RACINE - Students from the Project Lead The Way program at Horlick High School recently visited Milwaukee School of Engineering for a campus tour. Students were taken through the Campus Center, the Kern Center, the Fred Lock Engineering Center, Allen Bradley Hall of Science and many more of the campuses facilities.

The visiting students were also met by affiliate professors from Project Lead The Way who facilitated a question and answer session as part of the tour.

The Project Lead The Way program students earned an 85 percent or higher in their classes through Project Lead The Way certified teachers and took the national exam which qualifies them for three credits each from MSOE or any other nationwide school.

The engineering courses also help students to generate a portfolio helping them to compete in the growing technical market. Three students from Horlick High School through the Project Lead The Way program are able to receive scholarships from a pool of more than $120,000 to attend MSOE.

Students at Horlick High School are able to take a variety of Project Lead The Way classes to get them ready for higher education at engineering schools. Courses are "Introduction to Engineering," "Digital Electronics" and "Principals of Engineering." "Computer Integrated Manufacturing" will be added in the 2009-10 school year to help grow the program at Horlick High School.

High school students are also able to work between Unified high schools that offer a wide range of Project Lead The Way courses.

Those students who exhaust all of the offered Project Lead The Way courses are eligible for youth options.

This allows the Racine Unified School District students to take courses at Gateway Technical College as college credit courses and have those credits transfer to a four-year engineering school.

Research shows a graduation rate of 92 percent of students who entered an engineering college through Project Lead The Way compared to a 30 to 40 percent graduation rate of their peers who did not participate in Project Lead The Way courses. Between Racine and Kenosha counties, Racine Unified School District sends more students through youth options than any other district in the two county region.

About Project Lead The Way

Project Lead The Way is a national non-profit organization established to help schools give students the knowledge they need to excel in high-tech fields.

Studies of Project Lead The Way's curriculum have proven the Project Lead The Way students become the kind of prepared, competent; high-tech employees the U.S. industry needs to stay competitive in the global market.