District 21 wins $60,000 in Project Lead The Way grants for three elementary schools, expands before-school STEM clubs

District 21 announced Thursday that it had secured $60,000 in additional grant funding to expand Project Lead The Way (PLTW) Launch programming at three elementary schools and to support teacher training district-wide.

Asher Rodriguez, director of science and social studies, told the board the award is $20,000 per school over two years ("10,000 for each school year, 20,000 for each school, over the next 2 years"). The funds will pay for staff training and materials and support before- or after-school PLTW Launch clubs at Longfellow, Riley and Whitman.

Rodriguez described current programming at other elementary sites where earlier grants enabled clubs this year: Frost ran a coding club using Scratch with about 24 second- and third-graders; Kilmer ran an early-grade structures-and-functions Launch module for about 25 first-graders. The district said earlier grant awards have brought total ARDOG grant funding to $180,000 across its elementary schools.

"Project Lead the Way has helped our students see themselves as future inventors, computer programmers, and problem solvers," Rodriguez said, reading remarks from a Frost principal about engagement and hands-on learning.

Rodriguez said the district is recruiting teachers for PLTW training over the summer and early fall so clubs and module implementations can expand across multiple grade levels next year; PLTW Launch modules will also be part of the district's upcoming art and STEM summer academy. Supply purchases for clubs and the summer academy were funded from the awards.

No board action was required Thursday; staff asked for continued board support as training and program expansion proceed.