Largest Single Lenovo-Hosted Volunteer STEM Event in U.S.
Half-day program brings together 500+ Lenovo employee volunteers
and nearly 200 high school students for mentoring and mock interviews
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Close to 200 North Carolina high school students received mentoring in
STEM fields from Lenovo employee volunteers - The event builds on Lenovo’s STEM education commitment
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Event continues Lenovo’s partnership with NAF which began with the
Lenovo Scholar Network in 2014
DURHAM, N.C.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Today, more than 500 Lenovo employees participated in the largest
company-sponsored STEM (science, technology, engineering and
mathematics) volunteer event in conjunction with NAF,
a partner in the Lenovo
Scholar Network. Lenovo brought together almost 200 high school
juniors and seniors from 12 NAF Academies in North Carolina high schools
to learn more about STEM careers and meet with Lenovo employees to
practice interview skills.
The event was held at the Sheraton Imperial Hotel & Convention Center in
Durham, North Carolina, where students heard from several distinguished
speakers, including North Carolina State University Chancellor Dr. Randy
Woodson, as well as NAF and Lenovo leaders about the importance of STEM
skills and education, and being college and career ready. NAF alum
Marquis Cabrera highlighted outcomes of the NAF work-based learning
model and the importance of being a lifelong learner and giving back to
the community.
“Today’s STEM volunteer event hosted by Lenovo is a shining example of
the unstoppable movement that the education and business communities can
create when it comes to preparing our students for their most successful
futures,” said JD Hoye, President of NAF. “We’d like to extend our
deepest gratitude to our partner, Lenovo, and their network of
incredible volunteers, who have given selflessly of their time and
expertise today, and whose impact will no doubt be felt for a lifetime.
Together we can stand proud in creating tomorrow’s workforce, today.”
As part of the half-day event, students met with company employees from
across the United States to engage in mock interview exercises. The
exercises are based on the real-world interview process for a high
school internship. During this session, students heard personal stories
about how these employees started their careers and pursued their
aspirations in the spirit of the theme of the program, “Dream Big.” Over
the course of the day, the students were not only exposed to new career
opportunities and STEM learning outcomes but also learned how important
interpersonal skills are in today’s workforce.
“Last year, more than 50 employees visited classrooms across the U.S.
over two separate work days as part of our inaugural Lenovo in the
Classroom Day events, but this year we knew we could do more – so we
enlisted more than 500 employees to participate,” said Rob Cato,
Executive Director, Public Sector and Healthcare vertical sales at
Lenovo. “The event provided interactive opportunities to facilitate
ample engagement to connect with our employee volunteers and ask
questions throughout the day on many topics of interest and relevant to
each respective student.”
In addition to Lenovo
in the Classroom Day, hosted at NAF academies in October 2015 and
April 2016, Lenovo’s partnership with NAF brings a robust mobile app
development curriculum and delivery program to NAF academies through the
Lenovo Scholar Network. Lenovo’s programs give students personal access
to those already in STEM careers to learn how they can harness the
skills they are learning in the program and transfer those skills into
their own careers and outcomes. This becomes increasingly important as
STEM career opportunities are projected to grow to more than 9 million
between 2012 and 20221.
Now in its third year, Lenovo
Scholar Network includes 50 NAF academies and nearly 2,000 students.
As part of the Lenovo Scholar Network, students work with the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Media Lab’s App Inventor
development tool, a web-based tool for creating Android apps, to build
and test their apps on Lenovo devices. NAF and MIT work together to
provide technical assistance to Teachers in the Lenovo Scholar Network,
and to develop support materials for teachers using MIT App Inventor.
About Lenovo
Lenovo (SEHK:0992) (Pink Sheets:LNVGY) is a $45 billion global Fortune
500 company and a leader in providing innovative consumer, commercial,
and enterprise technology. Our portfolio of high-quality, secure
products and services covers PCs (including the legendary Think and
multimode Yoga brands), workstations, servers, storage, smart TVs and a
family of mobile products like smartphones (including the Moto brand),
tablets and apps. Join us on LinkedIn,
follow us on Facebook or
Twitter (@Lenovo)
or visit us at www.lenovo.com.
About NAF
NAF is a national network of education, business, and community leaders
who work together to ensure high school students are college, career,
and future ready. NAF’s educational design ignites students’ passion for
learning and gives businesses the opportunity to shape America’s future
workforce by transforming the learning environment to include STEM
infused industry-specific curricula and work-based learning experiences,
including internships. Since 1982, NAF has been partnering with existing
high schools in high-needs communities to enhance school systems at a
low cost by implementing NAF academies – small learning communities
within traditional high schools. NAF has grown from one NAF Academy of
Finance in New York City to hundreds of academies across the country
focusing on growing industries including: finance, hospitality and
tourism, information technology, engineering, and health sciences.
During the 2015-16 school year nearly 89,000 students attended 716 NAF
academies across 36 states, including D.C. and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
In 2015, NAF academies reported 98% of seniors graduated with 92% of
graduates with post-secondary intentions. For more information, please
visit: http://naf.org/.
Contacts
Lenovo
Milanka Muecke, 919-257-5308
mmuecke@lenovo.com
