Kicking off a spring school tour focused on work-based learning, Iowa Department of Education Director Ann Lebo toured Miller Middle School on Thursday learning about programs helping students prepare for college and careers.

“I’ve been here a few times, and each time I’ve been here I’ve seen a progression,” Lebo said.

She said the most impactful of what she learned and saw was the various partnerships Marshalltown Community School District has with local businesses and the district’s work-based learning opportunities at all grade levels.

Lebo toured Project Lead the Way and modular technology classrooms at Miller Middle School, where students were learning material from different career paths. Some students were training on a flight simulator while others worked on video, engineering or construction projects.

Many modules within the modular technology class are sponsored by local businesses, and students can choose which of the 20 modules they want to complete by the end of the semester. Some of the modules include flight transportation, computer animation, graphic design and veterinary sciences.

“I think it’s an example of the kind of work that we can continue to do and should be doing,” Lebo said. “You hear it in the conversations, you see it in the work, and to have that kind of opportunity at such a really young age is really significant.”

Project Lead the Way, a curriculum based on biomedical, engineering and computer science career pathways, is built into the required learning of every student from grades first through eighth.

One of the big goals of the district’s work-based learning programs is to build a foundation of career skills before high school, when career and college readiness based courses are typically offered in schools.

Starting as early as pre-K, Marshalltown Community School District’s Individual Career and Academic Plan (ICAP) includes teaching young students about self-understanding, career information, career exploration activities, post-secondary exploration, and a career and post-secondary decision.

This year the ICAP program expanded with the implementation of 13 large career tree posters sponsored by local employers. The posters give students at Marshalltown High School, Marshalltown Learning Academy, and Miller Middle School a visual of exploring careers available close to home while they’re learning about the subjects themselves.

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Contact Trevor Babcockat 641-753-6611 or tbabcock@timesrepublican.com.