BELLAIRE — Bellaire Local Schools Superintendent Darren Jenkins, at the regular meeting of the Bellaire Local Board of Education, announced the district’s adoption of “Project Lead the Way.”

Project Lead the Way provides transformative learning experiences for pre-K to 12th grade students and teachers.

It creates an engaging, hands-on classroom environment that empowers students to develop in-demand knowledge and skills they need to thrive. PLTW students engage in hands-on activities, projects, and problems that are reflective of real-world challenges.

“We believe all students — beginning at a young age — need access to real-world, applied learning experiences that empower them to gain the skills they need to thrive in college, career, and beyond,” he said.

PLTW’s research-supported approach empowers students to discover and explore interests, imagine and design solutions to real-world challenges, and become independent, confident problem solvers.

PLTW students engage in hands-on activities, projects, and problems that are reflective of real-world challenges.

This compelling, real-world approach empowers students to learn essential, in-demand skills validated by the world’s leading companies, while also providing an invaluable connection between what students are learning in the classroom today and how it applies to the paths they’ll take in the future.

“The program will be funded primarily through the district’s federal ESSER funds which will allow the adoption of this program, plus the needed technology upgrades without an undue burden to the district’s general fund,” Jenkins said during his report to the board.

Successful completion of this curriculum and achievement of the necessary test scores will allow students to be awarded college credit while remaining in high school. The plan is to implement this program throughout the district in each building.

“We see this as the next logical step in a curriculum transformation which began in May of 2017,” Jenkins continued.

At that time the district held a community education forum to screen the film, “Most Likely to Succeed” to facilitate a conversation around reinvention of the district’s educational program following its release from state-imposed Fiscal Emergency in December 2009.

Since 2017, the district has experienced steady gains on the state’s assessments.

The district has adopted a one-to-one student computer program as well as STEM — science, technology, engineering and math — educational units in all buildings.

“It’s always a great day to be a Big Red,” Jenkins said. “People comment about the district’s fiscal turnaround, but they lose sight of the tremendous academic gains we have seen during this time as well.”