Washington High School’s first female student has completed the Project Lead the Way program. Marlene Larios began the college-level engineering classes after a high school teacher approached her during her freshman year. The program is statewide and in this area it is facilitated by Kirkwood Community College, in which students earn free college credit while in high school. This fall, Larios plans to attend Kirkwood, transferring her Project Lead the Way credit to the school and eventually complete her studies at Iowa State University and have a career in biotechnology.