Podcasts about Project Lead the Way

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Today is a special day—we're celebrating our 100th episode! For this milestone episode, we're diving into a theme at the heart of enablement: making the impossible, possible. In today's business landscape, only 28% of sellers expect to hit their quota. So how can you enable your teams to overcome the challenges of the current market to achieve consistent go-to-market success? Shawnna Sumaoang: Hi and welcome to the Win Win Podcast. I'm your host, Shawnna Sumaoang. Join us as we dive into changing trends in the workplace and how to navigate them successfully. In this episode, we'll hear from nine leaders who transformed challenges into business outcomes, delivering impact against their go-to-market initiatives through enablement. From earning leadership buy-in to aligning go-to-market teams and boosting productivity, these leaders enable the impossible for their businesses. We hope their stories will inspire you to push boundaries and redefine what's possible in your organization. Driving consistent revenue growth can feel impossible when silos divide sales, marketing, enablement, and revenue operations. A unified enablement approach can break down these barriers and drive measurable impact. But how do you demonstrate the value of enablement to stakeholders and secure their long-term support? In this part, we'll hear Pam Dake, senior director of GTM enablement at Menlo Security, share her success story for gaining leadership buy-in. Pam Dake: My name is Pam Dake and I work for Menlo Security, a cybersecurity company that actually has just surpassed a hundred million ARR. One of the bigger challenges that I’ve had recently has been in aligning the executive teams in order to really, truly understand how to be impactful, leveraging the go to market motion in a way that not only lands the big deal, but also allows us to have a very productive and valuable customer relationship long term. And so for me, it’s been gaining the opportunity to have that meeting with all of these critical stakeholders, have them see value. Each and every time that you meet with them, so that they feel like they’re getting something out of that meeting where it’s actually really driving the business forward in ways that they may not have seen initially. And so for me, it’s been setting up a recurring meeting with those folks who are the most senior and executive in the company to be able to drive forward what sales needs, which actually is driven primarily from what sales needs. Really, our customers are looking for from us as a company. Be tenacious about how you’re able to make a difference with aligning their internal stakeholders and really driving forward the programs that will make a difference, not only in the short term and the long term. So as you consider the strategy that you’re building. Ensure that you have your other internal stakeholders aligned and do that in ways that create value for them so that they can see the impact. One of the things that we talked about earlier was data. Leverage the data that you have on hand. Leverage tools that provide you with that really impactful data that provide you with insight into the leading indicators that will actually drive the business longer term with the lagging ones. So the bottom line is really taking an outside in approach with what you’re doing from an enablement lens. How does this impact my customers? Therefore, how am I able to build the best programs that I can that will enable My internal stakeholders, my internal teams, in order to be successful and provide value to our customers, not only in the short term with what wins they’re able to achieve, but how they’re able to grow and develop the relationships over time. SS: You need stakeholder buy-in to break down silos and align your go-to-market teams – but why is that alignment so critical? Without it, you can't coordinate, plan, and execute the initiatives needed to drive the business outcomes that matter most. And when 90% of organizations fail to execute their strategies successfully, it clearly takes more than guesswork to achieve those outcomes. So how can you define, execute, and optimize your go-to-market initiatives to deliver unprecedented impact? In this part, we'll hear stories from enablement leaders who brought key go-to-market initiatives to life through enablement. First, let's start with a common initiative that impacts teams across the go-to-market organization: product launch. Effectively bringing a new product to market can make or break your revenue targets. We'll hear from Chris Wronski, senior program manager at Keysight, on how he helped deliver a product launch that contributed to the first revenue growth in seven years despite a tough market. Chris Wronski: My name is Chris Wronski. I’m a Senior Program Manager at Keysight Technologies, and I am the architect behind our Highspot implementation. The last couple years have been very difficult in the, across the entire industry, right? Every, many companies are talking about it, us included. If you go pull our quarterly info, you can see the last seven quarters have been very difficult for us. So what I talked about earlier, the focus on new product introductions. That’s an opportunity for us to make some hay. That’s an opportunity for a, we’ve got a brand new product, we’ve got a brand new reason to go talk to customers. Even if they have no opportunities, at least go explain to them what we’ve got, right? There might be something in there. We’ve done a lot of work around building sales plays in a way that the seller can consume it and trying to crush it down. Really, um, aggressive simplicity is what I would call it. But by building that in and giving them just a little bit of info to start the discussion in a way that we knew you could start that discussion with nearly any customer, that’s enough to get the ball rolling and let them go do their sales job. We’ve done a ton of pushing training to them. I can see that in the numbers. I can see when we do our training. I can see the following week there’s a huge spike in people going to those sales plays and looking at them and using them. And so, Last quarter we, we turned the curve, right? Turned the knee of the curve and brought back at least a little bit of growth. We were positive for the first time in seven quarters. SS: Next, let's dig into an initiative that is likely on the minds of many GTM leaders with the new year around the corner: sales kickoffs and events. Starting off a year on the right foot can provide a business with momentum that carries through the rest of the year. Brooke Cole, manager of global field readiness at Workato, shares with us how her team drove an impressive boost in NPS with their first in-person SKO events. Brooke Cole: My name is Brooke Cole, and I’ve been at Workato for almost three years. A business challenge that myself and my team have overcome that we’re really proud of is probably our first in-person SKO events that we executed earlier this year. Because of COVID and just the nature of the world, we had been unable to get together in person as a collective regional team. Really, ever. We hadn’t. We had one scheduled, and then we had to cancel it, of course. Uh, so, earlier this year, our team, we ended up doing it regionally. So, in North America, in APJ, and in EMEA, our team was tasked with putting on three different SKO events within three to four weeks. And we traveled to each one of them. And the way that we overcame that really was just a sense of teamwork and camaraderie. We built trust with one another. We had really open dialogue and communication. And we really used our skill sets and our collaboration. To put on an event that got an NPS score of 85 globally. We heard the phrase, this is the best SKO we’ve ever had. And truly, to be fair, it’s the only one we’ve ever had in person. But people left jazzed, and they left inspired, and we leveraged Highspot as a part of that. Going into this next year, this is the second year where Highspot will be our landing page for our global event that we’re having, and so it’s going to be the Know Before You Go, and we did that as a trial period last year, and it worked out really well. The traffic was great when people had questions, we were able to direct them to Highspot for that, and I think we were proud overall of just the vision that we put together. And how we executed the tools and the apps that we already had at hand in order to bring everybody together in a centralized place to give them the awareness and create excitement around the events. SS: Now, we're diving into an initiative that can have a profound impact on productivity: the sales process. Research shows that just 28% of a rep's time goes to selling, and an optimized sales process can help you streamline workflows and save time. Let's hear from Jay Livingston, head of enablement at Corporate Visions, on how his team is improving the sales process and delivering time savings as a result. Jay Livingston: I’m Jay Livingston. I lead Global Sales Enablement at Corporate Visions. I remember when I got involved in enablement, one of the things that I learned is that sellers spend an inordinate amount of time each month preparing their own content. They have a lot of goals. so we in a headquarters environment have time to sit around and think about how to improve some of these processes. Salespeople don’t, right? They’re running from call to call, always trying to be ready to meet that moment. And so one of the, one of the main challenges I’ve been focused on quite honestly for more than just the last couple of years at CVI is how do we make. Content and resources and tools and assets more purpose driven more