Once each summer, technology teachers from all over the country gather in selected universities for "Project Lead the Way." They gather not to teach, but to learn. The focus of this event is to train these technology instructors in subjects related to engineering and design. With their education in the subject, they will be qualified to teach their own engineering classes in schools all over the country. This program is an effort to expand the educational opportunities on the high school level, and to get people excited about engineering. The goal is that the teachers walk away from their two week summer sessions with an entire year's worth of knowledge under their belts. But, if all of the teachers are learning, then who is teaching? The answer is folks like our very own Mr. Whipple.

Mr. Whipple, who teaches Aviation, Electronics, Digital Electronics, Photography, and Introduction to Engineering Design will be what is known in the program as a Master Teacher. And after 33 years at Park Center, he has earned that title. So, for two days in April, the Master Teacher will be travelling to the Rochester Institute of Technology in New York, which is where the program began, for his training. There, he will be instructed by program leaders how to teach his classes. After this, in July, he will be going to Penn State University for two weeks of teaching the teachers. After he is done with this, he will be going to Duke University for another two weeks of intensive teaching. During these two-week courses, teachers will be going through lesson plans and training for eight hours each day. They will be, as Mr. Whipple describes them, "very intense."

This is Mr. Whipple's first year as a Master Teacher, but he hopes that next year he will be able to teach his classes at the U of M to save on travel.

Currently, the only engineering classes at Park Center are Intro to Engineering Design and Digital Electronics. One of the hopes that Mr. Whipple has after being involved in Project Lead the Way is that PC will expand these programs and add new ones. There is already another program being set up for next year's students called Principles of Engineering. This class will be available to those who have taken the Intro class, and will be a sort of tack-on program, mixed in with students who are taking the first class. The real hope is that more students will be interested in these programs and expand them even more.

The program is already doing fairly well in Minnesota, and is getting stronger every year. However, the future of Project Lead the Way is dependent on students who want to learn more about engineering. Without interest from high school kids, the programs will disappear, and we wouldn't want that to happen.