NAPILI – Maui Preparatory Academy last week announced that it has adopted Project Lead The Way’s (PLTW) high school engineering program for the 2016-19 school years.

PLTW is a nonprofit organization that provides a transformative learning experience for K-12 students and teachers. Maui Prep has joined more than 8,000 schools across the U.S. in offering PLTW programs to students.

PLTW Engineering empowers students to step into the role of an engineer, adopt a problem-solving mindset and make the leap from dreamers to doers.

The program engages students in collaborative, real-life activities like working with a client to design a home, using a flight simulator to learn basic pilot skills or exploring algae as a biofuel source.

As students work together to imagine and design solutions to local and global challenges, they test their limits and question what’s possible. And by pushing themselves to rework and refine their projects, PLTW Engineering students learn that both failure and perseverance are key to learning and innovation.

“Maui Prep is proud to offer PLTW to our students and give them an advantage over their peers in college and their careers,” said Head of School Jonathan Silver.

“PLTW has a long history of successfully engaging students in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) subjects, and we believe our community will also see the benefits of PLTW as these students turn into the next generation of highly skilled employees for our local businesses.”

According to PLTW, students with STEM skills are in high demand. A 2012 PayScale study shows that the most valuable college degrees through 2020 will be in STEM fields.

Many PLTW Engineering graduates have said that it influenced their post-secondary decisions and helped shape their future. Even for students who do not plan to pursue engineering after high school, the PLTW Engineering program provides opportunities to develop highly transferable skills in problem solving, critical and creative thinking, communication and collaboration, which are relevant for any coursework or career.

“In today’s global economy, our students are competing not just against each other but against their peers all over the world,” said Vince Bertram, president and chief executive officer of PLTW. “It is more critical now than ever before that education empowers students to develop the transportable skills that will prepare them for an evolving world.”

Teachers play an immeasurable role in empowering students to lead their own learning. In addition to providing K-12 curricular pathways, PLTW provides high-quality professional development training that provides teachers with the support and resources they need to devote more time to inspiring students.

Maui Prep teachers will spend several weeks this summer at the University of Hawaii West Oahu preparing for the new program and learning from other PLTW teachers across the country.

As a PLTW school, Maui Prep is part of a community of K-12 schools, colleges and universities, and corporate and philanthropic partners across the country united around a passion for providing students with inspiring, engaging, and empowering learning opportunities.

PLTW students are afforded a variety of opportunities, including scholarships, preferred admission at colleges and universities, internships, industry connections and avenues to highlight achievements.

For more information on Maui Prep’s new PLTW Engineering program, or to set up a school visit, contact Cathi Minami, director of admissions, at 665-9966 or cminami@mauiprep.org, or visit www.mauiprep.org.

For more information on Project Lead The Way, visit pltw.org.