Local teachers go to school at Northrop Grumman
Twenty-three middle school teachers from the region were at Northrop Grumman’s Rolling Meadows campus recently to participate in hands-on activities, see demonstrations and talk to industry experts.
They were taking part in Northrop Grumman’s Teachers and Engineers for Academic Achievement internship program.
“It was both interactive and informative,” said Heidi Galassi, who teaches sixth and seventh grade at Edison Middle School in Wheaton. “The projects that we worked on as a team were adaptable to the classroom.
“In fact, I spoke with my principal right after the program and we’re going to implement an after-school STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) club where our students will be working on projects and learning about the different types of engineers.”
The TEAACH program acquaints educators with various engineering disciplines in a high-tech environment and promotes engineering as a challenging and exciting career choice.
It provides teachers with a variety of tools to stimulate students’ interest in STEM technologies and careers.
“The middle school years are a crucial time to get students interested in STEM-related topics,” said John Buckley, vice president of engineering, manufacturing and logistics at Northrop Grumman’s Land and Self Protection Systems Division.
“Teachers are key influencers in the lives of their students, and through this program, our engineers can share their enthusiasm and provide tools to promote and integrate science and math concepts in their classrooms.”
At this year’s program, teachers built a device that can transport weights up an incline using balloons, plastic straws, clothespins and nylon fishing line.
In another project they made a tower out of differently shaped pieces of pasta, then balanced ping-pong balls on it.
Northrop Grumman engineers also talked to the teachers about the typical day and life of an engineer and how to encourage girls to embrace science and math.
Participants also were given tours of some of the company’s production and test areas.