Burnet CISD building students’ futures with new magnet program

DANIEL CLIFTON • PICAYUNE EDITOR

BURNET — Whenever a school unveils a new program, especially one that could transform a district, a campus and its students, there’s often a sense of uneasiness.

But when Burnet High School opens its doors this year with a new pre-engineering magnet program, there is no apprehension at all.

“It’s exciting,” said Jim Connor, the Burnet Consolidated Independent School District director of secondary curriculum. “We’ve been working on this from about April or March 2012, so we know what this is. We’re just excited to see it in action.”

BCISD adopted Project Lead The Way as a pre-engineering magnet program for the middle and high school levels. At a time when there is a growing need for students proficient in science, technology, engineering and math, American schools have been struggling to meet that demand. If students want to tackle those subjects at an in-depth, project-based level, they often needed to attend larger school districts.

“Our students are just as smart and hard-working as any other district’s students,” said Burnet High School assistant principal Casey Burkhart. “Why shouldn’t they get the same opportunities as kids in larger districts? This program gives them that opportunity.”

Project Lead The Way offers BCISD a STEM curriculum that staff administer at the middle and high school levels, though the majority of it rests on the high school campus. Though it’s referred to as “magnet,” Burkhart said it is not the typical magnet program in which selected or qualified students attend a separate campus or take all the same classes.

The pre-engineering program carves out several classes the students will take through Project Lead the Way curriculum, but those students will take the rest of their core curriculum and participate in extracurricular activities with the entire campus. Burkhart said they wanted to give students participating in the pre-engineering program a full high school career.

Connor said any Burnet student who has the qualifying classes can sign up for the program; the application process really applies to students from other districts who might be interested in taking part in Project Lead the Way. And students not in the Burnet school district have shown an interest in it, Connor said.

While Burnet High School students can already take higher-level math and science classes, Connor said what sets this program apart is an emphasis on project-based learning. It’s not just studying a theory in a book, it’s putting it into action.

“And for students who may not really like math, the great thing about this program is they may not even realize they’re doing math because it’s a project,” he added.

That’s one of the program’s strengths, Burkhart explained.

“There are a lot of students who may think they don’t like math or science because of how it’s presented, but if you give them a project, they just take off with it,” he said.

The program outlines a basic core pre-engineering or STEM curriculum for students. But as they advance, they can specialize in particular areas of interest.

Burkhart said the program allows students to accumulate real-world skills that give them an advantage both in college and the workforce.

Probably the biggest reason Connor and Burkhart are confident about the new program is because of the two teachers leading it: ill Neve at the high school and Vickie McElroy at the middle school.

“When we decided to implement this program, one of biggest concerns was finding the right teacher,” Connor said. “At other districts, with this type of program, they don’t want to lose those teachers because there just aren’t that many of them. But when we looked within our own district, we already had Mr. Neve, who just fit this program so right. And at the middle school, Vickie McElroy. It just made sense.

“And when Mr. Neve came back from the training, well, he was just so excited. His excitement will definitely carry over throughout the campus” Connor said.

When the first day of class starts Aug. 25, about 100 high school students will begin their pre-engineering and STEM journeys. Burkhart pointed out there are about 900 student at Burnet High School.

“So, the interest is definitely there,” he said. “This has the potential of really just changing the campus and the district.”

With the program at the high school and middle school level, Connor hopes to extend the vision to the elementary schools.

“Can you imagine having third-graders taking part in project-based learning,” Connor said. “Think of how much that could change their education. Now that’s exciting to think about.”

Go to www.bcisdmagnet.com or burnet.schoolfusion.us for more information.

daniel@thepicayune.com