readily available, more easily findable, and then more from a usability perspective, make it easier for, again, for those sales folks to be able to execute in those moments. And so I remember when we first rolled out Highspot here back a few months ago one of the things that, that a member of my team Eric is a VP on our team, would say, man, he’s I just, I don’t have time to do all the things that I need to do because I’m constantly getting emails or messages or slacks about, hey, where’s this and where’s this and where’s this, Highspot literally I no longer have to field any of those calls. As a matter of fact, when we were here in August, I had a chance, we were sitting around the table to share a story that just in the month, I think we had been maybe a month in at that point the amount of time that Eric has been able to get back in his day. To not have to field those annoying, it can be very annoying requests, right? Because how many times do we tell our sellers where things are, how to use them, right? And you almost wonder sometimes, are they listening, right? Are we not communicating it effectively? All of a sudden now we’re seeing literally no request for where is this? How do I use it, right? And so again, what I would say is it’s not bulletproof, right? There’s always going to be opportunities to improve. But one of the hallmarks of the way that I’ve tried to lead enablement organizations is to really have it boil down to two things. One, what is the seller’s, or what is your colleague’s ability to be able to execute in this moment? We can lean into the ability to help them get better. And two, what is their willingness? And willingness, oftentimes, is influenced by how easy something is to execute. And so if we can remove the willingness component, then we can just focus squarely on the ability. And so as we continue to move forward those are really the two things that, that we continue to evaluate ourselves by. Are we making it simple? And how are we helping folks coach or how are we coaching folks to get better and to be more effective and to utilize these amazing tools and opportunities that we all have SS: And now, let's talk about an initiative at the heart of enablement: training. When done right, sales training can drive the behavior change reps need to consistently hit their targets–but often, that can be easier said than done. Let's hear Anthony Doyle, director of sales enablement at Turnitin, explain how he revitalized training and ultimately improved seller engagement. Anthony Doyle: My name is Anthony Doyle, and I'm the director of sales and development at Turnitin. In terms of overcoming really difficult problems, the biggest problem is engagement—engagement from the sales teams, leaning into the enablement programs, spending time, and investing their time in their own development. I think that's what we've seen a real uptick on and success on in the past, maybe six to twelve months. We've seen a change in attitude. We're getting success now when launching new training programs. People are leaning into them, they're completing them, and they're giving us good feedback too, which is something that I probably never thought I would have said twelve months ago because we started investing a lot of time and building a lot of training, but then that wasn't really getting consumed. It was very difficult to get managers to even back us up and roll it out with our teams. Whereas now, when I've just presented to the go-to-market team on a go-to-market all-hands, strategy for the sales academy, there was just a lot of love in the room. A lot of people saying, ‘This is fantastic. We can't wait to see it in action and get our hands on it.’ So we had a lot of good feedback from that session. And that's really pleasing for me because it means that the strategy was the right strategy. I think the message for teams and enablement teams out there, if you are getting those challenges with engagement, is to keep at it, show value, and really drive those proof points. Get those wins regionally with teams who will engage, then present it in a very easy-to-consume way, and in a way that the teams can feel confident about engaging with. You will see the results, and the tide will turn. So that's something I'm proud of. SS: Next, let's explore an initiative that drives long-term impact—coaching. Effective coaching helps sellers apply newly acquired knowledge to maximize their performance. Let's hear from Andrea Holzwarth, VP of Sales Enablement and Customer Operations at Project Lead The Way, on how she supports ongoing coaching to help reps sharpen their skills. Andrea Holzwarth: We see a lot of value in coaching and training. We have our senior directors, our sales managers, really providing that one-to-one support for our reps out in the field. And we want them to be able to have those coaching conversations and the meeting intelligence helps with that. So we can see the calls. What is that? What’s going well? Maybe what are they struggling with? But I think a lot of times. I say this, that it’s easier to edit than it is to get started, and so having that AI feedback automatically in there it’s helpful, that’s a starting point. And then our senior directors, our sales managers can go in, provide more of that personalized coaching that they may see, but it gives them a starting point. One of the other benefits that I see with Meeting Intelligence is I just think about as a sales rep being in the field especially virtually now that we’re, all we do is meet virtually. It feels like we’re in the, we actually go to schools and districts too, but I would have loved it when I was a sales rep to just see, I think I know how I show up on camera or how I’m speaking to a customer, but, It is so helpful to go back and record and just see man, I said “um” a lot. So it helps with some of that coaching too. SS: And to close out, we asked our guests for advice on how they enable the impossible in their organizations. Here are a few tips from Suzanne Heller of Flight Centre Travel Group, Jennifer Shelley of QuidelOrtho Corporation, and Susan Kinser of Net Health Systems to help you take your enablement efforts to the next level. Suzanne Heller: Just go for it. Because we have the tools that make us successful. We have the tools to be able to measure what we’re trying to achieve. And it is okay at the end of the day to go back to the drawing board if it doesn’t work. But we won’t know that if we don’t try. And if we look at enablement 5, 10, 15 years ago, it wasn’t like what it is today. But because of the trial and errors that have, come up. Advice to anyone that is in an enablement role is just to go with your gut and deliver. And it is okay to go back and look at the data and pivot and optimize. You won’t know what’s successful unless you try it. I think my second piece of advice is buy-in. To your business, your brand, you tell a story, you bring immense value, and it’s really critical to create that brand awareness for yourself and for your team, to be able to let them know the purpose, and the deliverables, and the ROI that you bring to the business. So this would be my two. Jennifer Shelley: Not to get discouraged. Sometimes, we initially we will bring to the table things that sound outside of the box and Highspot tends to be on the cutting edge of technology. But technology can be frightening, and I think that you can get discouraged when people are, not as excited as you are about what you’re trying to accomplish with the technology that you have.  And just take your time, stay focused stay, consistent with your message and understand that it takes time for people to really understand the vision that you might have if they haven’t been exposed to all the great the great information that Highspot is providing them in terms of that cutting edge capabilities in the platform. Susan Kinser: Whether you have a seat at a table or not is to, try to get your voice heard so that you start having those conversations to understand the business outcomes that your team is looking to change, right? I think that the moment you’re able to ensure that you’re aligning any of your programs or any of your initiatives to those specific strategic initiatives that your company in a larger way is looking to achieve when you get that kind of information and you’re getting that feedback and you’re having more, and then they have that insight into the change that you’re making it just makes you more of that strategic partner and it gives you that space to continue to make that kind of success progress and success, I would say get a unified platform. Use Highspot and use the resources. And so I think what’s fun is in this ever growing enablement space, having your voice being heard only. makes the impossible more possible, right? As we start bringing things together and we start, having different ideas or having different needs, and we’re able to do things in these different ways, I would say my advice is to get connected to those business strategies, those business insights, and then get that unified platform and keep scaling. SS: As you heard from the enablement leaders we featured in this episode, nothing is impossible with the right team, tools, and processes in place. In looking to the year ahead, take stock of the challenges on the horizon and rather than looking at them as obstacles, channel them into opportunities to push the boundaries of what you once thought was impossible. Thank you for joining us for this special 100th episode of the Win Win Podcast. We'd love to hear how you are enabling the impossible—be sure to connect with us in the Highspot Spark Community to share your advice, and tune in next time for more insights on how you can maximize enablement success with Highspot.

