HURLOCK — North Dorchester High School held their third annual White Coat Ceremony on Jan. 16 in celebration of the second-year cohort of Project Lead The Way (PLTW) Biomedical Science Program. Twenty students were presented with their personal white embroidered PLTW lab coats. The students were also honored for achieving a class average of “Advanced” comprehension of content on the PLTW National Exam.

This year second-year cohort students will examine the human body through model builds on a Maniken®, data collection that monitors human physiology, and take on roles of biomedical professional as they solve real world medical cases. At the end of their four-year cohort experience, students will have been exposed to more than 100 careers in the biomedical field.

Recent NDHS graduate Emily Faulkner, now a freshman at the University of Maryland – College Park, addressed the event about her hands-on learning experiences and said that it was the work she did in the PLTW program at NDHS that helped her gain acceptance to the UofM BioFire program for medical honors at College Park.

Kirstin Blades, speaking as a member of the 4th-year cohort, shared that she has recently been accepted to Stevenson University, a PLTW sister university, and would receive eight biology credits thanks to her performance on PLTW National Exams. Other cohort speakers included AmberLee Ridgell (3rd year), Rachel Widmaier (2nd year), and Jenna Linthicum (1st year).

PLTW is currently in 9,000 schools with 2.4 million students enrolled nationwide. Infusing project-based learning, technical skills, and problem solving with science, technology, engineering, and math, PLTW programs are significantly different from traditional forms of education. PLTW Program Leader for NDHS, Linda Barnes, said, “We are extremely privileged to have a phenomenal, hands-on program as this biomedical science program at North Dorchester High School.”

Celebrating the students’ successes along with their families and friends were Superintendent of Schools Dr. Diana Mitchell, Board of Education President Glenn Bramble, DCPS Director of Schools Regina Teat, and County Council member Lenny Pfeffer, as well as administration and staff of NDHS.