The PLTW Summit is an annual conference bringing over 2,000 educators, administrators, and companies to discuss Project Lead The Way. Timber Creek sent 6 students, along with Mrs. Stevens to the 2017 Summit, which was held this year on October 22-25 at Marriott’s Orlando World Center, to present about the PLTW program here at TC. Daniel Wu and Huajan Liao were chosen to represent Biomedical, Samantha Ashby and Dominic Shnaath from Engineering, and Evangelina Wong and Jodalys Herrera from Timber Creek’s HOSA Team.
The presentation was on Timber Creek’s PLTW program. The worst part for Liao was the clicker for the slides. “The two buttons for going forward/backward were really confusing. I pressed the wrong button, and I couldn’t keep my mind off of it.” “She kept overthinking it, when really, no one noticed it,” said Wu. Mrs. Stevens was also really pleased with the group’s presentation. “They did a wonderful job, really wonderful,” said Stevens.
The students presented, as well as attended some of the other activities. “The EXPO was really cool. It was set up where other companies that sponsor PLTW were there. Lockheed Martin and other companies and colleges were there as well,” said Liao. Herrera’s favorite part was seeing all the different research projects from student all over the nation. “[The Summit] empowers students to get into STEM and the adults get to she the impact that it has on students,” she said.
The group also encourages more students to join and get into STEM. “It’s a lot different from student’s core classes, and PLTW is a great way to get that experience and get into the field,” said Herrera. Liao said, “It provides basic foundation skills that apply to the career you want to pursue. For example, my internship at UCF over the summer was really cool in learning micropipetting skills…It just gives you a lot of experience.”
