HONEYWELL HELPS CHIGAGO-AREA MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS LEARN MORE ABOUT SCIENCE THROUGH
Volunteers from Honeywell's UOP business, grant from Honeywell Hometown Solutions support regional event of national science competition
DES PLAINES, Ill., April 1, 2014 -Honeywell (NYSE: HON) announced today that company volunteers and grant money recently helped more than 3,000 students from Chicago-area middle schools learn more about science through the Chemical Educational Foundation's You Be The Chemist program.
Honeywell helped to sponsor regional events with a $10,000 grant through Honeywell Hometown Solutions, the company's corporate citizenship initiative. Additionally, nearly 30 volunteers from UOP's business, a leader in refining, petrochemical and gas technology, donated their time to work with students, teachers, administrators, and parents to support these regional events. It is the 10th year that Honeywell has supported the event.
"Science and math education is one of the core focus areas of Honeywell Hometown Solutions, and the You Be The Chemist program is a terrific annual event that aims to generate enthusiasm for science in the critical middle school age group," said Doug Nafis, principal scientist for UOP's Research and Development department who helped launch the competition in the area a decade ago. "It is a fun and interactive event that engages students to learn not just about chemistry, but science as a whole."
Students from 38 middle schools in the suburban Chicago area participated in separate regional You Be the Chemist events, which are academic question-and-answer competitions. The top three finalists, as well as an alternate from each region, advanced to the Illinois State competition, which will be held at North Central College in Naperville on April 27. There, the finalists will compete for the chance to participate in the National Challenge held in Philadelphia, Pa., in June. At the National Challenge, participants will compete with state representatives from across the country for the 2013-2014 National You Be the Chemist champion title.
The program aims to engage students in grades 5 through 8 in chemistry through a dynamic event that partners members of the chemical industry, such as UOP, with schools and organizations in the communities in which they operate. The competition introduces students to the central role of chemistry in all of the sciences and their everyday lives and promotes science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education. It also provides educators with an exciting way to educate their students and assess their learning.
Volunteers with UOP's Educational Outreach committee area were involved in tutoring and preliminary qualification of the students at the school level leading up to the regional competitions. The UOP volunteers also moderated, organized, and staffed these chemistry competitions throughout the Chicago area, including events in Des Plaines, Schaumburg, Lake Bluff, and Elgin.
Honeywell Hometown Solutions focuses on five areas: Family Safety and Security, Housing and Shelter, Science and Math Education, Humanitarian Relief, and Habitat and Conservation. Together with leading public and nonprofit institutions, Honeywell has developed powerful programs to address these needs in the communities it serves. For more information, please go to www.honeywell.com/hhs.
The Chemical Educational Foundation was founded in 1989 and is headquartered in Arlington, Va. The foundation works closely with industries to enhance science education opportunities for youth and their educators. More information on the competition can be found at the CEF website at www.chemed.org.
UOP LLC, headquartered in Des Plaines, Illinois, USA, is a leading international supplier and licensor of process technology, catalysts, adsorbents, process plants, and consulting services to the petroleum refining, petrochemical, and gas processing industries. UOP is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Honeywell International, Inc. and is part of Honeywell's Performance Materials and Technologies strategic business group. For more information, go to www.uop.com.
Honeywell (www.honeywell.com) is a Fortune 100 diversified technology and manufacturing leader, serving customers worldwide with aerospace products and services; control technologies for buildings, homes and industry; turbochargers; and performance materials. Based in Morris Township, N.J., Honeywell's shares are traded on the New York, London, and Chicago Stock Exchanges. For more news and information on Honeywell, please visit www.honeywellnow.com.