November's Golden Apple Award winner is Mr. Brent Cummings from Perry Township Schools. He's a Project Lead The Way teacher at Jeremiah Gray Elementary School, who is known as the ringmaster of robotics, the spell master of spelling, and the caped crusader of the classroom.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Amy Tiebout teaches AP Biology and PLTW Human Body Systems at Penn High School in Mishawaka, Indiana. Amy has a background in graphic design and illustration. She earned biology and art degrees from Carson-Newman College and a Masters in Teaching from Bethel College. She states that becoming a teacher later in life has been the best decision, and she enjoys helping her students develop a strong foundation in biomedical science before considering a healthcare career, while also learning how lifestyle choices impact their own health. When she is not teaching, Amy loves taking care of her many class pets, scuba diving, snowboarding, cycling and hiking. More: Intro and Outro music "Vicious Pen" courtesy of Moby Gratis Intro and Outro music "Vicious Pen" courtesy of Moby Gratis  

Project Lead the Way is a proven national leader in science, technology, engineering, and math education, for Pre-K through high school. They strive to help teachers make every student in every grade STEM-successful, through interactive, problem-based learning. Learn more and find a school with Project Lead The Way near you. In this episode of the Getting Smart Podcast, we learn about "The Solutionary Way" with Zoe Weil, co-founder and president of the Institute for Humane Education. Zoe discusses her innovative approach to education that exceeds older problem-solving by integrating ethical considerations to ensure actions do the MOST good for all involved. We explore how adopting a solutionary mindset can transform education and empower students to tackle more complex global challenges, leading to a more equitable and sustainable world. Zoe Weil introduces listeners to the concept of "solutionaries"—individuals who identify and solve systemic problems through ethical action and strategic thinking. She shares insights from her book, "The Solutionary Way: Transform Your Life, Your Community, and the World for the Better," and discusses practical ways educators can implement solutionary thinking in classrooms. By encouraging a generation of solutionaries, Zoe hopes to prepare young people to become proactive changemakers capable of addressing the world's most daunting issues with compassion, and creativity.   Outline (00:00) Introduction to STEM Education and Project Lead the Way (00:41) Introducing Zoe Weil and The Solutionary Way (02:41) The Impact and Expansion of Solutionary Education (14:46) Understanding the Solutionary Process (15:40) The Importance of Problem Identification (21:54) Implementing Solutionary Thinking in Education Links Watch the full video Read the full blog The Solutionary Way The World Becomes What We Teach: Educating a Generation of Solutionaries Institute for Humane Education Free Solutionary Guidebook for teachers Solutionary micro-credential program Online Graduate Programs with Antioch University  Difference Making  

We hope you've attended our town halls, but are you looking for even more ways to learn in community? Check out one of the two forthcoming webinars from the Aurora Institute. Learn more here.  This Getting Smart Town Hall focused on pathways in Health Sciences and focus on the following elements of effective pathways:  sector job prospects and entrepreneurial opportunities  career exploration resources  high school pathway examples work-based learning and credentialing opportunities  postsecondary pathway examples. The event highlighted the critical role of education leaders, intermediaries, and thought partners in shaping the future of the healthcare industry and empowering the next generation of healthcare professionals. We were joined by Dr. Kyle Hartung from JFF, then Kate Kreamer from Advance CTE, followed by Dr. Christine Rodriguez from NAF, and we closed with Jason Rausch from Project Lead the Way. For the full shownotes, the recording, the slide deck and links mentioned in the chat, click here. To view our new Health Science publication, click here.

