This is not your typical science and math class. This is a room chirping with excitement. It’s also a room split almost evenly with males and females - all of whom consider themselves lucky to be in this classroom.

It’s Cario Middle School’s two year old pre-engineering program, called Gateway to Technology. It is essentially the gateway to the next level of learning. It’s a feeder program for Wando High School’s engineering program.

Chris Sjolander, Cario’s Gateway to Technology teacher, loves what he does. He gets to see that “ah hah” moment quite frequently among his students as they design moving components, explore digital electronics, and learn about automation and robotics.

These are courses, that in years past, would have been taken on the college level. But the students of today are treated to a taste of real world careers - and they’re loving it.

Gateway to Technology is a program  that’s grown slowly - but quickly exploded when Sjolander took the reigns.

“We’re very interesting in building this program because we need to, and want to, promote technical careers. And, we want to show kids it’s actually fun and really cool and no longer has that nerdy stigma attached to it,” Sjolander said.

“We want kids to hopefully become interested in technical careers and pursue it in high school and college.”

Due to budget cuts, the program is running bare bones, but technical minds can be quite creative.

Sjolander has  been able to secure some donations for equipment and parents often volunteer. But more resources are needed to truly make this program a success.

In the meantime, students

are creating competitive racers, cars and robotics.

The lesson begins with extensive research, design, construction  and ultimately an unveiling of the project.

And students are not only competing for a good grade, but against each other with their creations.

Sjolander awards them a certificate at the end of each competition and the kids are on to the next project.

The retention rate in this program, based on outgoing students who were surveyed, is quite high. Out of 100 students, only six said  they were not interested.

The number of girls who find the fun and excitement in the program is also growing. “I try to team girls together as often as possible,” Sjolander said. “I want to show them that there are opportunities out there for girls in this industry. I stress to them that companies want females because they are considered better managers because of their management and organizational skills.”

At all grade levels, the curriculum focuses on engineering careers and the students research what’s available to them. They learn quickly that everything from military engineering to video game development is their’s for the taking.

“Technological careers cover a very broad spectrum and scope,” said Sjolander, who is an engineer himself.

He was called to teach about two years ago.

“I loved being an engineer but I also love being around kids. One doesn’t become a teacher because you get summers off. You have to love the transfer of knowledge,” Sjolander said.

“I love watching that proverbial light bulb go off. It’s so amazing. I’m trying to show these kids that if they enjoy this, there is a whole world out there waiting on solutions and products. This program fosters math, science, English and language arts because it takes all of those components to be successful in this industry.”

Sjolander said that according to Wando High School’s pre-engineering instructor David Roemer, it is like day and night when you compare the students who have been through the middle school program to those who have not.

“The goal of Gateway to Technology is to not have to teach the basics of software, 3D invention packages and other basic components integral to engineering, when they get to the high school level,” Sjolander said.

Roemer told the Moultrie News, “The Gateway to Technology program gives rising ninth graders a big head start with high school level engineering courses. The benefits to our high school program is threefold. One, students come to us with a well rounded exposure to engineering in general and Project Lead the Way in particular. Two, students can find out in middle school if they have the interest and aptitude for engineering, and three, GTT students can start at a higher level of difficulty and move at a faster pace in their high school engineering classes, thereby getting a more enriched classroom experience.”  

If they’ve already had some of the pre-engineering courses, once they get to Wando, the instructors can push even more material, Sjolander explained.

He added that colleges today are looking at student applications to see if they’ve participated in any Project Lead the Way programs and pre-engineering courses.

“This is the informative age and right here in this classroom, these kids are on it,” Sjolander said.

From the Magic of Electrons, to energy transfers to automation, these kids are learning it and creating it.

To learn more, volunteer or make a monetary donation to the Cario Gateway to Technology Program, contact Sjolander at CHRISTOPHER_SJOLANDER@charleston.k12.sc.us.

(Sully Witte can be reached at editor@moultrienews.com.)