.bodytext {float: left; } .floatimg-left-hort { float:left; margin-top:10px; margin-right: 10px; width:300px; clear:left;} .floatimg-left-caption-hort { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:300px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatimg-left-vert { float:left; margin-top:10px; margin-right:15px; width:200px;} .floatimg-left-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; font-size: 10px; width:200px;} .floatimg-right-hort { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px;} .floatimg-right-caption-hort { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px; font-size: 10px; } .floatimg-right-vert { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px;} .floatimg-right-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; font-size: 10px; } .floatimgright-sidebar { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; border-top-style: double; border-top-color: black; border-bottom-style: double; border-bottom-color: black;} .floatimgright-sidebar p { line-height: 115%; text-indent: 10px; } .floatimgright-sidebar h4 { font-variant:small-caps; } .pullquote { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 150px; background: url(http://www.dmbusinessdaily.com/DAILY/editorial/extras/closequote.gif) no-repeat bottom right !important ; line-height: 150%; font-size: 125%; border-top: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid;} .floatvidleft { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatvidright { float:right; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} Matt Goodhue thinks it’s pretty cool that he’s able to use the same design software as professional engineers. Not bad for a junior at Johnston High School.

Goodhue, who is considering structural or construction engineering as a career, is among 58 Johnson students participating for the first time in Project Lead the Way. The program, now in its second year in Iowa, is offered at 44 other high schools across the state.

Through a partnership involving Iowa’s 15 community colleges, the state of Iowa and a Wisconsin-based family foundation, up to 60 more high schools will be able to make the program available beginning next fall.

On Nov. 15, the Iowa Economic Development Board awarded $1 million from the state’s Community College Equipment and Training Fund toward Project Lead the Way. A consortium of all of the community colleges has pledged to provide matching funds of $900,000, and the Kern Family Foundation, based in Waukesha, Wis., has committed to provide up to $1.2 million.

From the state’s $1 million stake, $100,000 will be used to establish bioengineering courses at 10 high schools, which can be located at either new or existing Project Lead the Way sites.

Already offered in 46 states, the program is designed to expose more students to engineering career options and provide them with challenging, project-oriented courses to prepare for college engineering programs. Students can receive up to three hours of college credit for each course.

In addition to the 45 high schools, 19 middle schools in Iowa offer a “Gateway to Technology” program to increase interest in engineering among students at a younger age.

Through Project Lead the Way, high schools can offer courses ranging from an introduction to engineering to specialized courses in subjects such as computer-integrated manufacturing and aerospace engineering. Bringing the program to more schools is one of the ways state officials say they’re addressing an anticipated worker shortage in Iowa. If current trends continue, technology companies in Iowa may be unable to fill up to 150,000 highly skilled positions within the next five years.

The funding is “a huge first step to bring this forward,” said Ken Maguire, an educational consultant for the Iowa Department of Education and the statewide coordinator for the program.

“The whole concept is about a partnership,” he added. “There still needs to be a commitment from the local level (schools), and a commitment from regional business and industry.”

Since 2005, Iowa businesses have provided more than $1.2 million to fund the program in the initial schools, with a majority of the funding, $700,000, coming from Rockwell Collins Inc. in Cedar Rapids.

Under the new state initiative, up to four high schools within each of the 15 community college districts will each be eligible to receive up to $50,000 to establish the program. The community college will match the $15,000 in state funding for each school, with the remaining $20,000 coming from the Kern Family Foundation.

Though middle schools aren’t eligible for state or community college funds for the program, they can apply directly to the Kern Family Foundation for a $25,000 grant, Maguire said.

Project Lead the Way began in 1997 at a handful of high schools in upstate New York, and is now offered in more than 1,800 schools in 46 states.

Nationally, 54 percent of students who have taken three or more Project Lead the Way courses have entered two- or four-year college engineering or engineering technology programs, and 85 percent of those students have completed those programs.

Maguire said research has shown the program improves the academic performance of students in mathematics and science and generates interest among students who might not otherwise consider engineering, particularly females. About 17 percent of the participants during the previous school year were girls, which is about double the rate of similar programs, he said.

At Johnston, senior Kasi Dickerson is among about five girls taking the course. With her sights set on becoming a construction engineer, she hopes to qualify for an engineering scholarship for women at Iowa State University.

Joshua Heyer, one of the Johnston teachers offering the course, said it’s “a great program.”

“I think the students are excited about it,” he said. “The freshmen, sophomores and juniors (taking the first course) are looking forward to the classes next year. I think it’s here and it’s here to stay.”

ISU and the University of Iowa provide two-week summer training courses to certify teachers in the courses and are also responsible for certifying the schools and authorizing college credit for students.

“I think teachers are getting rejuvenated by this curriculum,” said Camille Sloan-Schroeder, an ISU outreach coordinator and an affiliate director for Project Lead the Way in Iowa. “And as a state, we need these kids to go on to college. We need engineers in the state. It’s important to our economic development.”

Another unique element of the program is that “we go out to these schools to make sure they’re doing what they say they would do,” she said. “I think that’s also unique, that they make this agreement and they are held to this standard, and it’s a high standard.”

High schools will have until Feb. 1 to submit applications to the Iowa Department of Education to participate. Despite the deadline, it’s not a race for funding, Maguire said.

“We didn’t want to see the funding drive the initiative,” he said. “The schools that are moving forward, the message going out is, we want them to really evaluate the program. The focus is, you’ve got to show us you can implement quality and that there’s the ability to sustain it.”