Saline Middle School students will learn about science, technology, engineering and mathematics as part of a hands-on national program, thanks to a $25,000 Pepsi Refresh Grant recently awarded to Saline Area Schools. Assistant Superintendent Steve Laatsch said Project Lead the Way will help the district revamp its science curriculum, something it has been wanting to do for a while. “We wanted to bring more hands-on learning in there,” Laatsch said.

Project Lead the Way is a national program that began in 1997 in New York. Its goal is to work with middle and high schools to implement curricula that prepare students for careers in engineering, technology and the sciences. According to its website, 3,500 schools across the nation use its programming.

Laatsch said seventh-graders in Saline will try out Project Lead the Way in their science classes this fall. Four middle school teachers are currently taking a training course at Eastern Michigan University to learn how to teach the curriculum.

Laatsch said the learning unit this fall will focus on designing, building, programming, solving problems and “using the equipment hands on and getting [students] used to using software.”

After that learning unit, the seventh-graders will study automation and robotics by undertaking building challenges in class. “They’ll come up with different solutions to the same problem,” Laatsch said about the challenges. He added, “that was important to us” because while traditional ways of learning have stressed the importance of coming up with the right answer, many careers in growing industries like science and engineering are focused on coming up with new solutions to problems.

Pepsi notified the district on July 1 that it had won the grant, and will officially announce Saline as a winner on July 22.

Laatsch said winning the money “felt a bit like being on a game show.”

Laatsch said a parent and PTA member, Dawn Ducca, suggested that the district try to get a Pepsi grant. He took that suggestion and submitted the funding request to the Pepsi website in June.

Pepsi’s Refresh Grants are intended to provide money for groups or organizations to “refresh” their communities with new ideas. Pepsi picks up to 32 winners a month to receive $5,000, $25,000, $50,000, or $250,000. The winners are chosen if their ideas are voted as most popular on Pepsi’s website. Up to 1,000 ideas in categories such as education, health and arts can be voted on each month.

Laatsch was surprised when they won, because the Pepsi website doesn’t publicly tally how many votes have been received.

Including the money from Pepsi, the district has raised $65,000 in grants for Project Lead the Way. Laatsch said most of the money will be spent on laptop computers, software, and other equipment for the in-classroom activities. The district is hoping to raise a total of $120,000 so that eighth-graders can also start on the program in 2012. Laatsch said he hopes to raise enough money to provide computers and equipment to every student, so each can have a hands-on learning experience.

Laatsch said the school district is planning to apply for another Pepsi Refresh Grant in September. The district has raised money to build a greenhouse at the high school, but Laatsch said it will try for another grant from Pepsi to “do cool things with the greenhouse,” such as building a windmill to power it. “Green energy really is a hot topic especially in Michigan,” he said. “Lots of states are vying for green energy development, and [Saline’s] greenhouse could potentially teach students about this.”

Tara Cavanaugh is a freelance writer for AnnArbor.com. To reach the news desk, call 734-623-2530 or e-mail news@annarbor.com.