The total solar eclipse will cross over Indianapolis on Monday, and many students are excited. Fourth-grade students and their teachers at Winchester Village Elementary are counting down the hours for when the skies turn dark during the April 8 eclipse. Juan Juarez-Smith, a fourth-grader at the school, says the excitement comes “because it's once in a lifetime.”And that's the case for most of us gearing up for the eclipse. The students on Thursday learned about how a solar eclipse works with a class project. “The sun is bigger than the moon, so the moon is a little dot around the sun but to us, they're the same,” Brailee Gale said.Brailee and her other fourth-grade classmates also learned about the importance of wearing eye protection during the event. “You can't look directly at it, you can get your eyes blinded, Brooklyn McClure said. “It'll probably hurt, you won't feel it, but after a couple of days you might feel it.”These are just a few things students in Natasha Cummings' class are learning about. Cummings, with Project Lead The Way at Winchester Village, says eclipses are one of her passions. She says it's been exciting to share her love for them with her students.“It's great to see their excitement once they learn about what an eclipse is. And the elements that connect it and hearing ah-ha's,” she said.Cumming also shared with News 8 a message she's been sharing with her students. “Even though this is a once in a lifetime, only one for totality that we'll see, try not to miss it unless you're one to find where the eclipses are. It'll be exciting.”Monday's total solar eclipse is expected to hit the Indy region at 3:06 pm on April. The next one here in Indy won't be for more than 100 years. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Research from Sales Enablement PRO found that companies with a consolidated tech stack see a 19 percentage point higher average quota attainment than teams with multiple disconnected tools. Shawnna Sumaoang: Hi, and welcome to the Win Win Podcast. I am your host, Shawnna Sumaoang. Join us as we dive into changing trends in the workplace and how to navigate them successfully. How can you boost rep productivity with a unified sales enablement platform? Here to discuss this topic is Andrea Holzworth, the vice president of sales enablement and customer operations at Project Lead The Way. Thank you for joining us, Andrea. I’d love for you to tell us about yourself, your background, and your role. Andrea Holzwarth: Thank you for having me today. I’m Andrea Holzwarth, as you mentioned serving as the vice president of sales enablement and customer operations for Project Lead The Way. I’ve been with Project Lead The Way for eight years now served in a variety of roles. Mostly on our sales team, so I served on our school success team, our new district engagement team, and our strategic accounts team. I recently transitioned over to our customer operations team in July, and really in this role I serve as the leader of our sales enablement, so providing our sales team with all the resources that they need, all the professional development coaching training they need, while also solving some of those operational challenges that we may have. Whether those are internal or external, just making it easier for our customer to implement Project Lead The Way. SS: I love that. Now, prior to Highspot, you were leveraging a different platform for enablement, including a separate learning management system. Can you tell us about that experience and ultimately what led you to decide to really consolidate your enablement tech stack? AH: As you mentioned, we were using a variety of resources, and as you can imagine with a variety of resources, there’s really no source of truth of where the right resource is, or where that learning is. And so, Highspot really was selected by Project Lead The Way as our sales enablement tool because of its ability to be the source of truth but also its ability to integrate into Salesforce. It’s an easy-to-build learning management system for us. A couple of the other things that we really appreciated about Highspot was the ability to provide sales plays to our team. So, the “know, say, show, and do” to really equip our team with the right resource at the right time to the right audience. And then we also really appreciated the development of talk tracks and how we can provide team members the opportunity to listen to their peers and some of those role-play conversations around targeted topics or specific PLTW programs. SS: I love that. What have you seen as the impact of having a unified solution rather than separate siloed tools? AH: We’ve seen quite a bit of impact so far, but I’ll say that Highspot really provided our team a unified vocabulary and again, that single source of truth. And it also allowed our sales team to be really more efficient and effective in the field. Instead of digging around trying to find that one resource, they were able to find everything in one spot. And it was also tagged correctly. And I say “spot” a little bit of pun intended there, but it allowed them to find everything they needed. I mentioned this earlier, but we do like to say the right resource, right time for that right audience. SS: I love that. And you guys are actually driving fantastic adoption across the board, so kudos to you and the team. I believe you guys have a 95% pitch adoption rate and 68% play adoption. What were your best practices for ensuring a successful launch when you first rolled out Highspot? AH: Yeah, we’re very excited and encouraged about our initial implementation, definitely some early wins for us, which has been just phenomenal for our sales enablement team, but also for our sales team as well. We took two approaches and I will say that we started developing our implementation plan far before our launch date. We wanted to really take a two specific approaches. The first approach is the “do with, not do to” mentality. And the second was to go slow to go fast later. Obviously, those sound very corny, but that’s what we kept going back to every time we were developing our implementation plan. We wanted our team to feel those small victories along the way. So we started off with really small monthly learning. I’ll give an example: our launch date was actually October 5th, and we shared only one expectation for the month of October for our full team. Send five pitches. That seems kind of small and some people got it done within hours and the others took a couple of days or weeks. And that’s okay because that’s all they need to do is send five pitches. We wanted to bring everyone alongside us and have an impact on that early timeline. We wanted them to get comfortable. The other piece that we did too develop a feedback group before our launch date and this has helped us to pre-identify some team members that we thought would be early adopters. And most of them are, and so that has helped us gain feedback from our, from those using it. So again, do with, not do to. SS: I love that motto. Along those lines, as you mentioned, one of those things that you did to help build that momentum was get feedback and create a super user group. Tell us more about that. How did that help you drive adoption? AH: Yeah, so we developed that super user group or we call it our engagement team feedback group – and just for reference our sales team at Project Lead The Way is referenced as our engagement team – we wanted them to be those that were driving the adoption So we didn’t want it to be something that was happening. From the operations team, you must do this. It is really like I’m doing with them and we wanted them to be leaders within their groups, so we asked for a couple of commitments right away from those team members and those commitments were one: commit for a whole group, a whole year to be in that group, and not to prioritize meetings. We know that there’s lots of meetings, lots of conflicts, but to prioritize attendance. And the second one was really laid out pretty clearly was we want to provide Brene Brown’s “clear is kind” feedback, meaning we didn’t want it to just say, “Hey, this is great.” “No, it’s all going well.” What wasn’t going well, how could we learn that? Before we took that learning to our full sales team, we can work out some of those kinks. And then the other thing that we’ve really seen success with is this group has continued to provide that feedback along the way, but they’ve also taken their learnings and experience and shared it with their home teams. And that wasn’t a requirement and something we even said it’s just they were identified by their leaders as being super users And so it was a nice way for them to have some of that peer-to-peer learning As opposed to you know, the customer operations team coming in and sharing so we host those monthly learnings as a full team And then our super user group goes and shares in their individual teams, which they also kind of share some of their tips or tricks how to do something a little faster or a workaround which is just fun to see as well. SS: I really love that approach. I hope some of our other customers can take advantage of that and implement that within their own organizations. Now, rolling out a new tool and driving adoption can also require some behavior change. What are some of your best practices for motivating that behavior change? AH: We all know change is hard. No matter what change you’re going through, your personal, professional, change is going to be hard. Everyone has a certain threshold of change that they can take before it becomes uncomfortable. We really wanted to sit there and identify and bring everyone alongside us in that change, so we wanted them maybe to feel pushed a bit outside comfort zone, but never to go past that threshold. We wanted them to feel successful. I think that’s one best practice. Not going again too fast, maintaining some of that slow momentum. So you’re bringing everyone with you. The thing that we’ve loved to see over the last couple of months, their implementation is we have some that aren’t necessarily the super users, but yet they still want more. They want to keep learning more. They want some more nuggets where we have another group who’s just kind of staying along right alongside our learning. So it’s been a really nice thing there. Another best practice I mentioned earlier, but again, it’s. Do with, not do to – so how can we bring everyone with us in this learning? How do we make everyone feel a part of our implementation? It’s not something that they have to do, it’s something they’re getting to do. The other thing that we really did in the beginning was share the end result. Highspot was a change and our team is very mission-driven at Project Lead The Way, so we wanted to showcase to them how utilizing Highspot was going to feel better to our customers. One of PLTW’s core values is customer centricity. Our customers are at the center of all that we do. And we truly believe that Highspot as a resource makes a more customer, seamless customer experience. And so we shared that with our team and showcased that to the team so they knew that, “hey, I’m not only doing this because we’re changing over to this, but it’s also better for my customers that I’m serving.” Lastly, I’d say data helps. So we’re now able to showcase to our teams how effective their outreach is. In some ways before, we could say if someone was opening an email, but now we can show if they’ve opened it, how long they viewed it, did they share it. And we were just somewhat in the dark before. Empowering our team with data, just helping them to want to own some of their own learning and Highspot, too. SS: I think that’s fantastic. And you guys actually have a very unique and specialized sales team at Project Lead The Way. A lot of them actually come from a teaching background rather than a traditional sales background, which is amazing. What are some of the unique considerations you have for driving behavior change amongst a slightly less than traditional sales team, and how does Highspot help? AH: At Project Lead The Way, we see a strong value of team members who have that experience from our customer base within our PLTW network. Many of our team members do come from our network prior to joining us. I’m going to go back to what I mentioned earlier, but Highspot provided us with that common vocabulary. It also gave us consistency across the board, and we could share that there was something that if a school was contacting us in California or even in Florida, they were having that same customer experience because of Highspot, we were able to showcase that consistency. It’s also provided an easy button for our account owners and they don’t have to search for things. They don’t have to maybe assume that someone needs something or, you know, try and put themselves in those, the shoes of that customer. We really have done that legwork for them by putting things in particular spots and showcasing or tying them to the correct opportunity stage. We’ve made the easy button, so there’s not a lot of other additional thinking. They can just build the relationship, which is what our accountants are so good at; building relationships with our school districts. SS: I love that. Training programs play a really big role in being able to drive behavior change. One of your key initiatives for the year ahead is to build out robust onboarding and training programs. How are you designing these programs and leveraging Highspot to help deliver them? AH: We believe that onboarding for a new team member is one of the most crucial times when you’re bringing on a new team member during their tenure. We want every team member to get that best fundamental start. We want them to be foundationally sound but also see the buy-in and understand where we’re going as an organization, and we believe we had a pretty strong onboarding experience before. But, a lot of our onboarding was built in-house, and it was a lot of meetings with other individuals, and we are trying to take down the amount of meetings that we may have, and we’re trying to define, but also decide what is the best way for some of that learning. Highspot's learning management has helped us do that because we can build courses. We can also check for understanding along the way. It’s not going to replace every meeting. We believe, again, those first four weeks are really crucial. We want that new team member to feel interaction, to feel a relationship building with Project Lead The Way. But some of those things are very operational or very administrative. How can we take some of those and put them into Highspot that they can do on their own time? Instead of having to schedule some meetings, we’re still dipping our toe into what that looks like. We’re excited to transition some of that learning into Highspot SS: I love that. What are some of the early wins that you’ve started to see since you launched Highspot and how are you measuring success? AH: That’s a great question. There’s lots of ways. I think I was talking to someone the other day – Highspot gives you a lot of data and there’s so much of it to look at, you don’t have to identify which data that you’re looking at. One of our early wins: I mentioned our October learning, so our November learning was that all of our lead outreach would move over to Highspot and would use pitch templates. Again, create consistency for us. We had never had a consistent lead outreach experience before. We moved all of that to Highspot, and the biggest win that we received from our sales team was that we could show to them by the end of the month that we had a 71% open rate for all of our sales-qualified lead outreach. We could never share that data with them before because we didn’t have it and it wasn’t consistent again a school in California may have been getting a different email than a school in Connecticut. We wanted them to have that and seeing that data helped them get again additional adoption and buy-in. That was one of the big things. Then, I’ll just say, we keep hearing anecdotal feedback too, from different team members along the way. My favorite is when team members will reach out to me via teams and just share their experiences. The other day, one of our top performers messaged me and said, “Oh my gosh, Highspot, such a game changer for my lead work. I was able to get through 30 leads in 20 minutes.” And it was like, “Wow, that’s awesome.” That’s more time for them to be out in the field, for them to be supporting customers instead of, you know, just sending an email kind of thing. So lots of different ways to see success, but that’s really where we’re starting with. SS: I love those. Those are some great early wins, Andrea. It’s the new year. So, my last question for you: how do you plan to continue to optimize your enablement strategy with Highspot in the year ahead? AH: Yeah, we did develop a year-long implementation plan. I kind of mentioned this earlier, but we wanted our team to feel confident, to feel comfortable with Highspot this year. Our full first year of implementation was just what we thought success would be if we were adopting, comfortable, and confident. So what we’ve done is starting in October of this year, we identified one monthly learning each month, and then we build upon that each month as well. And so that’s our plan, to continue building on. We put some of those bigger nuggets, the exciting things, a little bit later in the year because we wanted the team to be operationally sound with Highspot. But for example, our digital rooms are going to be coming up soon. That’s where we’ll be sharing with the team. Also, more sales plays will be involved with the team. And so we’ve shared that calendar with the full team. We want to be transparent in this. We do have an asterisk, “subject to change”. Things may change along the way, but we have shared with them what that learning is going to be, and also what that expectation of what to do with that learning. So, we’re all in with it, we’re going to keep rolling, and we’re excited to see how far our team goes. We already have some team members who we haven’t shared a digital room with just yet, but they’ve done it on their own because they’ve done some self-learning and we’re excited about that. They’ve been in there. They’re the ones early adopting. So we see some early success and we’re excited to see the rest of the year with it. SS: I love that, I am too. I’m excited to see how you guys succeed in the year ahead. Well, Andrea, thank you so much for joining us. I really appreciate it. AH: Thank you for having me. SS: To our audience, thank you for listening to this episode of the Win Win Podcast. Be sure to tune in next time for more insights on how you can maximize enablement success with Highspot.

