Sister Mary Bourdon Meets Dr. Stan Sloane
On October 4th, Sister Mary Bourdon, Director, Washington Middle School for Girls, met with Dr. Stan Sloane, Executive Vice President of Lockheed Martin Integrated Systems & Solutions, at the annual awards luncheon of the Network of Volunteer Associates (NOVA). NOVA is a volunteer society that fosters community service and corporate good citizenship by employees. Lockheed Martin’s partnership commitment with WMSG includes promoting increased student achievement in science, mathematics and technology; giving the students positive role models through mentoring and tutoring, and affording opportunities for career awareness and exploration. Over the past year, Lockheed Martin employees have provided tutoring at WMSG Saturday Academy, organized engineering activities for special events such as Introduce Girls to Engineering Day and Space Day, and assistance during the move of the WMSG upper grades to their new campus at the Town Hall Education, Arts, Recreation Campus (THEARC).
Lockheed Martin Introduces Girls to Enjoyable Engineering
In celebration of National Engineers Week, Lockheed Martin sponsored a one-day workshop at the Washington Middle School for Girls. Volunteers from Lockheed Martin, along with WMSG faculty, conducted the workshop to introduce the concept of microprocessors via their interactive, hands-on “Deli Sandwich” project.
The students were divided into small groups, where they worked on their assigned task: develop a precise “recipe” for assembling a deli sandwich, in the form of detailed instructions for a microprocessor, i.e., a robot. The goal was to encourage the students to think about engineering via a fun and challenging activity that stretched traditional viewpoints. The students had a great time learning new principles and forging new relationships with the Lockheed Martin volunteers, as well as enjoying their own deli sandwiches created by the “WMSG microprocessors.”
This March 22nd event was originally scheduled during February’s National Engineers Week, but was postponed due to snow, reminding all participants of the inevitability of project delays. The WMSG is Lockheed Martin’s newest partner school. Questions on this or other activities with Lockheed Martin may be directed to Joyce Brooks, 703/805-2571.
