hands-on classroom environment and empower students to develop in-demand knowledge and skills they need to thrive. PLTW programs in computer science, engineering, and biomedical science engage students in hands-on activities, projects, and problems; empower them to solve real-world challenges; and inspire them to reimagine how they see themselves. The teacher who will lead the CSHM PLTW program is an alumni and a former International student who returned to his alma mater to teach math. Project Lead the Way provides transformative learning experiences for K-12 students and teachers across the U.S. They create an engaging, hands-on classroom environment and empower students to develop in-demand knowledge and skills they need to thrive. PLTW also provides teachers with the training, resources, and support they need to engage students in real-world learning. The goal of PLTW is to help support community schools and build talent pipelines.STEM education is important as it offers several benefits to students, from developing programs that allow for deeper learning to teaching them critical skills they can use to succeed in life.

If our work is successful, we can provide low income Latino students the science classes and educational direction they need now to take the proper courses in college so they can be Doctors, Nurses, Engineers in 2050. Latinos remain underrepresented in the STEM workforce - making up only 8% of STEM workers despite being the country's second-largest ethnic group (DeVry University). The Pew Research Center, in 2021, said Hispanics earned 15% of all bachelor's degrees in the U.S., but only 12% of STEM degrees. This divide is worse for women, with Latinas only holding 2% of STEM jobs in the U.S. even though women comprise 28.8% of the U.S. tech workforce. Teaching STEM at a young age can help encourage more kids to pursue a career in STEM. While kids might not be planning their futures in middle school, introducing them to various subjects when they are younger can instill a lifelong interest and passion in subjects, encouraging them to seek degrees and jobs in that field.

Project Lead the Way is an existing project and the students who have participated in the course, over the past 4 years, have been accepted into USC, UCLA, John Hopkins, Oregon, Berkeley, UC Irvine and other great schools. CSHM's strong belief is that if more low-income, minority youth were exposed to programs such as Project Lead the Way, not in high school but in middle school and provided a roadmap and the tools needed to take and pass the required AP Science courses, the percentage of Latino youth in the Stem and Medical field will significantly rise. Many of our parents and guardians do not have a college degree and very few understand the specific courses required to be accepted into a UC school or advising their children on what AP course to take. STEM is an excellent subject for promoting equality in the classroom since all kids can participate in lessons and activities. With your support we can help more families and change more lives.