Seven Dreher seniors earn National Engineering Awards

Seven Dreher High School seniors have earned the National AP + PLTW Student Achievement in Engineering Awards based on their work in Advanced Placement (AP) science and math courses and advanced engineering courses taught at Dreher.

Award recipients are Nicolas Webster, Olivia McManus, Mary Grace Barrineau, Linda Trinh, Rachel Weissman, Christopher Alencar and Gregory Voelkel.

Nicolas Webster, Olivia McManus, Mary Grace Barrineau, Linda Trinh, Rachel Weissman, Christopher Alencar and Gregory Voelkel, have earned the National AP + PLTW Student Achievement in Engineering Award, an award based on their work in Advanced Placement (AP) science and math courses and advanced engineering courses taught at Dreher. 

The new AP + PLTW engineering program is a collaborative effort between the College Board’s Advanced Placement program and Project Lead The Way (PLTW), a nationally recognized high school engineering curriculum.

To earn the recognition, these students were required to complete three courses:  one college-level AP science or math course, one PLTW engineering course and a third course chosen from either AP or PLTW. Students were required to earn proficient scores on the national end-of-year AP and PLTW exams. These seniors will receive official certifications from the AP + PLTW program. Their recognition also will be reported to colleges by the College Board.

Dreher has demonstrated a commitment to increasing its AP program and Project Lead the Way course offerings. The engineering program has experienced enormous growth in recent years, nearly tripling in size and numbers of courses since 2012. This year, 185 students are enrolled in the courses Introduction to Engineering, Principles of Engineering, Civil Engineering/Architecture, Digital Electronics and Aerospace Engineering.

PLTW teachers Sumter Link and Stefan Singer lead the program. Link expects the program to continue to grow. “With Dreher’s increased offerings in both PLTW and AP,” said Link, “we expect even more students to qualify for this honor in the years to come.”