Mill Creek’s EPIC Program Stem Certification
October 31, 2022
On Oct. 20, Georgia’s State Superintendent, Robert Woods, came to Mill Creek to officially present Mill Creek’s principal, Jason Lane, with Georgia’s official stem certification of the EPIC program.
“What do you want to do in life?” asked Woods, “Because I can guarantee that I reflect back to when I graduated high school in 1980,that becoming state superintendent of Georgia was not on the bucket list of things to do. Simply said, I thought I was probably going into the military or either tech college. However, what we find out is that what this preparation is giving you, is the doors to expand your opportunity.”
In 2015, former Gwinnett County Superintendent, Alvin Wilbanks, asked principals to brainstorm specialty programs that would also run alongside with a normal high school. According to Lacy Jakes, a teacher in the EPIC program, “In the beginning we had five teachers and now we have actual engineering space. We also have several student, teacher, and community partnerships.” The EPIC program has garnered $90,00 in grants.
The EPIC program is based on collaborative and project based learning. The program is open to rising ninth graders that passed Algebra in eighth grade.
