By Otila Castaneda and Araceli Galarza Posted March 20, 2020
Two years ago Lowry decided to switch it up and remove Physical Science and replace it with Project Lead The Way (PLTW) also known as Introduction to Engineering. Now Lowry is changing it up once again but this time it’s out with the new and in with the old.
Scott Santos has been teaching for four years, he taught Physical Science for two years and for the last two years he has been teaching Intro to Engineering. He believes that PLTW is an important class but does not fit into the science curriculum at Lowry well.
“I believe that it is important for PLTW to continue to be offered to Lowry’s students, but the Engineering course does not fit particularly well into the science department,” said Santos about the class. “The Introductory Physics curriculum will more effectively develop a skill set that is more valuable for all 9th graders.”
A better fit for the PLTW class will be in the CTE department. Some of the things that the current freshmen did in PLTW include 3D printing as well as designing different things through a computer program. All of this makes for an amazing class. Santos has high hopes for the PLTW class as an elective.
“It is my current understanding that the Science Department will again be offering Introductory Physical Science, and PLTW will be moved to the CTE Department,” said Santos. “Both courses are important for Lowry’s students to take. I hope that enrollment in the PLTW courses is high as I believe CTE is particularly valuable.”
Shelby Ruff, a science teacher at Lowry, explained what physical science is. Ruff thinks Physical Science will be a good class for the students because of what it has to bring.
“It’s a better fit for providing basic knowledge about physics and other courses,” said Ruff. “In addition, students would learn lab safety and experimental design as well as foundation topics in Chemistry and Physics.”
Different students feel differently about the program change than others, some are for it and others wish it would stay the same. Damon Fetty and Kaleb Gordon are both glad that they got to take the PLTW course.
“I like the engineering program and what it was about. I don’t really like actual science so I’m happy that I got to take engineering instead,” said Fetty.
“I like the engineering curriculum because you learn a lot,” said Kaleb Gordon.
Sandivelle Guerrerro, a freshman, is on the side that wishes she would have had the same opportunity that the freshmen coming up will have.
“It’s kind of a bit hard and I feel like it would be easier if we changed it to Physics this year,” said Guerrerro.
