Madison Central High School earns national distinction

Madison Central High School earned national recognition as a 2020-2021 Project Lead The Way Distinguished School for the Academy of Engineering.

The school district announced the honor in a press release on Aug. 19.

Madison Central is the first high school in Mississippi and one of only 204 high schools in the nation to be honored with this recognition, which highlights the best of STEM and career learning programs, said Gene Wright, director of communications for Madison County Schools.

Project Lead The Way is a non-profit organization that serves millions of PreK-12 students and teachers in over 12,200 schools across the U.S.

“The Madison Central Academy of Engineering, which is partnered with PLTW Engineering, encourages high school students to step into the role of an engineer, and adopt a mindset for brainstorming and solving problems,” Wright said.

The PLTW Distinguished School recognition honors schools that are committed to increasing student access, engagement and achievements in their PLTW programs.

“It is a great honor to recognize Madison Central’s Engineering Academy for their unwavering commitment to provide students with an excellent educational experience despite the unusual circumstances and unique challenges that the COVID-19 pandemic presented to the educational landscape this past year,” said Dr. Vince Bertram, President and CEO of PLTW. “They should be very proud of their achievements in unlocking their students’ potential and equipping them with the
knowledge and skills necessary to thrive in life beyond the classroom no matter what career path they choose.”

Academy of Engineering students take part in collaborative, real-life activities such as creating apps for mobile devices, designing alternative energy power systems, and creating circuits for security systems. Students have also designed insulation from recyclable materials, designed and tested new composites for airplane wings, created a topographical map from remote data, and even programmed a material sorter for the recycling center.

In Madison County Schools, Project Lead the Way STEM programming is included in elementary, middle, and high schools as part of the curriculum designed to help students learn to create, communicate, and collaborate.