Gold Medalist Apolo Ohno Lends His Talent to MathMovesU's Math Education Awareness; Raytheon Launches Hippest Homework Happening and Helps Thousands of America's Students Make Homework History.WASHINGTON -- Thousands of students across America will give their teachers the night off on Wednesday, April 26. They'll be doing math homework together online with their heroes, including speedskating sensation Apolo Ohno, soccer legend Mia Hamm Mia Hamm (born Mariel Margaret Hamm on March 17,1972 in Selma, Alabama) is a former American soccer player. Playing for many years as a forward for the United States women's national soccer team, she scored more international goals in her career than any other player, male , basketball star Lisa Leslie abbr. bicycle motocross BMX Noun 1. bicycle motocross: stunt riding over an obstacle course on a bicycle 2. biker bik·er n. 1. One who rides a bicycle or a motorbike. 2. A motorcyclist, especially a member of a motorcycle gang. biker Noun a person who rides a motorcycle Dave Mirra Dave Mirra (born April 4, 1974 in Chittenango, New York) is an American BMX athlete and business owner. Dave Mirra is known as BMX's most dominant athlete and arguably the most dominant extreme athlete of all-time. . The first-of-its-kind Hippest Homework Happening is made possible by Raytheon, a leading technology company, as part of its mission to show American middle schoolers that math can lead to cool careers. Students and teachers can sign up for the Hippest Homework Happening by logging onto www.mathmovesu.com, where they can apply for scholarships and grants on an ongoing basis. Already, more than 18,000 students from across the country are registered to participate. Ohno, the newest celebrity to lend his name to the MathMovesU program, will show his support by skating onto Capitol Hill in front of members of congress and over 100 seventh graders to preview the Hippest Homework Happening. Instead of their regular math homework, middle school students can visit www.mathmovesu.com to time Ohno's gold-medal winning speed; measure the angles of Hamm's on-field moves; calculate the rotations behind Mirra's favorite trick Favorite Trick (April 20, 1995 - June 6, 2006) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who in 1997 became the first 2-year-old in twenty-five years to be voted United States Horse of the Year. ; and figure out the math behind a prime-time television show. On the site, students can also apply for cool prizes, scholarships and school grants from Raytheon. "Math is very relevant in my career and in my life," Ohno said. "From counting laps around the rink and calculating speed to determining the shortest distance between me and the finish line, math is vital to what I do every day - I think some kids will find that surprising!" The company launched the MathMovesU program in 2005 to help engage students in math in an innovative, fun way. The initiative targets students in grades six through eight - at a time when research(1) indicates that math and science performance begins to decline. In a Raytheon-sponsored survey, a majority of middle school students reported that they would be more interested in math if they learned about celebrities (79%) or were shown how people in music, sports and video gaming video gaming n. 1. Gambling by means of interactive games of chance played on a video screen. 2. The playing of video games. use math in their jobs (81%). An overwhelming majority of students (93%) said they knew they would need to use math later on in life, but couldn't directly link it to their dream jobs. In fact, many students couldn't name a compelling career that uses math. "It's a challenge to get and keep American students interested in math so we need to take a long-term view and address this issue early, during the 'slippery slope' of middle school," said William H. Swanson For the baseball player, see . William H. Swanson (born 1949) is the chairman and chief executive officer of Raytheon Company. Before becoming chairman in January 2004, he was CEO and president of the company. , Raytheon Chairman and CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. . "We hire nearly 3,000 engineers each year making this a real business imperative for us. We must do something to cultivate math skills in this country and engage our students or our workforce is going to be in crisis." America's Math Problem The National Assessment of Educational Progress The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), also known as "the Nation's Report Card," is the only nationally representative and continuing assessment of what America's students know and can do in various subject areas. found that less than one-third of eighth graders reached a level of proficiency or higher in math. The fundamentals - like homework - are at the core of the issue. Raytheon surveyed more than 1,000 middle school students and found that a combined 84% of American sixth to eighth graders would rather do one of the following: clean their rooms, eat their vegetables, take out the garbage or go to the dentist than sit down with their math homework. About one-third of the fourth-graders and one-fifth of eighth-graders cannot perform "basic mathematical computations," and U.S. high school seniors recently tested below the international average for 21 countries in mathematics and science(1). As a result, fewer American students than ever are graduating from college with math and science degrees - causing a shortage of hundreds of thousands of engineers and scientists needed for American companies. Capitol Hill Event Shines Spotlight on Math Ohno will be joined by Professor Jonathan Farley, a mathematician and science fellow at Stanford University's Center for International Security and Cooperation. Farley is also a member of Hollywood Math & Science Film Consulting, working with writers and producers on television shows like "Medium" to ensure that the technical details in the script are accurate, whether they are mathematical, scientific, or medical. "Many kids struggle to see where math can take them," said Farley, who holds an A.B. in math from Harvard University Harvard University, mainly at Cambridge, Mass., including Harvard College, the oldest American college. Harvard College Harvard College, originally for men, was founded in 1636 with a grant from the General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. and a D.Phil. in mathematics from the University of Oxford. "With math as Mathematics courses named Math A, Maths A, and similar are found in:
Participating in the Hippest Homework Happening Students and teachers can still sign up for the Hippest Homework Happening by logging onto www.mathmovesu.com, and they can apply for scholarships and grants on an ongoing basis. In all, Raytheon will provide $1 million in scholarships and grants this year. Scholarships will be awarded to students who explain how they would help make math "cool" in their schools. Grants will fund classroom help for teachers and fund in-school support for math education. About MathMovesU MathMovesU is a unique initiative designed to "elevate math to cool" by combining middle school students' interest in celebrities with grant money, awards and a robust MATHCOUNTS curriculum to encourage excitement about math. The program reaches students at a time when studies(2)show performance declines in math and science, in grades six through eight. Raytheon also supports MATHCOUNTS, a national math enrichment, coaching and competition program. You can learn more about MathMovesU and its sponsors by visiting www.mathmovesu.com, www.mathcounts.org, www.raytheon.com, and www.bhef.com. (1) National Center for Education Statistics The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), as part of the U.S. Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences (IES), collects, analyzes, and publishes statistics on education and public school district finance information in the United States; conducts studies (2) "A Commitment to America's Future: Responding to the Crisis in Mathematics & Science Education," Business Higher Education higher education Study beyond the level of secondary education. Institutions of higher education include not only colleges and universities but also professional schools in such fields as law, theology, medicine, business, music, and art. Forum. January 2005. Page 6. Powered by NewsWire One To view full electronic news release go to http://www.newswire1.net/NW2006/A_WEB_CH/WEBray/ |
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