Middle-school Project Lead The Way students showcase engineering projects to Rockport school committee

Ali Favaza, the middle school engineering and computer science teacher, told the Rockport School Committee that this is the first year she has implemented Project Lead The Way at the middle-school level and that the program has helped structure community engagement and documentation."This program incorporates that in a really timely organized manner," she said, adding that PLTW encourages students to record design work "when you wanna file a patent" and improves planning and design habits.

Several students joined Favaza to describe in-class projects and what they learned. "Science of technology is one of my favorite classes because even though we are clearly having fun, it's obvious that we're learning stuff because it's right there in the notes," said Vanessa, a sixth grader. Abby Base, also in sixth grade, said teamwork and hands-on work were highlights: "One of my favorite projects we did was making ice cream. We used salt to lower the freezing temperature, and I loved working as a team."

Upper-grade students credited the middle-school exposure with inspiring further coursework. "Before this class I didn't really know what I wanted to do in college, but now I know I want to pursue engineering," said Adam Beaton, a junior, who described designing motorized cars to test torque and pulling force. Beck Guarino, a junior who said he attends Rockport High School, recounted a large trebuchet project that sparked his interest in engineering and praised a high-school teacher, Mr. Sabo, for mentorship.

Committee members asked about homework expectations and continuity between middle and high school offerings. Favaza said assignments are primarily project-based but that students completed a simple-machines observational task as an applied exercise. School Committee member Amy Oakes asked whether students would take additional courses in subsequent years; several students indicated they would.

Members and administrators praised the students for presenting and noted resource questions. Oakes asked about equipment needs; students and the committee discussed workshop space and computer access. The superintendent and staff said they will continue to develop feeder pathways and consider classroom resourcing as the program expands.

The presentation concluded with the committee thanking the students and teacher for demonstrating PLTW classroom work and describing next steps for strengthening high-school links and classroom resources.