K-12 Outreach

Committee Chair: Jim Kunard, PE
kunard@palmbeach.k12.fl.us

Committee Members: Krystin Bernsten, EI
kbernsten@millerlegg.com

The Palm Beach Chapter (PB) is getting more and more involved with bringing engineering into the classroom. Past-president, John Hall, PE, gave a primary direction to "get moving" and this is what we’ve done. The PB K-12 committee, led by Jim Kunard, PE, took a deep breath and jumped into the unknown waters. What the committee found was a gold mine of opportunities within the Palm Beach County School District for our members to get involved.

Contact a committee member to volunteer for one of the following programs:

• SECME – Science, Engineering, Communication, Mathematics Enhance Program, is an after school science, technology, math and engineering program for students in grades 3 through 12. We need volunteers to serve as advisors and judges for the SECME Annual Olympiads.


• Project Lead the Way (PLTW) – This is a Pre-Engineering curriculum for high school students that includes courses that can count as college credit. We are supporting all five Palm Beach County High Schools this year. We need classroom speakers in all branches of Engineering. We need volunteers to work with the following school: Olympic Heights High School, Glades Central High School and Jupiter High School.


• Gateway to Technology – This is a middle school program that is a feeder to PLTW. We need engineers to go into the classroom and speak about our career pat at Lake Worth Middle School, Lake Shore Middle School and Eagles Landing.


• Job Shadowing – High school seniors will be offered the opportunity to shadow an engineer for a day. The will be aligned with a professional for a 4-hour “this is what we do” event. We are asking all interested engineers to contact the committee chair so your name can be added to the call-down list which will connect volunteers with students.


• Instructional Opportunities – Palm Beach County offers full and part time opportunities for retired engineers. They can teach students heading for technical careers. We are currently looking for local members of the Florida Professional Engineers Retired (FPER).


• Mentoring – Mentoring is a great way to help up-and-coming engineers as they try to figure out which classes to take or where to intern. The K-12 committee has a great opportunity for you to participate in email mentoring. Contact the committee chairperson for more information.


• Drop-It Build-It Fly-It Launch-It – This is an annual event for our chapter that is cosponsored with the Palm Beach County Science Museum. The event is typically held in the end of April. For more information visit the event website. We need volunteers to help with set-up and serve as judges.