Awards $1 million in scholarships and grants for ideas that make math fun
to learn
WALTHAM, Mass., Nov. 14, 2006 /PRNewswire/ -- During the past year,
Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) has asked the nation's middle schoolers how
they would solve one of the biggest challenges in education today: how to
make the study of math more appealing to their peers. More than 450 took up
the challenge as part of the company's MathMovesU initiative
(http://www.mathmovesu.com), launched last November. Those students shared
$900,000 in scholarships for sending in a host of clever, insightful and
even brilliantly fun ideas. An additional $165,000 was given to a group of
33 teachers -- unsung math heroes one and all -- who created lesson plans
that made the study of math more enjoyable, relevant, and easier to
understand.
Some of the students' winning suggestions ranged from the traditional:
providing better, newer textbooks and more graphing calculators, to the
more imaginative: visiting a carpentry shop to learn geometry or having the
local meteorologist speak to the class about probability. There were
numerous ideas to make math more engaging: math bees, more board and video
games that teach math, scavenger and treasure hunts that use math questions
as clues, rapping math, using a large pizza to teach fractions, even
measuring the surface area of a donut to better understand circles.
As Caitlin Brady, a grade seven student from Plymouth Meeting, Pa.,
wrote, "While we are playing the games, we really don't think about what
they are teaching us because we are having so much fun." Role reversal was
also popular. A number of students wanted to give their teachers a break
and lead chapter reviews prior to tests. Their reasoning: students who were
struggling would be more inclined to ask their classmates for help.
"By keeping students interested and enjoying math, we believe this will
encourage more of them to major in science and engineering in college,
thereby providing the technology sector with a stable technical pipeline
for the future," said William H. Swanson, Chairman and CEO of Raytheon
Company. "MathMovesU is a multi-year commitment for us -- no different than
research and development -- but for the next generation of technical
talent." That commitment to research and development takes many forms. As a
co-chair of the Business Higher Education Forum's (BHEF) Securing America's
Leadership in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM)
initiative, Swanson and the BHEF are working to double the number of
college STEM graduates by 2015.
Technology firms across America, including Raytheon, remain concerned
about students' lack of interest and ability in math and science, as
evidenced by recent findings from ACT's EXPLORE program. ACT, one of two
organizations to administer national college admission tests, also has a
program designed to assess college readiness for eighth and ninth graders.
Of the 640,000 students who took the program in 2005/6, just 37 percent met
the benchmark for college readiness in math. An even smaller number, 15
percent, met the benchmark for science(1).
In an effort to help spur interest in math, Raytheon conceived and
launched MathMovesU a year ago to show middle schoolers that math can be
fun and can lead to exciting careers. The program is unique because it
reaches out directly to middle schoolers on their own terms and though
their preferred medium -- the Internet. The Web-based initiative features
weekly prizes for solving math problems linked to leading 'tween'
celebrities, including BMX biker Dave Mirra and gold medalist speedskater
Apolo Ohno.
Visitors to the Website, more than 240,000 since the program's
inception, learn how these and other celebrities use math to stay at the
top of their game. The site also highlights a roster of interesting careers
that use math including a ballerina, a former spy, an emergency room
doctor, and roller coaster and video game designers.
Raytheon Company, with 2005 sales of $21.9 billion, is an industry
leader in defense and government electronics, space, information
technology, technical services, and business and special mission aircraft.
With headquarters in Waltham, Mass., Raytheon employs 80,000 people
worldwide.
Note to Editors:
About Student Scholarships
The student scholarship awards are part of Raytheon's $1 million
MathMovesU grant program to provide grants to teachers, schools and
students to support math education. Students receive individual grants of
$1000. In addition, a grant of $1000 is awarded to their school or the
local MATHCOUNTS(R) program.
About Math Hero Grants
The math hero awards are part of Raytheon's $1 million MathMovesU grant
program to provide grants to teachers and schools to support math
education. Math Heroes receive individual grants of $2500. In addition, a
grant of $2500 is awarded to their school or the local MATHCOUNTS(R)
program.
(1) Middle School: Higher Expectations and Higher Engagement. A
presentation by Cynthia B. Schmeiser to the National Symposium on
Middle School Education, September 2006.
Corinne Kovalsky
781.522.5144
cjkovalsky@raytheon.com
SOURCE Raytheon Company
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Related links:
http://www.raytheon.com
CONTACT:
Corinne Kovalsky of Raytheon Company,
+1-781-522-5144, cjkovalsky@raytheon.com
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