Company Hosts 22 Teachers for Summer Session In Support of Key Classroom Initiative
Lockheed Martin announced today that it will host 22 elementary school, middle school, high school and community college teachers over the summer as part of the company’s increased support of the Bay Area-based Industry Initiatives for Science and Math Education (IISME). The IISME organization works to foster a strong, highly skilled workforce in mathematics, science and technology.
A key IISME initiative is its Summer Fellowship Program that places qualified teachers into local companies and research labs for an eight-week learning experience. During this period, each teacher, paired with an industry mentor, augments their science and math skills by solving real-world problems. Upon returning to the classroom, application of the industry experience helps teachers stimulate student interest in math and science and, in turn, helps students to become lifelong learners, responsible citizens, and productive employees.
This summer, Lockheed Martin IISME Fellows will focus on technical challenges associated with space-based programs under development at the company’s Sunnyvale and Palo Alto facilities including satellite telecommunications, as well as missiles, defense systems and other advanced technologies. Lockheed Martin has sponsored a total of 226 Teacher Fellows over the past 22 years.
“Lockheed Martin has a long history of supporting IISME and its important mission to motivate and inspire our youth to study math and science, said Kevin Bilger, Lockheed Martin vice president and member of the IISME Senior Advisory Council. “We look forward to providing our teachers with a hands-on working environment so they can go back to their respective schools and excite students about math, science and technology and careers in those fields.”
IISME was founded in 1985 by a consortium of San Francisco Bay Area companies including Lockheed Martin, in partnership with the Lawrence Hall of Science at the University of California at Berkeley and seeks to transform teaching and learning through industry-education partnerships.
“We have seen first hand how Summer Fellowships revitalize and equip teachers with new real world knowledge and strategies for reaching the future workforce,” said Jennifer Bruckner, IISME’s Executive Director. “Thanks to the generous support of Lockheed Martin and other sponsors, we are delighted to be placing a record number of teachers in IISME Fellowships this summer.”
Lockheed Martin’s Support for Education
More than half of Lockheed Martin’s $20 million annual philanthropic contributions and one-third of its volunteer efforts are focused on programs that improve science, math, engineering and technology education. The Corporation is the founder of the nationwide Space Day education initiative, and actively supports various efforts including K-12 Mentoring and National Engineer Week. Lockheed Martin is also the sponsor of the national MATHCOUNTS competition, as well as various science fairs and competitions.
Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin employs about 135,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The corporation reported 2005 sales of $37.2 billion.
For more information about IISME, please visit www.iisme.org
For additional information on Lockheed Martin Corporation, visit: http://www.lockheedmartin.com
Media Contact: Steve Tatum, 408-742-7531; e-mail, Stephen.o.tatum@lmco.com
