LOS ANGELES, Oct. 30, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) and Project Lead The Way, Inc. have partnered in a national engineering initiative that will promote pre-engineering courses for middle and high school students, form partnerships between local school teachers and Northrop Grumman engineers, and strengthen the link between industry and education.
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The program pairs a Project Lead The Way(r) teacher with a Northrop Grumman engineer at each school site. The engineers will serve as mentors for teachers and attend classes weekly. During these classes, the engineers will be able to guide students through real-world applications of lessons learned in the classroom, and students will have the opportunity to collaborate and work directly with engineers.
"Northrop Grumman supports this unique initiative because it establishes an ongoing relationship between an engineer and a classroom teacher," said Sandra Evers-Manly, vice president of Corporate Responsibility for Northrop Grumman. "It offers an opportunity to inspire students to consider careers in engineering, and it has the potential to address the nation's shortage of engineers."
Under a $45,000 grant from Northrop Grumman Foundation, three public schools in San Diego's Poway Unified School District are participating in the initiative: Rancho Bernardo High School, Bernardo Heights Middle School, and Mesa Verde Middle School.
Four engineers from the company's Integrated Systems Rancho Bernardo Development Center have volunteered to be mentors: George Medica; Charles Muckenthaler; Gene Fraser, vice president and deputy of the company's Integrated Systems Western Region and Unmanned Systems; Greg Marien; Sarah Hall; and Janice Kawamura, manager of Human Resources & Administration.
"I really enjoy working with students and look forward to participating with the teacher to help inspire the students to pursue careers in science and engineering," said Greg Marien, one of the Northrop Grumman volunteers.
Under this first-of-its-kind program, the classroom teacher will model effective teaching techniques and follow Project Lead The Way(r) high school Pathways To Engineering(tm) or middle school Gateway To Technology(r) courses. Engineers will assist the classroom teacher by sharing their knowledge and industry experience to reinforce the specific requirements established for that day by the curriculum.
To assist the classroom teacher during the second semester, the mentor engineer will work directly with students or teams of students within the classroom on selected activities. Additional activities may include presenting examples from the industry to the class in alignment with the curriculum plan and supporting the program outside the classroom through presentations to interested parents and community groups on topics such as the importance of school and industry relationships, careers in the industry and at Northrop Grumman, and visions of the future in engineering.
Project Lead The Way, Inc. is the premier pre-engineering high school and middle school program in the nation. Offered in over 2,722 schools, Project Lead The Way(r) offers: a multi-course curriculum; required professional training of all its teachers at summer institutes at the nation's finest engineering colleges and universities; a local, state, and national support system to establish quality standards; and college credit for teachers and students meeting its standards.
Northrop Grumman Corporation is a $30 billion global defense and technology company whose 120,000 employees provide innovative systems, products, and solutions in information and services, electronics, aerospace and shipbuilding to government and commercial customers worldwide.
