Lancaster High School (LNHS) hosted a Project Lead the Way (PLTW) Showcase on September 17, where students got to meet representatives from the Antelope Valley Union High School District (AVUHSD), PLTW, and other educational institutions. Project Lead the Way is a nonprofit organization that provides students with programs that focus on transferable skills, technical knowledge, and career confidence.

LNHS students and teachers guided guests to visit their classrooms. Lancaster High School offers three PLTW programs, which allows students to experience more than one technical program and creates opportunities for classes to collaborate on projects. The programs’ teachers include Eryk Frias (Engineering), Priscilla Martinez-Chang (Biomedical Sciences), and Ryan McDaniels (Computer Science).

“My students were able to bring one of their biomedical innovation designs from paper to life,” commented Priscilla Martinez-Chang. “I reached out to Mr. Frias and I said, hey, would your students be able to 3D print some of my students’ designs and thankfully they were able to do that. My students really, really enjoyed seeing what they had made in my class, being brought to life.”

Students were excited to share stories of their current and past experiences which included learning how to use a 3D printer, investigating a mock CSI scenario, cooling off in the E-sports game room and even winning ninth place in a national cyber security tournament.

“I took the principal’s engineering design, and we had a really big team project where we had to make a Rube Goldberg machine,” said Neill Jenkins, a senior in the LNHS engineering program. “That was one of the toughest projects I’ve ever done. It took almost a quarter long to complete. It was incredibly stressful, it was incredibly hard, but at the end it was incredibly rewarding and it was one of the best things I’ve done throughout high school.”

The showcase concluded with a Q&A hosted by Susan Kim, the Local Success Leader for PLTW. Students and teachers shared the importance of Career Technical Programs in high schools as well as their gratitude for the relationship Lancaster High School has built with Project Lead the Way.

”PLTW makes understanding in the curriculum much more organized because everything is already labeled on what lessons we have to learn and what notations we have to take in order to understand the curriculum,” Jantin Asmat, a junior at LNHS in the computer science program, expressed. ”Which allows us to learn from understanding and not just memorization.”

LNHS has been a PLTW Distinguished School for three consecutive years. This recognition celebrates the school’s commitment to expanding access to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) and preparing students with the skills needed for colleges and careers.