EL SEGUNDO, Calif., Oct. 26, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- Northrop Grumman Corporation's (NYSE:NOC) Scott Seymour, corporate vice president and Integrated Systems sector president, spent his lunch hour today teaching an algebra course to eighth-grade students at Mount Vernon Middle School in Los Angeles as part of Teach for America Week.
Launched in 1997, Teach for America Week is an annual nationwide event in which leaders from all professions are invited to spend time teaching children from some of our nation's lowest-income communities. Teach for America Week is being observed this week, Oct. 24-28.
Seymour, substituting for regular teacher Kyle Hunsberger, talked to students about the many day-to-day applications of the algebraic principles they are learning -- the design of advanced, high-performance aircraft being just one example.
Afterward, Seymour said it's important to encourage more of America's youth to pursue educations in mathematics, engineering and the sciences.
"Our nation has consistently achieved technological breakthroughs leading to advances in transportation, communication, space exploration, medicine and the environment, to name just a few," he said. "Today's global economy and the accelerated pace of technology in the information age have placed a premium on the need to sustain this track record."
"Parents, teachers and, certainly, businesses share the responsibility to excite, challenge and engage students in the disciplines of math and science," he continued.
"Northrop Grumman has been a fantastic supporter of our organization," said Brian C. Johnson, executive director for Teach for America, Los Angeles. "This marks the second year in a row that Mr. Seymour has volunteered to be a guest instructor. Sharing his diverse professional and personal experiences will inspire students to make the most of their education."
As president of Northrop Grumman's Integrated Systems sector, Seymour oversees a $4.7 billion enterprise with more than 15,000 employees. He joined Northrop Grumman in 1983 as a test engineer. Seymour is a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps and earned degrees in both engineering and law.
Through its community partnerships, Northrop Grumman strives to enhance the experiences of K-12 students, especially in the areas of math and science. Through Teach for America, a 15-year-old nonprofit organization, Northrop Grumman sponsors 20 instructors in five states who commit themselves to teach for two years in low-income rural and urban neighborhoods.
Northrop Grumman Integrated Systems is a premier aerospace and defense systems integration organization. Headquartered in El Segundo, Calif., it designs, develops, produces and supports network-enabled integrated systems and subsystems optimized for use in networks. For its government and civil customers worldwide, Integrated Systems delivers best-value solutions, products and services that support military and homeland defense missions in the areas of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance; space access; battle management command and control; and integrated strike warfare.