On Wednesday, Aug. 21, the University of Maine and Thornton Academy formally announced a partnership that will allow graduates of Thornton Academy to graduate and attend UMaine’s College of Engineering with a sophomore standing. This is the first time in the state’s history that a high school and University have had a partnership of this type.
Due to the quality of Thornton’s curriculum for science, technology, engineering and math, students can graduate with up to 30 college credits. This works in the same way as typical high school Advanced Placement courses, where students who take the class can take a test at the end of the year. If they pass the test, they are given a credit for the college equivalent of that course.
Dana Humphrey, the dean of the College of Engineering at the University of Maine, believes that this partnership could be a model for other high schools in the state.
“They can have the entire first year of engineering courses done when they graduate high school. They’ll be able to get an engineering degree in three years, that’s a good deal,” Humphrey said. “What’s great about Thornton is the breadth of AP courses they have available […] The teachers need to teach the content that will allow the students to pass the test. Thornton has managed to do that.”
According to Humphrey, the STEM courses offered at Thornton are better at teaching students calculus based mathematics within the different classes. Since calculus plays such a huge part in engineering, it’s easy to see how having these types of courses in high school is important for future generations of engineers.
“Maine ranks 47th in the country for per capita production of engineers. We need to provide more pathways for students to become engineers,” Humphrey said. “Right now, 97 percent of engineering graduates have a full time job within six months of graduation. That’s much higher than any other discipline in the University. It shows a great demand.”
With such a high national demand for engineers, an increase in engineering talent from Maine could be a boon for the state’s economy. Engineering is a very hands-on profession with a lot of trial and error. Part of what has allowed Thornton to reach this status with the University is the resources that are available to its students.
The school finished building a new STEM lab and new media center which will allow students to delve into the actual working aspects of engineering. These developments, coupled with classes like ‘Intro to Engineering,’ will hopefully see the number of potential engineers in the state rise as students will be able to better figure out their career paths before college. Although Thornton Academy is the first school to have its STEM curriculum officially recognized by the university, it is not the only one with such a strong curriculum.
“We have a collaboration with Bangor High School who have established a STEM academy. We’re trying to move toward a model [with them] that looks like the one we have with Thornton,” Humphrey said. “I think that other high schools in Maine are going to be able to take and adopt this model.”
AP courses have been utilized in high schools for a long time now. What’s being done between Thornton and the University of Maine isn’t new, but with the vast array of options and accreditation that Thornton’s curriculum now has it is simply making the system more efficient for producing capable engineers.
“What I would hope is that many high schools in Maine would follow a model like this, at least to the extent that they can,” Humphrey said.