Carthage High School seniors showcase skills and passions at PLTW event

CARTHAGE, Mo. (KOAM) - ​High school students in Carthage are showcasing their hard work today at the Project Lead the Way Senior Showcase.

The Project Lead the Way Senior Showcase in Carthage not only highlights students' achievements but also captures the essence of their experiences and aspirations.

. The event celebrates the designs and innovations of engineering and biomedical students, providing them with an opportunity to expand their educational horizons.

Project Lead the Way-Carthage (PLTW) is an organization that inspires and empowers PreK-12 students and teachers across thousands of schools in the U.S.

Their mission focuses on providing real-world, applied learning experiences to students of all ages, helping them develop the skills needed to succeed in college, career, and beyond.

The Senior Showcase at CHS Commons Area highlights students completing senior capstone courses in Engineering Design and Development or Biomedical Innovations.

Engineering students tackle open-ended engineering problems, working closely with industry mentors to design, build, and test innovative solutions. On the other hand, Biomedical Science students explore the evolution of biomedical products, brainstorm new ideas, evaluate past solutions, and develop design proposals.

They showcase their designs with models, prototypes, or schematics and create marketing plans to pitch their products to potential investors.

Gage Tiller, Director of Carthage Tech Center, emphasized the passion and skills students exhibit, noting, "I think just the passion that they have. Hopefully they have either found that this is a field they want to go into or maybe they have found that they don't want to. And that's okay because they've saved some money early on. But just the skills, like I said, and to be able to communicate and articulate those things is pretty awesome to see."

For Ethan Stark, a senior at Carthage High School, the standout aspect of the program is the supportive environment created by the teachers.

"I would say my favorite part about the program is probably the teachers. The teachers really make you feel at home. They do a great job making you feel like you're a family, and honestly, both of them did awesome jobs teaching us to do these amazing things that you wouldn't learn in a normal school," he shared.

Indiana Gary, another senior at Carthage High School, highlighted the program's reputation and Carthage's distinction in PLTW offerings.

"My freshman year I enrolled in Carthage High School actually really late, but I chose PLTW because there's tons of articles all over the internet on how good the program is, and also Carthage actually probably has the best PLTW program in the Midwest," Indiana explained.

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