INDIANAPOLIS – Former U.S. Secretary of Education Dr. William Bennett and 2013 National Teacher of the Year Jeff Charbonneau are confirmed keynote speakers for the 2014 PLTW Summit, taking place November 2-5, 2014, in Indianapolis.
The PLTW Summit will bring together more than 1,500 teachers and administrators; university, corporate and foundation partners; and community and government leaders who work together every day to help students develop the knowledge and skills they need to succeed. The national event will serve as a catalyst for collaboration and strategies that can help solve the education and workforce development challenges facing our nation.
Bennett will provide the keynote address during the opening general session on Sunday evening, November 2. His remarks will inspire attendees to collaborate around solutions that address the education and economic development challenges we face as a nation. Bennett is one of America’s most influential and respected voices on cultural, political and education issues, having served three terms under Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush as Secretary of Education and the nation’s first Drug Czar. He is the author of 20 books, including two New York Times best sellers, and has written often about the nation’s STEM crisis and Project Lead The Way. Bennett is the host of the nationally syndicated radio show, Morning in America.
Charbonneau is the 2013 National Teacher of the Year, an award bestowed upon him in the Rose Garden of the White House by President Barack Obama in April 2013. After a year of traveling the country to speak about the importance of education and teaching, Charbonneau is back in his Zillah, Washington, classroom, teaching chemistry, physics and PLTW Engineering courses. He will speak Monday morning, November 3. His keynote address is sure to engage and inspire educators from all backgrounds and provide valuable insight into the role teachers play in developing the next generation of STEM professionals.
The 2014 PLTW Summit is sponsored by Chevron. Chevron believes that few things are more important to students and the future of American competitiveness than a quality education. Education is a building block for economic development and employability, and Chevron is proud to champion STEM education to arm students with the critical skills they need to succeed in the future. Since 2009, Chevron has committed more than $12.4 million to PLTW. The support has funded PLTW programs in over 100 schools across seven states, directly impacting more than 9,200 students. In 2013, Chevron became PLTW’s first national partner, pledging an additional $6 million through 2016 to further support PLTW programs across the U.S.
For more information or to register for the 2014 PLTW Summit, visit http://www.pltw.org/PLTWSummit.
About PLTW Project Lead The Way (PLTW) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and the nation’s leading provider of K-12 STEM programs. PLTW’s world-class, activity-, project-, and problem-based curriculum and high-quality teacher professional development model, combined with an engaged network of educators and corporate partners, help students develop the skills needed to succeed in our global economy. More than 6,500 elementary, middle, and high schools in all 50 states and the District of Columbia are currently offering PLTW courses to their students. For more information, visit www.pltw.org.
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