On Jan. 22, 2015, Missouri’s 55^th Governor, Jay Nixon, attended Marion Elementary School as a follow-up to his State of the State address a day earlier.

In Nixon’s speech, he spoke of the importance of the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) programs not merely existing throughout Missouri schools, but especially starting at the elementary level. He demonstrated this importance by sitting in on one of Marion’s Project Lead The Way (PLTW) sessions.

Originally, the PLTW program was subtly introduced to students during middle school and then pushed as a career choice at the high school level. This year marked the first time that the Ritneour School District introduced the program on a fifth grade level.

“We’re starting out with fifth grade because it’s more of the skills and concepts that fifth grade students learn, rather than our younger students. From there we’re going to have our teacher trained so that they will learn the skills that will filter down,” Marion Assistant Principal Sue Houston said.

The program is only an after school program for now, and it has already enrolled 20 students, but Marion staff are hoping to expand the program into the actual curriculum while teaching more of the PLTW concepts and skills needed for high paying careers.

“Jobs of the future are about technology,” Nixon said. “Applied science, robotics, energy, light and sound, all of that is really important because the jobs and careers of the future, whether they are at Boeing, General Motors, Monsanto, or Twitter, which was founded by a Missourian from a small town, are going to require training in science and technology,” Nixon said.

Currently, Missouri is in the lead for its number of PLTW programs in the nation. With its selection of courses, the Ritenour School District is one of the few school districts in north St. Louis County to offer the PLTW program at the elementary level.

“We’re here visiting a new kind of way that science is taught, it’s called Project Lead The Way. Simply, Project Lead The Way is designed to give more practical hands-on science and it’s done in a lot of high schools across the state. In fact, as far as computer science, Project Lead The Way, we’re number one in the country, but that’s not good enough for us. We’re trying to push that curriculum down into the elementary schools and that’s why we’re here today,” Nixon said.

During PLTW sessions, students do their best to solve real world problems using robotics that can step in and help when humans cannot. Students started their current project by putting together a robot called the Chatzi.

“Removing toxic waste is our real world problem that we’re going to end up solving. Sometimes when natural disasters occur there’s some sort of waste that’s out there that’s hazardous to humans and it might damage us, so we have to send robots in,” Project Lead The Way teacher Megan McNulty said.

Besides working on the robot itself, PLTW students will also get a chance to come up with a design to improve the robot’s functions.

“One of the cool things our students are going to get to do beyond just this robot, because it is pretty cool alone by itself, is they’re going to get to design a better way, an improvement to it that will make the collection of hazardous waste easier to happen,” McNalty said. “They’ll build the robot, and they’ll have to use this program to put it together. They’ll end up in simulated natural disaster zone where they’ll actually have to pick up the hazardous waste and move it out of the zone.”

Governor Nixon has also taken steps to spread the success of PLTW at Marion elementary into other areas of Missouri.

“I took two million dollars for the whole state to try to get 350 other schools to do what you’re doing. That’s a lot of schools all over the state. We think it’s really important and we’re really impressed by what we saw today,” Nixon said.

Finally, Governor Nixon left the children with words of encouragement to follow only their dreams, no one else’s.

“So if there’s one lesson I hope you learn today is embrace the science and technology and have fun, but also the sky is the limit. For everyone to reach their goal and potential we need to recognize that we’re all in this together and difference shouldn’t divide us but unite us,” Nixon said.