This Dunham Fund grant to the Kaneland Schools Foundation will provide the Fox Valley Career Center (FVCC) with the start-up funds to purchase equipment and curricular supplies, improve infrastructure, and train instructors for a Project Lead the Way (PLTW) pre-engineering program for Batavia, Burlington Central, Geneva, Kaneland, St. Charles East and West, and West Aurora high schools. Hide

Project Lead the Way is a national nonprofit organization and a leading provider of rigorous and innovative STEM education curricular programs. FVCC will work collaboratively with the administration and student services departments of these high schools on a three-year implementation plan to provide PTLW pre-engineering course offerings and scheduling opportunities for the greatest number of students in its six-member Kane County school districts. Other school districts that offer PTLW pre-engineering course work can statistically show that PLTW students score higher on state standardized tests than non-PTLW students and are more likely to attend and graduate from college in the engineering field.