Author: Tammy Lane • First Posted: Wednesday, December 16, 2009

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Leestown sixth-graders used yardsticks and graphing calculators to measure the slope of ramps leading to the portables behind the middle school.

In the new pre-engineering program at Leestown Middle School, sixth-graders have mastered precision exercises like measuring ramps and checking GPS coordinates – thriving with equipment provided through a Hewlett-Packard grant.

“We use our laptops to look up stuff and to show us how to do projects,” said Damien Hunter, one of 27 students selected for the pilot course this fall.

For instance, Damien and his classmates recorded the slope of the ramps outside their portable classrooms (Leestown is undergoing extensive renovations) and wrote business letters to the principal to report their findings.

“We were going to see if they were too steep or just right,” Montana Eversole explained.

Students also have used GPS devices in a scavenger hunt while studying longitude and latitude, and they set up microphones and tuning forks in an experiment to measure the speed of sound. Such projects can strengthen skills in a variety of areas, including math, science, English and social studies.

“I normally try to find out what they’re doing in their regular classes and extend it,” said Stephen Holthaus, the school’s technology resource teacher.

“They’ve had a lot of these hands-on activities, and they’re pretty fluent with their netbooks,” he said. “Most of it’s empowering them to go further.”

He recently introduced spreadsheets, which are part of the sixth-grade math curriculum.

Ashley Moss, who might want to be a lawyer instead of an engineer, noted she can practice preparing tax returns in Excel. “You have to put formulas in, and it helps in your everyday life,” she said.

Leestown launched its pre-engineering program through an HP Innovations in Education grant with an eye toward raising student achievement, increasing awareness of high-tech career opportunities and preparing students for the comparable program at Lafayette High School. The two schools basically split the $265,300 grant, which has provided professional development opportunities and classroom hardware such as mini laptops and graphing calculators. 

After reviewing kids’ previous year’s math scores and other criteria, Leestown teachers invited about 30 incoming students to take the new class. Next year, as seventh-graders, this group will again have the opportunity to take a pre-engineering course with Holthaus, along with a new batch of sixth-graders. By the third year of the program, students in grades 6-8 will be involved.

“Our plan is to start kids in the sixth grade and get them geared up and excited about engineering,” Holthaus said.

One goal is to bolster underrepresented demographic groups and prepare those children to enter the pre-engineering track at Lafayette High School. Leestown’s principal, Jennifer Kendall, noted that the class could also lay a strong foundation for the Math, Science and Technology Center program at Paul Laurence Dunbar High and special programs at the other high schools.

“It’s refreshing to see this level of student engagement. They have hands-on technology every day,” Kendall said. “The grades are good, the kids are enthusiastic, and we have a great deal of parental support.”