Northrop Grumman talks Education and Community

Yesterday marked another NMSI Lunch and Learn, and this time we had two guest speakers from one of our donor organizations, the Northrop Grumman Foundation. Lynn Gilmore, Manager of the Central Region; and Tom Reese, Corporate Citizenship Specialist of the Central Region, joined all of the NMSI interns to share what Northrop Grumman is doing to positively impact the community, and how its programs are changing the lives of students and teachers across the nation.
 
This summer alone, Northrop Grumman has funded 100 high school students to work at various nonprofit organizations – a few of which are working here at NMSI – and they’re doing this, Lynn says, because the company wants to make sure it is doing its part in giving back to the community. “We’re all about giving kids the opportunity to get exposed to new things; we try to make it exciting.”
 
Other ways Northrop Grumman gets kids excited about is by presenting them with the opportunities to participate in what Lynn calls “robust” high school programs, such as theCyberPatriot Program, a national cyber-defense competition that allows students to do real IT work that might inspire them to pursue a career in a STEM-related field. Their company does this, Lynn says, because they need a specialized, technical workforce in math and science. To ensure that the students of America have these terrific opportunities, 50% of Northrop Grumman’s funding goes to STEM related investments. For instance, her company will send science teachers on amazing science trips – like a zero-gravity flight – to do experiments and ignite the passion and excitement for science, which the teachers will transfer onto their students. If the teacher is excited about the learning process, the kids are excited about the learning process, and Northrop Grumman supports anything that engages both the students and the teachers – and that’s also why they provide funding to NMSI!
 
“We support NMSI,” said Lynn with a beaming smile. “We think it’s awesome, and what you’re doing is making a difference; we see that in the numbers.” The difference she is talking about is how our programs are reshaping the landscape of education, as evidenced by our results. Northrop Grumman is aware of this, says Lynn, because her company is heavily invested in education. “You are helping us with our workforce; what you are doing is really important, and this organization is doing really great things, and I just applaud you for what you’re doing.”
 
In closing, Lynn gave a few words of wisdom to the interns in the audience. “Be open to new opportunities, new industries, and sometimes doing things out of your comfort zone. It’s important to broaden yourself and be open to new things.”
 
To learn more about what Lynn and Tom are doing to impact communities across the United States, visit Northrop Grumman’s Corporate Citizenship page, and for more information about NMSI’s transformational teacher training programs, click here.