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Beloit officials propose new Make 48 innovation course tied to engineering pathway and national competition
Summary
Director of CTE presented a new semester course proposal to expand the district's engineering pathway using the Make 48 Innovation Experience; the program would allow qualifying students to enter a national competition limited to 128 school programs nationwide.
Jeff Stenders, director of CTE and alternative education, presented a proposal on March 18 to add a semester‑long Make 48 Innovation Experience course to Beloit Memorial High School’s engineering pathway.
Stenders said the course builds on prior local Make 48 activity and a recent pilot conducted during academic lab. The course would blend STEM, business and creative problem solving, align with SkillsUSA competition options, and map to Next Generation Science Standards and Common Core expectations in math and language arts. Stenders said Make 48 will reserve a spot for the district in a nationwide competition limited to 128 school programs.
Students would work in teams, develop prototypes and submit initial videos in November with regional and national competition rounds later in the calendar. The program leader in the district — a local Project Lead The Way teacher who has worked with student teams and a Make 48 organizer — will be the school contact for the course pilot and competitions, Stenders said.
Stenders said the district will bring the matter to the full board for consent once the course is finalized and placed in the course guidebook. Committee members praised the opportunity as an applied learning experience that could expand engineering pathway options for students.
The proposal did not include a request for immediate funding; Stenders said details about staffing and materials would be provided with the formal course adoption request to the board.
The board committee heard the proposal as an initial presentation and will consider final consent at a later meeting.
