I think this is an excellent example of technology integration. Students at Laguna Creek high school receive career and technical training through project-based college preparatory courses. In a physics class, students designed and created rockets using a CAD program. After perfecting the design through trial and error on the computer, student built and tested their designs.
When asked about the classes, teacher Eric Johnson explains that students seem to understand better when they experience the material instead of just hearing it. I could not agree more with this approach. Instead of memorizing facts and equations, students learn the principles of physics through trial and error experimentation, all while getting to do something FUN like building a rocket.
Students of the Green Energy Technology Academy (GETA) made solar powered vehicles and explored other forms of alternative energy production. I love that technology made it possible to combine the worlds of physics and earth sciences. Not only are students gaining academic power through advanced knowledge and understanding of physics, they’re attempting to save the environment!
The best part about this program is the acceptance and encouragement of all kinds of students. Special Education students work right along side Advanced Placement students, learning the same material and completing the same projects. These students performed higher than the general population on related standardized tests, proving the success of the program.
Honestly, after seeing this, I read up on Laguna Creek High School. These types of programs have the ability to not only inspire students, but to inspire and reinvigorate teachers like me 
.