Techniques Feb 2013 - 53

Feature
Photo courtesy of Puyallup School District and Alex MacDonald

There are more than 500,000
people employed in upwards
of 7,000 companies, producing
everything from airplane bodies to
sports equipment to automobile
parts. The $70 billion industry’s
projected 10-year growth rate is
nearly 8 percent, which presents
an array of opportunities for a
highly skilled worker.
in Washington state in 2010.
“We were already participating in
Project Lead the Way. I was the first
teacher in the district to receive training,”
said Macdonald. “Our CTE director,
Mike Joyner, asked me to expand our offerings into science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), and we decided
that advanced composites was the direction we needed to go. Project Lead the
Way was heavy in math and science, and
STEM, with its engineering and technology emphasis, gave us a natural extension
for the students.”
The district’s junior high schools
offered the first course, Gateway to Technology (GTT). The other two district
high schools were offering magnet CTE
programs in metalworks and aviation.
Macdonald’s preference was to get some
science and technology into the curricula
that was not offered elsewhere. With
the heavy influence aviation plays in the
Northwest, composites was a natural fit.
Puyallup High School’s courses are
set up so that student outcomes can take
a variety of paths. “Many of our kids will
go into production/manufacturing environments, and we give them a very solid
basis for further vocational training or
apprenticeships,” said Macdonald. “Still
others find the material-science aspects
of advanced composites a fascinating
career path, while engineering types will
go on to careers designing and building
future applications.”
Ben Perry, a second-year student in
www.acteonline.org

Engineering/STEM instructor Alex Macdonald shows off
the composites rack system, built for approximately $200.
Photo courtesy of Puyallup School District and Ryan Houghton

First-year student Ryan Houghton dries materials
before getting them ready for vacuum bagging.

February 2013 Techniques
53

Techniques Feb 2013

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