Lenovo employees visit more than 50 NAF academies to discuss future career opportunities
- Initiative puts Lenovo employees in U.S. high schools to educate and inspire students to pursue STEM careers
- Lenovo and NAF are piloting this large-scale, one-day volunteer program with goal to replicate it in the future with more NAF academies
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC – November 18, 2015: Today, more than 50 Lenovo employees are visiting NAF academies across the U.S., virtually and in person, as part of the inaugural Lenovo in the Classroom Day. This volunteer initiative brings together Lenovo employees and more than 1,500 NAF academy students to talk about the importance of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) skills and careers. These are increasingly critical subjects as the U.S. Department of Commerce projects STEM occupations will grow by 17 percent from 2008-2018, versus a 9.8 percent growth rate for non-STEM occupations.
NAF academies operate in more than 400 public high schools, partnering with businesses and community leaders to give educators ongoing support – schools can choose among five career themes, including finance, hospitality & tourism, IT, health sciences, and engineering. More than 50 NAF academies are participating in today’s initiative – an unprecedented level of support for NAF.
NAF and Lenovo hope to expand this volunteer initiative beyond today’s event, supporting additional NAF academies during the 2015-2016 academic year.
In addition to Lenovo in the Classroom Day, Lenovo also partners with 30 NAF academies through the Lenovo Scholar Network. The program is in its second year and provides schools a mobile application development curriculum to help students create their own apps. As part of the program, students at NAF academies use Lenovo ThinkPad laptops and YOGA tablets to code, test and develop their apps, while teachers use the technology to implement STEM curriculum. We hope this innovative environment and support inspires the next generation of developers and entrepreneurs.
More than 25 percent of these Lenovo Scholar Network academies are participating in the inaugural Lenovo in the Classroom Day.
About Lenovo
Lenovo (HKSE: 992) (ADR: LNVGY) is a $46 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-need 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 & tourism, information technology, engineering, and health sciences. During the 2014-15 school year nearly 82,000 students attended 667 NAF academies across 38 states, including DC and the US Virgin Islands. In 2014, NAF academies reported 97% of seniors graduated with 93% of graduates planning to go to college.
