Biomedical program celebrated in Girard

Staff report

Girard

Girard High School’s Biomedical Science program celebrated being recognized as a Nationally Certified School from Project Lead the Way during a schoolwide activity-day assembly Monday at Girard High School gymnasium.

Last spring, the PLTW committee granted the Biomedical Science High School program its National Certification and also granted the Junior High School Gateway to Technology program the National Recognition title after proving best practices and high standards for the rigorous, hands-on, real-world curriculum upheld at its schools.

These programs at Girard City Schools are centerpieces of the Science Technology, Engineering and Math Program that help provide students curriculum to better prepare them in these fields beyond the typical course load.

Girard High School Biomedical Science students have demonstrated a strong background in math and science and have expressed an interest in post-secondary medical studies.

The biomedical program consists of a four-year curriculum that includes principles of the biomedical sciences, human body systems, medical interventions and biomedical innovations in addition to traditional mathematics and science courses such as trigonometry, calculus, biology, chemistry and physics.

Girard Junior High School students take Gateway to Technology, where they acquire knowledge and skills in problem- solving, teamwork and innovation, as well as the exploration of STEM- related careers.

These nine-week courses provide seventh- and eighth-grade students with a project-based curriculum designed to challenge and engage the natural curiosity and imagination of the middle-school students, according to a school-district press release

Junior-high students who wish to continue their studies in pre-engineering courses are invited to enroll in the Girard High School Project Lead the Way Pre-Engineering program, which was certified nationally in 2010.

PLTW says it is the leading provider of rigorous and innovative STEM educational curricular programs used in middle and high schools across the U.S.

The PLTW curriculum is founded in the fundamental problem-solving and critical-thinking skills taught in traditional career and technical education, but at the same time integrates national academic and technical learning standards and STEM principles, creating what U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan calls one of the “great models of the new CTE succeeding all across the country.”

PLTW recently was cited by the Harvard Graduate School of Education as a “model for 21st-century career and technical education.”