Highland to become New Tech School

The Highland School District will become one of the first schools in the state to participate in a pilot project-based learning system in the 2012-2013 school year.

Highland recently applied to participate in the program that emphasizes STEM -- science, technology, engineering and math -- education, as the Department of Education expands to include 15 school districts and one technical center in the 2012-13 school year.

The STEM Works program, announced by Gov. Mike Beebe in August, seeks to educate more students in fields that have the greatest need for qualified workers, and have the greatest potential to enhance the state's economy. The program will focus less on a lecture based classroom type of learning to project based learning, utilizing technology with which many students are already familiar.

Each district will participate in either "Project Lead the Way," which focuses on engineering and biomedical sciences, or the "New Tech Network," which incorporates all of the STEM subjects.