Raytheon Engineering Week

Hands-on Learning Inspires BLCI Students to Get Excited About Math

Since May of 2005 Raytheon IDS has partnered with BLCI to encourage students to explore math and math-related fields. In February, that partnership continued as Raytheon hosted BLCI students for a tour of their facilities, and visited BLCI to conduct a "Math Moves You" workshop--all part of Raytheon's Engineering Week.

On February 19th, ten girls from BLCI's middle school program visited Raytheon for "Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day." After breakfast, introductions, and get-to-know you activites, students participated in workshops and fun engineering discussions. Students learned about the importance of studying math, and the variety of engineering related careers available. The visit concluded with a tour of Raytheon's facilities and labs.

Later that week, volunteers from Raytheon's HOLA (Hispanic Organization for Leadership and Advancement) visited BLCI to conduct a "Math Moves You" workshop. BLCI middle school students were broken into teams, and given the task of constructing a weight-bearing structure using only straws and tape. "It's not always easy to get kids excited about math," said middle school coordinator Carlos Pineda. "Activities like these give students a chance to get some hands-on exprience. For the kids, that's always more fun than learning from a book."

BLCI would like to thank Raytheon, Frank Zamora, and the members of HOLA for their continued partnership, and for helping to make math learning fun!

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