The Washington High School Workplace Simulation Project (WSP) will kick-off on
Wednesday February 27th at Daviess Community Hospital in Washington, Indiana.
The kickoff will begin a phased implementation designed in partnership with Daviess Community
Hospital, DirectEmployers Institute, and the Center for P-16 Research and Collaboration at
Indiana University. The WSP will include approximately 40 students from two high school
classes: algebra and Project Lead the Way’s Biomedical Science. In this health-care industry-led
project, students will be tasked to learn about infectious disease and create a public health
communication plan. To do this, teams of participating students will brainstorm creative ideas
and develop a master plan to communicate with their own community. The kickoff will include
a tour of the hospital emphasizing various career opportunities, a panel discussion with hospital
staff, a hands-on activity that emphasizes teamwork and collaboration, and an overview of the
workplace simulation project.
In this eight-week long project, industry professionals from Daviess Community Hospital
will work alongside the Washington High School students and guide them as both mentors and
role models. To incorporate 21st century employability skills and to model real-world work
environments, students will periodically present their work to an audience of Daviess
Community Hospital employees.
This WSP was developed to increase student interest and awareness in science,
technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers with a specific focus on careers in
Indiana’s growing health care Industry. This initiative will provide hands-on learning to
Washington High School students in an effort to improve STEM learning. This is the first year of
the pilot project.
Partner information:
Daviess Community Hospital,
DirectEmployers Institute is a nonprofit organization that enables middle and high school
students to explore STEM careers with Central Indiana employers. With a focus on serving
Central Indiana’s under-served and underrepresented students, the institute’s mission is to
inspire and prepare the next generation to meet the needs of a more diverse global workforce.
This mission involves bringing simulated workplace environments directly to students in stateof-the-art, project-based STEM Learning Labs and through local workplace learning programs.
The P–16 Center for Research and Collaboration at the Indiana University School of Education
was founded in 2006 to facilitate partnerships that lead to improvement in education from prekindergarten through postsecondary education (P–16). The overarching goal of the P–16 Center
is to improve college access and success, especially for students from groups traditionally
underrepresented in higher education, by strengthening pre-college preparation and transitions
to college. In addition to college access and retention, several of the P–16 Center’s funded