National High School Career Academies Focused on Engineering Announced By the National Academy Foundation
SAN DIEGO, Sept. 17 /PRNewswire/ — The National Academy Foundation (NAF), in collaboration with Project Lead The Way (PLTW) and the National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering (NACME), today announced a national education initiative focused on exposing high school students to careers in engineering.
This new initiative will create 13 new Academies of Engineering which will grow to a national network of 110 Academies by 2010. The Academies are being funded by a $3 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Additional support of $1 million each is being provided by the Motorola Foundation, the Verizon Foundation and Xerox.
“We are very excited to welcome the newest member of the NAF family, our Academies of Engineering. A key focus of the Academies of Engineering will be to increase the participation of women and disenfranchised communities in the study of engineering,” said NAF Founder and Chairman Sanford I. (Sandy) Weill. “Together with our Academies of Finance, Information Technology and Hospitality and Tourism, we are educating our future leaders so that the United States can better compete in today’s global economy. At NAF, we strongly believe that education is really the key that can unlock the door to one’s future.”
“There are two crises in our schools that these Academies will help to address,” said NAF President JD Hoye. “They will encourage students, especially minority kids in inner-city schools, to focus on their future careers. At the same time, this initiative addresses the acute shortage of engineers available to America’s employers.”
Demand for qualified, highly-trained engineers in the United States is on the rise. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, four of the top thirty fastest growing occupations through 2014 will be in engineering-related fields. The Bureau projects that this will result in more than 386,000 new engineering job openings. But current trends show the supply of U.S. educated engineers is waning. Not enough students are graduating high school with sufficient math and science skills, and not enough college students are pursuing education majors.
Plans call for the first Academies of Engineering to open in 2008. A year of planning prior to opening begins in September of 2007. The initial 13 pilot sites will be located at the following high schools and cities:
Construction Trades, Engineering & Architecture – New York, NY Frederick Douglass High School – Atlanta, GA AJ Moore Academy – Waco, TX H. Grady Spruce High School – Dallas, TX East High School on Arcadia – Columbus, OH University High School – Los Angeles, CA EDT Academy Morse High School – San Diego, CA Patrick Henry High School – San Diego, CA James Madison High School – San Diego, CA Porterville Charter Academy – Strathmore, CA Burton High School – San Francisco, CA Northwest Career and Technical Academy – Las Vegas, NV Evergreen High School – Burien, WA
The new Academies of Engineering will mirror NAF’s other Academies which are “schools within high schools” focused on a specific curriculum and industry such as finance, technology, and hospitality and tourism.
“The AOE project blends the dynamic and unique attributes of three dedicated and altruistic organizations,” notes PLTW CEO and Chairman Richard Liebich. “The resulting educational partnership should have significant impact on attracting and retaining the quality, quantity and diversity essential for the nation’s future engineering and technical workforce.”
“NACME is pleased to be joining the NAF and Project Lead The Way in launching a national network of urban-centered, open enrollment, high school Academies of Engineering that will provide students with the science and math skills required to be college-ready for engineering study,” said Dr. John Brooks Slaughter, President & CEO, NACME, Inc. “By involving parents, community resources, local corporations, and two-year and four-year colleges in the activities of the academies, we anticipate a dramatic increase the number of underrepresented minorities prepared to engage in engineering education.”
The Academies of Engineering are designed for 9th – 12th graders and are built on a solid academic foundation that adheres to national and state standards in mathematics, science, technology, communication and social studies. Courses are taught around a broad technical core-curriculum which prepares students to pursue post-secondary engineering and engineering technology degree programs. The Academies will also ready students for other post-secondary studies that require a strong foundation in engineering, math, science and language arts.
NAF’s model of career-themed academies has a 25-year history of success, with national career academies established in the areas of finance, hospitality and tourism, and information technology. Through this model, corporations provide paid internships, classroom volunteering, mentoring and serving on local advisory boards. The NAF curriculum contains essential content based on industry and educational expertise.
PLTW will provide curriculum expertise focused on making math and science relevant for students by engaging in hands-on real world projects. NACME will provide the vital connections to the engineering and higher education communities.
About the National Academy Foundation
The National Academy Foundation (NAF) was created as a partnership between business leaders and educators to address the need to prepare students for professional careers. NAF serves over 50,000 students in over 500 Academies in 41 states and the District of Columbia in urban schools through small learning communities. The National Academy Foundation operates three Academies: the Academy of Finance, the Academy of Hospitality & Tourism, and the Academy of Information Technology. Employees of more than 2,500 corporations are involved with local Academies, securing internships, volunteering in classrooms, acting as mentors and serving on local Advisory Boards. The NAF curriculum contains essential content based on industry and educational expertise. NAF’s record of success with 90% graduation rates and more than 80% of these graduates going on to college, has garnered the support of corporations and public policy makers, including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. For more information visit http://www.naf.org/.
About Project Lead The Way
Project Lead The Way, Inc. (PLTW), a not-for-profit program for middle schools and high schools, is solving the nation’s shortage of engineers and scientists one student at a time. PLTW (http://www.pltw.org/), based in Clifton Park, New York, first introduced its rigorous and relevant pre-engineering curriculum in 12 New York high schools during the 1997-1998 school year. Today, the PLTW network comprises more than 2,000 middle schools and high schools in 49 states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. PLTW currently enrolls about 175,000 students.
About the National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering
The National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering, Inc. (NACME) provides leadership and support for the national effort to increase the representation of successful African American, American Indian and Latino women and men in engineering and technology, math- and science-based careers. Its purpose for doing so is to help the United States develop a diverse and creative engineering workforce that will ensure America’s competitiveness and technological leadership in the global marketplace. As the nation’s largest private source of college scholarships for underrepresented minority engineering students, NACME assists more than 1,200 students each year. Since 1974, NACME has supported more than 20,000 students with $100 million in scholarships at 160 colleges and universities in all regions of the United States. For more information, visit http://www.nacme.org/.
The National Academy Foundation
CONTACT: Tim Lemberger of National Academy Foundation, +1-646-723-2051,or Kate Ennis of First Take Communications, +1-301-580-6726
Web site: http://www.naf.org/http://www.pltw.org/http://www.nacme.org/