It has been an extremely busy few weeks for PLTW President and CEO Vince Bertram. On the heels of a successful PLTW Summit in Indianapolis last week, where he delivered both the opening remarks and closing keynote address, Vince packed his bags and headed to Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Vince’s first visit in Tulsa was at Darnaby Elementary School where he met with students, principal Chris Reynolds, PLTW Launch teachers, members of the school’s administration, and the Parent Teacher Association. Darnaby Elementary has participated in PLTW Launch since the 2013-14 school year when it served as a pilot site. Now, the elementary school has more than 15 teachers trained to teach PLTW Launch in grades K-5.
After visiting Darnaby, Vince stopped at Union High School to visit with teachers and students involved in the PLTW Engineering, PLTW Biomedical Science, and PLTW Computer Science programs. Both Darnaby Elementary and Union High School are part of the Union Public Schools system, which is the first district in the state of Oklahoma to offer PLTW in grades K-12. Read more about Vince’s visits to the schools in the Tulsa World.
Vince’s final visit of the day was to the Tulsa Citywide Research Day Conference, where he addressed conference attendees with a keynote speech. Citywide Research Day is an annual event that brings together Oklahoma academic researchers to share their work with others in the Tulsa community. This year’s theme was “STEMulating Connections.” The conference highlighted work in the STEM fields and how the work ties in with the recently launched Tulsa Regional STEM Alliance.
This week, Vince is off to San Diego, California, for the Council of Chief State School Officers Annual Policy Forum. He is an invited guest and will spend his time at the Forum engaging on the issues that are most important to state education leaders, teachers, and students.
For the latest STEM education and workforce development news, follow Vince on Twitter at @vincebertram.
