Engineering

The Innovation Pathway in Engineering is a series of courses and experiences that will allow students to focus their academic program on a high need industry within our State and region. The experiences have been specifically designed to ensure students graduate with academic knowledge and skills in the area of engineering through manufacturing, college credits and industry recognized credentials, a post secondary plan, and a real-life, hands-on experience with an industry partner. Please see the program outline here and a more detailed description of the various aspects of the program below.

Meet the Instructors

Mrs. Tracy Arsenault (arsenaultt@lpsma.net)

Mrs Arsenault has many years of experience in both education and working in the STEM field. Before teaching, Mrs. Arsenault worked for a company called EMC Corporation as a senior product engineer. This involved remotely fixing machines as well as contacting field technicians to replace parts. From her experience and skills, Mrs. Arsenault has the ability to ensure students in the Innovation Pathway Engineering classes receive the necessary instruction to thrive in an engineering career.

Mr. Raymond Boucher (boucherr@lpsma.net)

Mr. Boucher has many years of experience in both education and the STEM field. He has held numerous instructing jobs where he taught everything from Biology to Astronomy. He also worked as a Research Technician for the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. From his experience and skills, Mr. Boucher has the ability to ensure students in the Innovation Pathway Engineering classes receive the necessary instruction to thrive in an engineering career.

Academic Courses

Students in the Innovation Pathway program in Engineering will participate in the following courses. In addition to the program specific courses, students will complete all MassCore requirements as can be seen on this overview document.

Technical Courses (Required):

Advanced Courses (Select a minimum of 2)

AP Placement Courses- Leicester High School offers seven(7) Advanced Placement (AP) courses: Biology, Calculus AB, Chemistry, English Literature and Composition, and United States History, Statistics, English Language.
Computer Science Principles (PLTW)
Virtual High School- Students may choose to participate in an AP course through VHS if Leicester High School does not offer that course in-person.

Students will also participate in:

Classes with Guidance to develop a MyCAP plan that focuses on post secondary planning using the Naviance program.
Health course that will allow them to focus on certification in First Aid, CPR, and the OSHA General Industry 10.
A course titled; "Introduction to Technical Drawing and Blueprint Reading" where students will earn MACWIC Level 1 Certification.

Other STEM Elective Courses available to students to extend their learning include:

Coding
Application Development
STEM/VEX Robotics

College Credits/Industry Credentials

AP Courses - Leicester High School offers a number of AP Courses that students can enroll in and students that receive a qualifying score on the AP Test may qualify for college credit (requirements vary based on the college)
Early College - Leicester Public Schools partners with Worcester State University to provide Dual Enrollment courses.
PLTW Course Credits - A number of colleges and universities in Massachusetts issue credits to students that complete Project Lead the Way Courses (requirements vary based on the college)
OSHA 10 Certification - Students will participate in the OSHA 10 training course for General Industry. This provides training for participants on the recognition, avoidance, abatement, and prevention of safety and health hazards in workplaces in general industry.
First Aid - Students will participate in the Red Cross First Aid certification program.
CPR/AED - Students will participate in the Red Cross CPR/AED certification course.
MACWIC Level 1 Certification - This certification is available through the Massachusetts Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MassMEP). It provides students with both the basic competency skills that entry-level positions require in today’s advanced manufacturing environment, as well as the more advanced computer-assisted manufacturing utilized by most manufacturers today. Students who earn MACWIC Level 1 Certification also receive a Machine Operator Pre-Apprentice Certification from the Mass. Division of Apprentice Standards, and 40 of the required 150 apprentice hours.

Internship

Innovation Pathway students will participate in a 100 hour internship at one of industry partners. Our industry partners have agreed to intern our students and provide them with a variety of experiences in advanced manufacturing. Students will:

Develop work-based learning plans
Keep a Reflection Journal documenting their experiences
Maintain a log of their work/intern hours
Attend required internship meetings (group and individual)
Receive feedback on their performance from both the intern/extern coordinator and their onsite supervisor.
Some internships may be paid
If a student is unable to participate in an internship, they have the opportunity to complete a Capstone Project

Please see the Industry Partners below:

Flexcon Industries- Located in Spencer, Flexcon is a large local company that was founded in 1956. They design and manufacture pressure sensitive films for a variety of application. Flexcon is an international company with locations on every part of the world and over 1,000 employees.
St-Gobain NA- St-Gobain North America is a subsidiary of St-Gobain. St-Gobain is one of the world's largest manufacturers of construction materials. With facilities locally in Worcester and Northborough, St-Gobain is an international company with 150 locations and 15,000 employees in the US and Canada alone.

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