EAST PEORIA – Returning to one of the first cities selected to launch an innovative initiative designed to help better prepare Illinois high school students for careers in science and technology, Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich’s chief economic development official visited East Peoria High School today to welcome the program’s newest participant aboard and praise the program’s tremendous success in the Peoria area, where seven schools now use the curriculum.  Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity Director Jack Lavin spoke about the impact the Project Lead The Way program is having in the region and across the state. 

“To build a workforce of tomorrow that is even stronger and more competitive than today’s, we need to prepare more students to pursue careers in the field of engineering and science.  Project Lead The Way is engaging students in this critical arena through a hands-on, interactive learning process that is preparing them to take advantage of tremendous job opportunities down the road.  By offering this nationally recognized program at the high school level, we are creating a world of possibility for our young people to pursue, while also strengthening the economic capacity of the entire region,” Gov. Blagojevich said

Since Illinois will increasingly compete for high-tech business investment based on the skills of our workforce, and, in particular, the supply of highly skilled engineers, Gov. Blagojevich launched the Project Lead The Way (PLTW) program two years ago at schools and career resource centers across the state in an effort to build stronger science and technology skills and promote engineering and technology careers in middle and high schools. 

PLTW is a nationally recognized program that builds public-private partnerships between schools, colleges and universities, and the private sector to increase the quantity and quality of engineers and engineering technologists.  The PLTW curriculum is a four-year, flexible sequence of pre-engineering courses that, when combined with college preparatory mathematics and science courses in high school, introduces students to the scope, rigor and discipline of engineering and engineering technology prior to entering college. 

Most importantly, PLTW gets results.  In early data, 73 percent of students taking three or more high school PLTW courses across the country entered post-secondary engineering or technical programs.  Of those students, 98 percent continued into their second year in their technical or engineering program.  This “persistence” rate is well above the 50 percent national average expected.

The Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) and the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) worked together to provide school partnerships with initial $40,000 start-up grants to purchase computers and equipment and provide additional funding support for teacher training.  The Peoria Educational Region for Employment and Career Training (P.E.R.F.E.C.T.) has received $50,000 in funding to implement and support the growth of Project Lead The Way in Peoria.  Gov. Blagojevich is investing more than $1.2 million in Project Lead The Way across the state. 

Spurred by the state’s initial investment, seven schools in the Peoria area now have implemented the Project Lead The Way program while several more are expected to do so next year.  Current Project Lead The Way schools in the region include: East Peoria High School, Peoria Woodruff High School, Elmwood High School, Peoria Notre Dame High School, Morton High School, Pekin High School and Princeville High School.   

“The Project Lead The Way curriculum is benefiting our community by ensuring that we have a trained, technical workforce to compete and thrive in the new global economy.  High-wage, high-skill jobs require strong academic skills, as well as advanced technical training, and this innovative program is providing exactly that at East Peoria High and other schools in the area.  This is another example of how Gov. Blagojevich is making the kinds of investments that matter most to the future of this region,” State Senator George Shadid (D-Pekin) said.

“Gov. Blagojevich and I understand that the best investments we can make are ensuring that our young people have the skills and the knowledge to compete against the best and the brightest across the globe.  Project Lead The Way is instilling the love of learning in critical subjects that will pay tremendous dividends for both our students and our economy,” State Rep. Michael Smith (D-Canton) said.

PLTW teachers undergo an intensive two-week training program each summer that prepares them to teach the specific courses they will be offering in the fall.  Ongoing professional development for both teachers and counselors is also an important component of the program, and is being provided by the University of Illinois. 

“North Central Illinois is becoming a hotbed for some of the most advanced and innovative research taking place throughout the state and across the country.  As more young businesses utilizing this research and technology grow and prosper, they’ll need to draw from a workforce that is highly-skilled in engineering and technology principles.  Project Lead The Way is engaging young minds in these disciplines, giving them the interest and the ability to go and pursue higher degree programs, and, ultimately, contribute to a thriving regional workforce,” DCEO Director Jack Lavin said.

Gov. Blagojevich’s Opportunity Returns regional economic development strategy is the most aggressive, comprehensive approach to creating jobs in Illinois’ history.  Since a one-size-fits-all approach to economic development just doesn’t work, the Governor has divided the state into 10 regions – each with a regional team that is empowered and expected to rapidly respond to opportunities and challenges.  Opportunity Returns is about tangible, specific actions to make each region more accessible, more marketable, more entrepreneurial and more attractive to businesses.  It is about upgrading the skills of the local workforce, increasing the access to capital, opening new markets, improving infrastructure, and creating and retaining jobs.   It’s about successfully partnering with companies and communities, large and small, to help Illinois reach its economic potential.