Check out this article about  Tewksbury Memorial High School Project Lead The Way students taking part in a One8, hands-on engineering program that connected them directly with industry men­tors and real-world challenges.

Source: Tewksbury Town Crier

Authors: Paige Impink, News Correspondent

Date: December 20, 2025

TEWKSBURY — LG-1 and 2 at Tewksbury Memo­rial High School looked more like professional de­sign studios recently as students took part in a hands-on engineering program that connected them directly with industry men­tors and real-world challenges.

As part of the school’s participation in Project Lead the Way, juniors and seniors enrolled in engineering and computer science courses spent the day working on authentic de­sign problems posed by outside organizations. The goal: give students firsthand experience with how engineers collaborate, brainstorm, and de­velop solutions beyond the classroom.

One group of students fo­cused on a challenge from a global health technology company. Their task was to develop ideas to make a portable medical device easier for healthcare pro­viders to adopt. Students explored improvements such as better training tools, clearer instructions, and creative ways to ex­pand the device’s use into other medical disciplines to benefit more patients.

Working remotely via Zoom, industry mentor Rafael Cordero guided students as they independently developed concepts and then presented their ideas using a document camera. Each group shared its proposals and received direct feedback, mirroring how professional engineering teams review and refine designs.

“I think it gives us a good look into what a real-world problem would be like, and the kinds of things we might experience later in an engineering career,” said student participant Jane Garabe­dian.

Another student emphasized the value of collaboration.

“It’s a good hands-on ex­perience of talking with a real person, pitching ideas, and brainstorming with the team,” said Sami Al-Sadi. “Teamwork is a big part of engineering, so this really helps us focus on how to work together.”

In addition to the medical device project, engineering students were also tasked with solving a challenge connected to a large nonprofit fundraising organization. That problem asked students to design a tool to help flip inquiries to commitments by when individual participants expressed interest in the event.

The request was to simplify the technical process of matching participants to a fundraising team — reducing the amount of manual work required for the event.

STEM Pathways Coor­dinator Mary Jo Kelleher, who helped organize the program, said the experience is invaluable for students.

“It’s a great opportunity for them to see what engineering design looks like in the real world, connected with a professional mentor in an industry that has an actual problem,” she said. “That connection makes the work mean­ingful.”

Computer science teach­er Sanford Arbogast echo­ed that sentiment, noting that students gain insight into how professionals ap­proach complex challen­ges.

“They get to see how brainstorming works, how ideas are broken down, and how decisions are made about what’s feasible and what’s not,” he said.

Mentor Jonah Wilson said working with students benefits professionals as well.

“Having younger minds working on problems we don’t always have time to solve is invaluable,” he said. “I’m excited to hear what they bring to the table.”

For many students, the program offered a glimpse into potential future ca­reers in engineering and technology — and a re­minder that the skills they are learning now can have real-world impact.

The program is part of One8 Applied Learning Hub as part of the Student Solve program. The exercise was conducted in a host of public high schools across the Commonwealth.