Teachers say...

I want to increase the technological literacy of my students. I want to arm my students with the knowledge to survive (and succeed) in a technological society. I want them to be smart consumers, able to make informed choices and equipped to have intelligent conversations about technological issues. I want them to vote and lead our country with the ability to make informed decisions about technology-based advancements. See Technically Speaking: Why All Americans Need to Know More about Technology.

Unleashing the creativity of our students is every teacher's dream and motivation. Through engineering, students can imagine a better world - and ultimately become part of a team to make it so. Engineering provides a great opportunity for students with broad interests and passions to create the world as they want it to be - helping address the world's great struggles like alternative energy technologies, food shortages, and environmental devastation.

My top reason for engineering in a pre-college setting is to reinforce science and math concepts with real-world applications. Engineering is a great response to my students' questions of "Why are we learning this?" and "Who cares about this stuff?" When I give my students an example of how what they are learning is used in the world beyond school, they become more interested, engaged and retain the information better.

I want my students to have another career option. Since I teach science, my students who excel in my classes sometimes think a science career path is the obvious choice. They go through their secondary years picking advanced science courses and joining science clubs. When they ask me about science careers, I want them to understand that engineering is another option for them to explore. I want to be able to encourage my creative, artistic, science-minded high school students to consider engineering as a career - and be able to imagine themselves creating the technologies that drive our nation's economy. Too often my students tell me that they never thought about engineering until college.