MATTAWA — Eighth-grade students at Wahluke Junior High School have an elective option this year that focuses on improved technological literacy.

The improvement is accomplished through a sequence of curriculum developed by Project Lead The Way, according to STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) teacher Arthur Morken.

PLTW is a national STEM initiative that promotes content connections and preparation for careers in the ever-growing STEM work fields. Students pair their classroom learning with competitive Technology Student Association events to enhance and prove their learning.

“They also make site visits (field trips) to see the relative and rigorous opportunities available in their futures,” Morken said.

The school year started with the principles of flight, a PLTW unit that focuses on flight and space. The students were able to have a career discussion with four local pilots. That was followed by a trip to the Desert Aire Airport.

Students not only had the opportunity to see how four planes were operated but participated in an activity involving the construction of planes. Two pilots took to the skies to demonstrate takeoffs, landings, and in-air maneuvers.

In March students who perform well in a class competition will represent WJH at the state TSA Glider/Flight competition. This trip will also allow students to visit the Museum of Flight in Seattle and enjoy a manufacturing field trip to Boeing.

By the end of the course, students will have experienced the many facets of the flight industry and achieved the college and career readiness goals that Career and Technical Education (CTE) courses focus on at the exploratory level.

Other units of the course will involve the physics of automotive design, video game and app creation and architectural concepts. Each unit focuses on CTE exploratory concepts and skills tied to Technology Student Association competitive events.

Our future WJH STEM stories will focus on Introduction to Computer Science and the $20,000 Verizon grant that provided this opportunity to the students of WJH.