All kindergarten through eighth grade students engage in Project Lead the Way courses. Project Lead the Way is a national program that promotes the “need to access real-world, applied learning experiences that empower them to gain the skills they need to thrive in college, career, and beyond.” In the kindergarten through fifth grade “Launch”PLTW classrooms, students take on the role of engineers using the “Engineering Design Process” to solve real-world problems. They go through the Activity-Project-Problem (APB) approach as they learn to solve these problems. In sixth and seventh grades, students will focus on the “Gateway” Computer Science Strands. Sixth grade all focus on “App Creation” as well as “Intro to Design and Modeling,” and seventh grade will focus on “Innovators and Makers” learning how coding relates to real-world application. In the 8th grade PLTW classroom, students discover the design process and develop an understanding of the influence of creativity and innovation in their lives. Using computer programs such as Sketch-Up and Geogebra, they are challenged and empowered to use and apply what they’ve learned throughout the unit to design a therapeutic toy for a child who has cerebral palsy. (PLTW 2018)