Recently, some Ironton Middle School students competed in the Skills USA competition in Columbus, bringing home medals that show their knowledge in the STEM disciplines are growing.

That’s thanks to the Project Lead the Way programs that many schools are accommodating throughout the state and country.

In fact, there are more than 9,000 Project Lead the Way programs in more than 8,000 schools across the United States.

The program was launched to give K-12 students the opportunity to develop hands-on knowledge and experience in the STEM disciplines, which are science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

A 2015 study found that as many as 26 million jobs in the United States require significant STEM knowledge and skill in at least one field, which represents nearly 20 percent of all U.S. jobs.

So, students who enroll in STEM classes during their K-12 years aren’t just learning new facts for the sake of testing. They are gaining a real edge over other students when it comes to applying for college and eventually applying for jobs.

Earlier this month, Ironton Elementary students on the Matheletes team competed in the Ohio Math Contest in Dayton. While the team isn’t a PLTW program, encouraging students to stretch their minds in math should also give those students an advantage and hopefully a desire to enroll in PLTW course when they become available to them.

Kudos to all the school districts in Lawrence County that offer PLTW courses. Every student deserves the very best education possible in order to compete for their best possible future.