Mountain Brook Schools is excited to share the stories of its faculty and staff members throughout the district! Congratulations to Mrs. Sherri Whitehead, the Robotics and Project Lead The Way teacher at Mountain Brook Junior High, who is being recognized as a PAEMST Finalist statewide. Listen to this episode to learn more about Sherri and her recognition!

Join me for an engaging conversation with Andrea Holzwarth! Andrea is a STEM Advocate who helps serve as a positive catalyst for student engagement with schools all over. Our conversation connected to STEM in schools. We also discussed the importance of collaboration and trust in any organization. Andrea and I are also fans of "Ted Lasso" and our conversation landed there as well. Andrea Holzwarth currently serves at the Senior Director of New District Engagement with Project Lead The Way (PLTW). The New District Engagement team is dedicated to supporting new schools & districts as they implement PLTW. Andrea is passionate about bringing STEM & career learning opportunities to students across the country.Andrea is based in Kansas City and every Sunday in the fall you'll see her cheering on the Chiefs to a Super Bowl championship! Twitter: https://twitter.com/andreaholzwarth LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrea-holzwarth/

What would an economy look like that centered justice, regenerativity and collaboration? Want to play a role? Find out more about the Next Economy MBA from LIFT Economy.  On this episode of the Getting Smart Podcast Tom Vander Ark is joined by Dr. David Dimmett, President and CEO of Project Lead the Way. Prior to Project Lead the Way he served for over a decade at the Evansville Vanderburgh school district in a variety of roles. Links: LinkedIn PLTW David Dimmett PLTW Project Lead the Way 2022 Annual Report Sam Seidel and Olatunde Sobomehin on Creative Hustle Stoked

Recorded: 03/06/2023 Released Audio: 03/09/2023 Host of MPS Connections: AJ Hoffman, Web and Communications Specialist Scheduled Guests: Project Lead The Way Teachers from Central Park and Adams Elementary - Nicole Billette, Sarah Cooper, and Jillian Seamster Video Version: https://youtu.be/pXVrHfWt1HI

Missouri teacher Nathan Fleming started teaching high school science in 2000. Teaching for the first ten years at two small rural schools, Fleming learned the value of strong student relationships and he gained experience teaching nearly every subject.  In 2010, Fleming transferred to a larger area high school, West Plains High School, and helped start their Project Lead the Way biomedical program in 2016.  Two years later he partnered with the local hospital to start the annual white coat ceremony in which students receive customized lab coats while being praised in front of friends and family. Thanks to continual presentations by Fleming and his students West Plains High School enjoys full and even competitive rosters for all biomedical PLTW classes. Thanks to agreements with a state university, 114 students have earned college credit eligibility in the past four years. Using his professional photography background, Fleming started a Twitter feed to further promote his classes and this helped his classroom be chosen for the nation's first live PLTW biomedical showcase in 2021. Recently Fleming has focused on creating fiercely independent student run classroom environments in which students learn and acquire the soft skills that will help them succeed in a wide variety of careers. Nathan was recently named one of 13 Project Lead the Way teachers in biomedical sciences for the 2022-2023 school year.

