The Palmetto Education Summit 2026

Siemens will present the Pathway to Learning Engineering (PLE) — a comprehensive, project-based curriculum designed in collaboration with Siemens engineering experts and educators. This innovative pathway immerses students in authentic design challenges while preparing them for industry-recognized certifications, including NX, Programmable Logic Controllers, and Six Sigma Lean Manufacturing. During the session, participants will discover how to access and implement the curriculum, secure Siemens software licenses for classroom use, explore professional development opportunities for educators, and register students for certification exams that validate their learning. The presentation will demonstrate how Siemens PLE equips high students with the skills, experiences, and credentials needed to succeed in the evolving world of engineering and advanced manufacturing.

Education cannot exist in silos. Student learning builds on previously learned concepts. Employers insist that educators build character and employability skills. Character readiness, college readiness, and career readiness are all essential in preparing students for their next steps after high school and eventually to a life-long career. Join us as we "Envision an Educational System that Connects Core and Career Learning."

This session introduces Siemens Exploring the World of Engineering, a modular, project-based middle grades curriculum that immerses students in authentic STEM challenges across design, automation technology, autonomous electric vehicles, aerospace technology, energy management, informatics, biomedical manufacturing and engineering, and artificial intelligence. Participants will explore how eight flexible, non-sequential modules with differentiated projects build engineering literacy, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills through hands-on design, collaboration, and iteration. Attendees will learn how to integrate the curriculum into existing schedules, scaffold instruction using beginner-to-advanced projects, and use performance-based assessments and digital badges to support student growth and engagement.

South Carolina career centers stand at a crossroads. As workforce demands accelerate in advanced manufacturing, logistics, EV technology, healthcare, and construction, career centers must evolve beyond elective providers into regional workforce engines. This session will challenge traditional thinking and provide a bold, practical blueprint for making your career center innovative, regionally relevant, and academically rigorous. Participants will explore academy models, honors frameworks, equipment modernization strategies, industry alignment structures, and measurable performance metrics that elevate credibility and outcomes. Attendees will leave with actionable strategies to shift culture, perception, and performance. This session is designed for CTE directors, administrators, principals, superintendents, and workforce partners ready to disrupt the status quo.

The Anderson Institute of Technology is a multi-district career center serving students from 3 school districts (Anderson 3, 4, and 5). In this session, administration will share innovative practices to help students become college and/or career ready, including non-diploma students. We will discuss the strategies (what worked and what didn’t) and how we collaborated with each of our feeder high schools to meet their individual needs and implementation of work-based learning opportunities. Additionally, we will discuss the hiring of a Transition Instructor and how this position supports our teachers and students, especially those students with IEPs 14 and 504 plans, and our future plans to expand course offerings for students with disabilities.

You’re getting students certified—but are they truly workforce-ready? Across pathways, employers are telling us the same thing: students can perform the task, but struggle with communication, accountability, and working on a team. This session breaks down how to intentionally embed leadership and employability skills into your existing CTE programs—without adding one more thing—so students leave not just credentialed, but ready to show up, contribute, and succeed on day one.

South Carolina’s future workforce begins in its early childhood classrooms. This session brings together the SC Early Learning Standards, play-based instructional practices, and career readiness competencies to show how foundational learning in early childhood directly supports the future economic prosperity of South Carolina. Participants will explore how intentional play, early literacy and numeracy foundations, social-emotional development, and integrated STEM experiences lay the groundwork for later Career and Technical Education (CTE) pathways and high‑demand workforce skills. This session will highlight developmentally appropriate, evidence‑informed practices that build curiosity, creativity, critical thinking, and problem‑solving—skills essential for emerging industries, automation, military pathways, and future-ready careers. Through practical classroom strategies, cross-sector insights, and examples of innovative early learning environments, attendees will leave with a clear understanding of how high‑quality early learning aligns with workforce readiness and strengthens South Carolina’s long-term talent pipeline.  

In an era of rapid industrial growth and shifting economic demands, South Carolina’s prosperity depends on a pipeline between education and the economy. This session explores the powerful synergy between Career and Technology Education (CTE) and Adult Education as the dual engines driving the state’s 21st-century workforce. Led by veteran educational leaders Dr. Alan E. Gray and Dr. Vickie C. Butler, this presentation moves beyond traditional classroom models to highlight innovative strategies for closing the workforce skills gap. Participants will gain insights into how CTE programs and Adult Education initiatives are dismantling barriers to employment, fostering lifelong learners, and empowering South Carolinians to transition from potential to a uniquely skilled workforce.