Thomas C. Cario Middle School
Gateway to Technology
2015 - 2016
Welcome to Cario Middle School’s
Gateway to Technology (GTT) program. GTT is part of Project Lead The Way (PLTW) which is a national nonprofit organization that partners with middle schools and high schools to implement a curriculum that emphasizes hands-on experiences in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics ( STEM ) and biomedical sciences. The GTT program is divided into nine different nine week modules or units. Each unit explores the different career opportunities in engineering, computer technology, or medical fields. The GTT program is designed to inspire students to consider pursuing a career in these areas and to help them in making decisions as to what major or courses they might be interested in taking when they attend high school and further education.
This quarter your child will be taking Medical Detectives (MD) . The MD course focuses on genetic information and testing, diagnosing diseases, and studying evidence at a crime scene. The students will learn to interpret vital signs, and look at what is required to maintain health. Additional course and program information can be found at http://www.pltw.org/pltw-gateway .
Materials:
 PLTW Engineering Notebook or Quadrille Composition Notebook (the PLTW notebook can be purchased at school for $4.00 and it can be used for all the GTT courses at Cario.)
 Pencil and paper
 Agenda (provided to students and should be brought to class each day)
All other materials needed for the course will be provided. If you are interested in helping support the program and replenish supplies, you can make a donation to the GTT program (a $10 donation will replenish materials used during the quarter by each student). All funds raised will go toward the program’s consumable supplies and equipment updates. These donations are tax deductible and will be receipted. Also, if the company you work for would like to be a sponsor or can provide a guest speaker related to one of our programs, we would be very interested in having them come to speak to the respective classes.
In addition to financial support, there are activities that we do from time to time where it would be helpful to have another set of eyes and hands to help run the activity more smoothly. If you are interested in helping sometime, please send me an email.
Grading Policy:
The following is a breakdown of the graded categories for GTT:


Participation 20%
 Activities/Projects 60%
Assessments 20%

Behavior/Discipline:
 Be respectful at all times to peers and teachers
 Follow Cario, classroom, and safety rules
 Follow teacher/activity instructions
First offense - warning
Second offense - lunch/recess detention
Third offense - parent or guardian will be contacted
Any additional offenses - referral to administrator and parent/guardian phone call
I look forward to a great school year with your student and hope he/she has a fun and successful year here at Cario. My contact information is below, and I welcome any questions that you may have.
Kellie_carpen@charleston.k12.sc.us
Sincerely,
Kellie Carpen
GTT - Teacher
Thomas C. Cario Middle School
3500 Thomas Cario Blvd.
Mt. Pleasant, SC 29466
Phone: (843)-856-4595
Email: kellie_carpen@charleston.k12.sc.us
(best way to contact me)
MD Website and calendar: http://cario.ccsdschools.com/cms/One.aspx?portalId=2879274&pageId=26393438