Candy and Brian are joined by Anthony Tegtmeyer, Technology & Engineering Teacher at Neuqua Valley High School, and Tylen Fleming, a Neuqua Valley Senior, to share insights about the student experience it the Project Lead The Way Engineering Design and Development course.

There is a huge distinction between hearing something and really GETTING it, especially as it relates to each of us, not to others around us.  It's one thing to know something in your head, but it's another thing to put it into the world. Today I talk about Project Lead The Way (pltw.org) and also about the documentary The Creative Brain on Netflix. Click here for more information about Vibe Masterminds.

Vince Bertram is a native of New Castle, Indiana. He earned four degrees at Ball State University, including a bachelor's degree in education and a master's degree in educational administration. After graduating from Ball State, Vince spent 20 years in education as a teacher, a principal, and a superintendent. Today, he serves as President & CEO of Project Lead The Way (PLTW), an Indianapolis-based nonprofit organization that provides a transformative learning experience for PreK-12 students and teachers across the country.In this episode, Vince talks about his upbringing, what inspired him to become a teacher and a coach, and his memories of working with legendary coaches John Wooden and Rick Majerus.Vince describes some of the influential educators he met as a student at Ball State and the moment he knew he was ready to leave his successful career as a school administrator to lead PLTW.  Vince also shares his thoughts about Ball State's innovative partnership with Muncie Community Schools and weighs in on how our country might address inequities in our educational system as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. You can learn more about Project Lead The Way at www.pltw.org. You can follow Vince on Twitter at @vincebertram and President Mearns at @PresidentMearns. If you enjoy this episode, please leave a review to support the show. 

Ep #118 - This week on Marketing Geeks, Justin Womack and Andros Sturgeon our joined by Stephanie Cox, the VP of sales and marketing for Lumavate, to discuss how businesses and marketers can create their own mobile apps without knowing how to code. Stephanie has more than 15 years of marketing experience and specializes in app-based mobile marketing. In her current role, she leads sales, marketing, customer success and product management. She is also the host of the weekly podcast, REAL Marketers (formerly known as Mobile Matters), where she interviews marketing and tech senior leaders from Google, Microsoft, Simon Property Group, Aetna, AT&T, Allegion, Lowe's, and more. Prior to Lumavate, Stephanie held marketing leadership roles at Project Lead The Way, One Click Ventures, Salesforce, and more. She has an MBA from Indiana University and a Bachelor’s degree in Advertising/PR, English, and Political Science from Franklin College. If you want to learn more about marketing for mobile, the difference between Progressive Web Apps and traditional apps or just love listening to marketing thought leaders talk strategy, you're going to love this conversation. --- Learn More About Stephanie Cox and Lumavate: Visit the Lumavate website at: https://www.lumavate.com/ Listen to Stephanie Cox's REAL Marketers podcast at: https://www.lumavate.com/podcasts/ Follow Stephanie Cox on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephaniecox Follow Stephanie Cox on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/stephaniecox04 --- Please support the show by subscribing, rating and leaving a written review. We really appreciate receiving written reviews from listeners that enjoy the show and get value from it. Pre-Register For Access To Our Upcoming LinkedIn Mastery Course: https://marketinggeekspodcast.com/linkedin-mastery-course/ Connect & message the Marketing Geeks, Justin Womack and Andros Sturgeon, on LinkedIn: Justin Womack: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justinwomack1/ Andros Sturgeon: https://www.linkedin.com/in/androssturgeon We are looking to feature guest voicemails on the show so please send us your voicemail for consideration. (See bottom of show notes for link to leave voice messages). Want to be a guest on the Marketing Geeks Podcast or suggest someone? Please email us at info@marketinggeekspodcast.com Visit our website www.MarketingGeeksPodcast.com --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/marketing-geeks/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/marketing-geeks/support

In this episode of EntreEd Talk, Toi interviews Dick Blais, Vice President of Quantum Leap Concepts Inc. He is currently working with Siemens Product Lifecycle Management developing STEM curriculum for secondary school students using Siemens technology products. Previously, Dick served as the Director of the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) Advanced Career Initiative and was the was the Executive Director and Founder of Project Lead The Way in 1999. Support the show (http://www.entre-ed.org/envest/donate-now/)

I have been off the air for a couple of months and I have a line up of podcasts. I also have finally gotten “in the flow” so to speak, with the new teaching assignment I asked for and was given. Along with my HS music classes, I am teaching STEAM to gr. 3-5 using Project Lead The Way; a great curriculum with a lot of resources. I will talk more about that later. This podcast is about online resources that allow you to insert questions or audio content. You can create assignments or mini-lessons or you can have your students do the same. A great way to create a meaningful learning experience. Video is a great way to engage students. However, it can be even better for delivering content and assessing understanding. I have used several different tools to do this but find myself going back to one or two. I just got used to them, you should try out a few and see what would work for you and your students. Flipgrid Playposit EdPuzzle I did some research and found a few more tools. Richard Byrne, an awesome tech blogger and speaker (got to hear him at MACUL 2019), compiled the following list of tools. You can read his blog here. Here is a list, I have checked these out and they seem to offer not only some of the same features, but also the option to foster discussion in some cases. Spiral Vizia Moocnote Vialogues Tech treat- Nearpod add-on for Google Slides Create a slide presentation and insert interactive slides to check for understanding or engage. You present the slides through Nearpod’s site and information is from each time you present the content is stored on the Nearpod site. I have had great experiences using this tool. If you are 1:1 then this tool is a must for delivering interactive lessons.

In Rebecca's Own words:Over the last 7 years I've worked with thousands of teachers, administrators, and students across the US, first as an elementary teacher and STEM specialist, and then as a developer of teachers and teacher leaders. In 2016 I left the classroom to join STEM education leader Project Lead The Way, driving large-scale program developments for teacher professional development, training delivery, and curriculum advisory.During this time I discovered an unseen, but very real intersection where education, innovation, and the real-world collide. It's a space of incredible possibility and urgency that will define the next generation of education. I help innovative educators, entrepreneurs, and orgs build and thrive in this intersection. In 2019 I founded The Teacher Mastermind, a virtual network and community that connects like-minded, innovative educators and entrepreneurs with each other for collaborative inspiration, co-creation, and peer coaching. Also in 2019, I launched the intersectional podcast "Off the Assembly Line" which shares possibility-sparking conversations with the innovative educators and entrepreneurs bringing the future to education, one disruption at a time. If you found your head nodding with anything Rebecca and Leticia discussed, you should connect with her!

