Lockheed Martin announced today that it will host 23 elementary school, middle school, high school and community college teachers over the summer as part of the company’s long-standing 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 a broad range of 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 249 Teacher Fellows over the past 23 years.
“We take great pride in our long-standing support of IISME and our collective efforts to enrich math and science education in the Bay Area, said Kevin Bilger, Lockheed Martin vice president and member of the IISME Senior Advisory Council. “We look forward to another successful summer of providing our teachers with firsthand experience so they can return to the classroom and better motivate students to pursue careers in math, science and technology.”
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.
Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin employs about 140,000 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 2006 sales of $39.6 billion.
For more information about IISME, please visit http://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
