Tech Prep Participating Schools - Ithaca

Ithaca High School

Programs Offered

• Business
• Project Lead the Way
• Communication & Media Arts

More programs are available at the Career Tech Center at TST BOCES

• Business

Program Teacher: Barbara Turck

Description: Students are encouraged to take a business sequence including a capstone course called Tech Prep Business. This capstone course is designed to combine classroom instruction with a student’s work experience. All students will work a minimum of 6 hours each week in conjunction with in-class instruction. Additionally, there are five all day seminars which students will attend to supplement and enhance the curriculum. This course addresses the following subjects: computer skills, interpersonal skills, and both written and oral communication. Students make take a course at TC3, tuition- free, if they qualify. College credit through TC3 is available for the work experience, college success skills, and computer applications courses in this program.

•Project Lead the Way

Teacher: Michael Peters

Description: Project Lead the Way (PLTW) is Pre-Engineering program designed to help students explore technology related careers and to prepare them for two and four year college technical degree programs. Each class is taught in a laboratory setting using state-of-the-art technology equipment and software. Instruction is generally one-third theory and two-thirds application, sometimes involving mentors from industry and colleges. Class activities focus on problem-solving requiring students to work in teams to generate solutions. Juniors and seniors in this program may take up to three courses, tuition-free, at Tompkins Cortland Community College if they qualify. In addition, some PLTW courses (such as Digital Electronics) are eligible for TC3 Concurrent Enrollment. The TC3 credits are transferable to most colleges.

DESIGN AND DRAWING FOR PRODUCTION-PLTW (Full Year)

(Formerly known as Introduction to Engineering Design)
A solid Modeling Approach

Prerequisite: Concurrent enrollment in college preparatory mathematics
Course Content: DDP is an introductory course, which develops student problem – solving skills, with emphasis placed upon the concept of developing a 3-D model or solid rendering of an object.  Students focus on the application of visualization processes and tools provided by modern, state-of-the-art computer hardware and software (Inventor). This modern computer-based process replaces the traditional hand drawing methods. The course will emphasize the design development process of a product and how a model of that product is produced, analyzed and evaluated, using a Computer Aided Design System. Various design applications will be explored with discussion of possible career opportunities. This course satisfies the Fine Arts requirement.

DIGITAL ELECTRONICS-PLTW (Full Year)            

Prerequisite: Concurrent enrollment in college preparatory mathematics

Course Content: Digital Electronics is a course of study in applied digital logic. The course is patterned after the first semester course in Digital Electronics taught in two and four year colleges.  Students will study the application of electronic logic circuits and devices and apply Boolean logic to the solution of problems. Such circuits are found in watches, calculators, video games, computers and thousands of other devices. The use of smart circuits is present in virtually all aspects of our lives and its use is increasing rapidly, making digital electronics an important course of study for a student exploring a career in engineering/engineering technology. Using Electronics Workbench (EWB) and CircuitMaker, the industry standard, students will test and analyze simple and complex digital circuitry.  Students will design circuits, using EWB, export their designs to a printed circuit autorouting program that generates printed circuit boards and construct the design using chips and other components.

PRINCIPLES OF ENGINEERING-PLTW (Full Year)         

Prerequisite: Concurrent enrollment in college preparatory mathematics

Recommendation: Students are strongly encouraged to also enroll in Computer Integrated Manufacturing.

Course Content: Principles of Engineering is a broad-based survey course designed to help students understand the field of engineering and engineering technology and its career possibilities. Students will develop engineering problem-solving skills that are involved in post-secondary education programs and engineering careers. They will explore various engineering systems and manufacturing processes. They will also learn how engineers’ address concerns about the social and political consequences of technological change. The main purpose of this course is to experience through theory and hands-on problem-solving activities what engineering is all about and to answer the question, “Is a career in engineering or engineering technology for me?”

COMPUTER INTEGRATED MANUFACTURING-PLTW (Full Year)     

Prerequisite: Concurrent enrollment in college preparatory mathematics

Recommendation: Students are strongly encouraged to also enroll in Principles of Engineering.

Course Content: This course builds upon the computer solid modeling design skills developed in Design and Drawing for Production.  Students will be presented with design problems that require the use of Inventor and MasterCam to develop solutions to the problems.  They will evaluate the solutions using mass property analysis (study of the relationship among the design, function and materials used), make appropriate modifications and use rapid prototyping equipment to produce three-dimensional models of the solutions.  Students will be expected to communicate the process and results of their work through oral and written reports.

ENGINEERING DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT-PLTW (Full Year)      

Prerequisite: Principals of Engineering, Computer Integrated Manufacturing & Digital Electronics

Course Content: In this course, students will work in teams of two to four to design and construct the solution to an engineering problem, (original, taken from a database of problems, or a national challenge) applying the principles developed in the four preceding courses. Students will maintain a journal as part of a portfolio of their work. Each team will be responsible for delivering progress reports and making final presentations of their project to an outside review panel. The completed portfolio will be invaluable as students apply to college.

• Communication & Media Arts

Teacher: Shade Gomez

ENGLISH/MEDIA PRODUCTION (Full Year)       

Prerequisite: English 9 & 10
Course Content: The English/Media Production meets two consecutive periods, five days a week, for the whole year, allowing students to earn their required credit in English 11 or English 12 plus an elective credit in Technology. Students use reading, writing, listening and speaking in both individual and collaborative projects which sometimes involve literature, but which are often journalistic, producing news segments and features for a bi-weekly show called “Lake Street News” which airs on public access TV, channel 16. Students learn to operate a TV camera, character generator, video switcher and editors (both analog and digital). They learn the skills and duties of camera operator, technical director, floor manager, anchor, and producer, rotating through these positions during the year. The course uses alternative assessment in which students demonstrate competence by completing projects, reflecting on their process, evaluating the product, and formulating strategies for improvement. Course is offered Pass/Fail or Regents/Honors for a grade.

ADVANCED VIDEO PRODUCTION (Full Year)                     

Prerequisite: English/Video Production or permission of the instructor

Course Content: This class allows students who have completed one year in the English/Media Production course to continue learning video production skills and contributing to the class/s biweekly program “Lake Street News”. Students will attend Advanced Video Production one period a day for the year, producing programming, serving as mentors in small group instruction on the equipment, and modeling performance in the various roles required in TV production. Students will receive advanced training in cameras, switching, audio mixing, dubbing, studio lighting, graphics, and character generation. Advanced students will receive training in computer technologies such as digital video, audio, and animation.