Today the team is talking with Vince Bertram, the President and CEO of Project Lead The Way (PLTW), a nonprofit organization that provides transformative learning experiences for PK–12 students and teachers across the U.S.   Vince grew up in a small town east of Indianapolis, where his teachers inspired him to study education. After serving as a Principal in several schools, Bertram served as Superintendent in a southern Indiana district. Eight years ago, Bertram took on the leadership of Project Lead the Way, which began as a small nonprofit STEM curriculum provider. Today, PLTW serves 12,000 U.S. PK–12 schools and helps prepare millions of young people for high wage employment.   In today’s episode, Tom Vander Ark and Vince Bertram the growing impact that PLTW has on millions of students and the details of each of their pathways and programs from PreK–grade 12. They also speak about the work they’ve done to make PLTW more accessible and equitable, some of the new assessments they will be piloting this year (and how they will become a part of the core offering), the power of STEM and transportable skills, and key learnings from Vince’s book, Dream Differently.   Vince is absolutely dedicated to transforming the PK-12 education system to ensure it prepares students to succeed in work and life. Tune in to hear all that he is doing and get the inside scoop about PLTW!   Key Takeaways: [:14] About today’s episode. [1:00] About Vince’s upbringing and early education. [2:14] How Vince became a high school principal. [3:30] How Vince became a superintendent. [4:54] Vince looks back at the incredible growth he helped orchestrate at PLTW and elaborates on some of the things that played a role in it. [7:11] Why PLTW started their elementary program, Launch. [8:32] What the Launch curriculum looks like. [9:46] Vince speaks about PLTW’s middle school program, Gateway. [10:30] About PLTW’s high school pathways: computer science, bio-med, and engineering. [11:20] How many school district partners does PLTW have that are PK–12? [12:03] How Vince has aided in making Project Lead the Way more accessible and equitable. [14:42] Say a Principal wants more of a STEM focus at his school, why should he consider Project Lead the Way? [17:02] Vince speaks about some of the new assessments they may be piloting this year. [19:09] Will these assessments become a part of the core offering? [19:26] What else PLTW has done to help accessibility and equity. [19:52] Vince summarizes some of the key learnings from his book, Dream Differently. [23:13] Why PLTW focuses on STEM as well as helping students build transportable skills. [24:01] What PLTW believes that STEM is all about. [25:15] Tom thanks Vince for joining him this episode!   Mentioned in This Episode: Vince Bertram Project Lead the Way (PLTW) PLTW Launch (PreK–5) PLTW Gateway (6–8) PLTW Computer Science (9–12) PLTW Biomedical Science (9–12) PLTW Engineering (9–12) Better Together: How to Leverage School Networks For Smarter Personalized and Project Based Learning, by Tom Vander Ark and Lydia Dobyns “The Power of Transportable Skills: Assessing the Demand and Value of the Skills of the Future,” Report by PLTW and Burning Glass Dream Differently: Candid Advice for America's Students, by Vince Bertram   If You Want to Learn More About STEM Studies, We Recommend Listening to Episode 193 with teacher David Platt and the students from Covina High Tech Squad!   Get Involved: Check out the blog at GettingSmart.com. Find the Getting Smart Podcast on iTunes, leave a review and subscribe.   Is There Somebody You’ve Been Wanting to Learn From or a Topic You’d Like Covered? To get in contact: Email Editor@GettingSmart.com and include ‘Podcast’ in the subject line. The Getting Smart team will be sure to add them to their list!  

Abby Harrison, also known as Astronaut Abby by her million+ social media followers, is an aspiring astronaut who has a big goal: to be the first astronaut to walk on Mars. Her passion started early. Encouraged by her mother, early STEM education experiences including Project Lead The Way, and a professional astronaut mentor, Abby tells a story of how perseverance, failure, and focus have put her on the path to her dream. For fellow aspiring astronauts, Abby acts as a mentor and role model. She is the founder of The Mars Generation, a nonprofit that provides resources and mentorship for students who share a love of STEM and space. She has helped provide full scholarships for 36 students to attend Space Camp and continues inspiring students through her journey.  

Not just any elementary teacher in this episode...she is my wife! Married for 26 years with 2 children (ages 19 and 22); she is an incredible wife and mother; and also a fantastic educator. She has been an integral part of the integration of technology in her school and district, teaching music, Project Lead The Way and other programs that have come and gone. Listen as she tells me about her past and present experiences and future ideas.

Anne grew up on a farm in Nebraska before attending Dartmouth College. She pursued her love of science and education, which led to a formative five years as a middle school science teacher. After earning a Doctor of Education degree in Education Policy at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, Anne worked as a consultant for Harvard's Data Wise project where she helped schools around the country implement data-based improvement practices. From there, Anne became Chief Program Officer at Project Lead The Way, a national nonprofit and leading provider of STEM curriculum. She helped expand access to hands-on STEM curriculum and professional development to over 8,000 schools across the US. Anne and her husband founded District C, an organization focused on preparing our next generation of talent, leaders, workforce, community members and family members for the “three-point economy.”

In this episode, I sit down with Ms. Emily Witek and Mr. Joe Fowler to discuss Project Lead The Way (PLTW) at Bryan Middle School in Elmhurst D205. We learn about their backgrounds as teachers, their take on PLTW in both Design and Model & Computer Science courses, and the 21st century skills our students are learning! As always, we connect PLTW to the 6 C’s (specifically Collaboration, Communication, and Critical Thinking) & we look ahead to the additional courses D205 plans to implement throughout our schools. Enjoy!

What skills does a professional architect bring to high school education? Guest Kelly Foster explains, as he shares his experience as both a practicing architect and a STEM teacher. He discusses his methods in teaching creativity and problem-solving in multiple areas of design, including civil and architectural engineering, architecture, and graphic design. He also analyzes the design of the new Central Library, part of the Austin Public Library system. Guest co-host Rachel also joins the discussion. Related to this episode: • Austin Central Library: https://library.austintexas.gov/central-library • Science poster designed by Kelly Foster, “CAUTION! Science Teacher at Work”: http://www.k12engineering.net/downloads/caution-scienceteacher-kwfstudio.pdf • Project Lead The Way preK-12 STEM curriculum: https://www.pltw.org/ • Project Lead The Way curriculum in civil engineering and architecture: https://www.pltw.org/our-programs/pltw-engineering-curriculum#curriculum-4 • Land surveying on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surveying • Hogwarts “Grand Staircase” from the Harry Potter Wiki: http://harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/Grand_Staircase • MC Escher's “Relativity” lithograph showing staircases: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relativity_(M._C._Escher) • Giovanni Battista Piranesi's “Prisons” art: https://new.artsmia.org/exhibition/piranesi-prisons/ • The old Faulk Central Library of Austin: http://library.austintexas.gov/blog-entry/remembering-faulk-central-library-411004 • Brutalism in architecture, on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brutalist_architecture • Lake Flato, San Antonio-based designers of the Austin Central Library: https://www.lakeflato.com/ • Article on the Technology Petting Zoo at the Austin Central Library: https://www.512tech.com/technology/austin-central-library-hands-gadget-time-drives-the-tech-petting-zoo/mBU2Ik9qSJM6D7ATXNhjKO/ • Weed eater locking mechanism video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpTyp0tXxBA • “A&M” is Texas A&M University. • Article on the housing bubble and crisis of 2008: https://www.businessinsider.com/impact-of-2008-crash-on-housing-2016-2 • The cover art for this episode pictures the underside of stairways in the Austin Central Library, photographed during the conversation. Our closing music is “Yes And” by Steve Combs, used under a Creative Commons Attribution License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Subscribe and find more podcast information at: http://www.k12engineering.net. Support Pios Labs with regular donations on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/pioslabs, or send one-time contributions by buying us coffee: https://ko-fi.com/pioslabs. Thanks to our donors and listeners for making the show possible. The K12 Engineering Education Podcast is a production of Pios Labs: http://www.pioslabs.com.

Chris Durbin is the Lead Engineering Instructor for Project Lead the Way. Chris started his teaching career in 1994, as a Career Technology educator in Danville, IL. The focus for this urban clientele, was to help students understand that knowing something now was not going to be enough for a complete life. Technology and our culture are so fluid that we must learn how to learn in order to be relevant in the future.

Ms. Jessika Zink joins us to examine the Project Lead the Way (PTLW) program. She details how teachers can implement this program and offers advice on how to get started. Ms. Zink is leading a training on May 29th and 30th for anyone interested in learning more details.

Having a physical model to hold in your hands is powerful to a student learning engineering and design. But when Brian Bobbitt started integrating 3D print education to the curriculum, there weren't many resources. With the help of Project Lead The Way, exposure to design and production got easier. Getting a foundational education in CAD at the high school level translated to better skilled transitioning college students later. Brian Bobbit shares how educating the students early can cast away stereotypes and get their interest level high early. To send us a message, go to 3dstartpoint.com or shoot us a message at info@3dstartpoint.com or on our facebook or twitter! Its absolutely free, so ask away and and don't forget to subscribe so you can hear more on our regularly scheduled Thursday podcast episodes!

In today's episode, Tom interviews iLEAD Academy's Director, Larisa McKinney, iLEAD Academy teacher Jessica Crenshaw, and Ohio Valley Educational Cooperative Director of Innovation, Alicia Sells.   Tom was in Kentucky last month and took a visit to iLEAD Academy — a new school developed out an idea from five western Kentucky Superintendents who wanted to create a cooperative high school that offers a STEM focus with Project Lead The Way (PLTW) courses. Alicia Sells, OVAC Director of Innovation, was asked to work on it and she went above and beyond expectations.   iLead Academy is an Early College High School where the goal is to help students earn an associate's degree, or, at the very least, a significant amount of credit towards college. In a career-focused accelerated pathway, they are preparing students to succeed in an increasingly project-based and global economy, and are creating opportunities to help students develop a competitive advantage.   Listen in to this episode to learn more about iLEAD, why it's successful, the obstacles Jessica, Larisa, and Alicia have overcome, and their advice for other communities looking to start a new, innovative, career-focused school much like iLEAD.   Key Takeaways: [1:14] Clips from Tom's tour of the iLEAD's woodshop. [2:58] About the shop at iLEAD. [3:46] The concept behind iLEAD, the process students go through, and how many students go there. [4:50] About iLEAD's accelerated learning experience and the different pathways students can take. [6:15] iLEAD's small-focused learning environment that also allows students to maintain affiliation with their traditional, home school district. [7:49] Alicia introduces herself and she explains where the idea of iLEAD came from. [10:33] Jessica, a teacher of World Civ and English, introduces herself and explains how she teaches her classes. [11:27] What it has been like for Jessica to teach English using the Summit Learning Platform. [12:58] The benefits to Jessica's blended-learning classroom with an emphasis on teacher-involvement and the growth she sees in her students. [14:56] The project-based elements in the courses. [15:42] How Larisa manages to balance it all: Summit learning, Project Lead The Way, and interfacing with five districts. [18:06] ‘Owning their own learning'; the many choices the students have at iLEAD and how Larisa cultivates this level of agency. [19:58] Jessica's mentorship to a group of students. [21:39] Alicia's favorite part about iLEAD and her advice to other communities wanting to start an innovative school like iLEAD. [23:24] Students' strength in overcoming the absence of parents to pursue education. [23:46] Larisa's advice to communities that want to start an innovative, career-focused school like iLEAD. [25:30] Jessica's advice to classroom teachers.   Mentioned in This Episode: iLead AcademyGovernor's Scholar Program Summit Learning Platform Project Lead The Way   Get Involved: Check out the blog at GettingSmart.com. Find the GettingSmart podcast on iTunes, leave a review and subscribe.   Do You Have Somebody in Mind That You'd Like to Learn From? Submit your ideas to editor@gettingsmart.com. The Getting Smart team will be sure to add them to their list.  

Today on Bytemarks Café, we'll learn about an educational organization called Project Lead the Way. We'll find out how their instructional design centers and real-world project focus helps students succeed in college, career and beyond.

Teachers at all-girls schools might have insights on how to engage more young people – especially girls – into engineering. Several teachers at The Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders in Austin shared their thoughts in this two-part episode. In Part 1 (01:15) we hear from Shamaa and Shireen, two high school engineering teachers, and then in Part 2 (28:50) we hear from Patience, Simon, and Kristina, three middle school engineering and STEM teachers. They discuss teaching in a small school, differences between all-girls classes and co-ed classes, the importance of school culture, Project Lead The Way curriculum, advice for parents, and more. Mentioned in this episode: • Ann Richards School: https://www.annrichardsschool.org/ • PLTW – Project Lead the Way: http://www.pltw.org • IED – Introduction to Engineering Design at PLTW: https://www.pltw.org/our-programs/pltw-engineering-curriculum#curriculum-1 • Alternate teacher certification information in Texas: https://tea.texas.gov/Texas_Educators/Preparation_and_Continuing_Education/Becoming_a_Certified_Texas_Educator_Through_an_Alternative_Certification_Program/ • UT – University of Texas: https://www.utexas.edu/ • AutoCAD Inventor: https://www.autodesk.com/products/inventor/overview • ACC – Austin Community College: http://www.austincc.edu/ • Multisim – circuit simulation software from National Instruments: http://www.ni.com/multisim/ • TEKS – Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills educational standards: https://tea.texas.gov/index2.aspx?id=6148 • STAAR testing in Texas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_of_Texas_Assessments_of_Academic_Readiness Our closing music is called “Girl” by Miros, used with permission, and you can find more tracks by Miros on SoundCloud, user “mirossound”: https://soundcloud.com/mirossound Subscribe and find more podcast information at: http://www.k12engineering.net. The K12 Engineering Education Podcast is a production of Pios Labs: http://www.pioslabs.com. Support Pios Labs at: https://www.patreon.com/pioslabs

Life after high school isn't what it used to be. These days many high school students feel like they're faced with tough choices in terms of debt, their educations and future job opportunities. Today on No Limits, Dr. Vince Bertram of Indianapolis-based Project Lead The Way talks about his new book, "Dream Differently: Candid Advice for America's Students."

In this episode we talked with Tiffani Patrick from El Reno Public Schools about Project Lead the Way and STEM.

On this episode of CTC's Innovation Agenda, we visit with Dr. Vince Bertram, CEO of Project Lead The Way, and author of One Nation Under Taught. We discuss the skills gap, inspiring students for potential STEM careers, and the challenge faced by both California and the nation in preparing students to be competitive in the global technology economy.