AAR Sponsors Educators to Attend Math and Science Conference

Teachers from “Taking Flight” partner schools in Chicago to explore new STEM standards at 8th annual iMATHination

ST. CHARLES, Illinois – Global aerospace and defense contractor AAR is sending 10 Chicago educators, counselors and administrators on a two-day retreat this weekend to explore next generation math and science instruction for students in middle and high schools.

AAR is the 2014 corporate partner for the 8th annual iMATHination Math, Science and Technology Conference January 24-25 sponsored by the Chicago Teachers Center at Northeastern Illinois University. This year’s theme, “Shifting Gears,” will focus on changes in what students are expected to learn under the new Common Core State Standards in Math.

About 200 Chicago area teachers are expected to attend the event to be held at the Q Center, 1405 N. 5th Ave., in St. Charles, some 22 miles west of AAR’s global headquarters in Wood Dale. Joining them is a team of teachers, guidance counselors and administrators from three AAR partner schools—Perspectives Charter, Ariel Academy and Chicago Vocational Career Academy.

Making good on a promise to bridge the gap between business needs and education, AAR Director of Recruiting Greg Dellinger will lead an aviation careers panel discussion featuring an industry business owner who was introduced to aviation through a youth program run by the Tuskegee Airmen Inc.

“Employers in aerospace and manufacturing are struggling to find skilled workers, and given the absence of educational pathways to these jobs, the problem will only get worse unless we do something about it,” Dellinger said. “We want middle and high school teachers, counselors and administrators to know about these careers so that they can inform students. Aerospace lives behind the scenes. At AAR, we recognize the important role that educators play in helping pilot young people onto career paths, as well as helping build a lifestyle set around STEM careers.”

Copies of “The Mid-Skills Gap in Middle America: Building Today’s Workforce,” a report commissioned by AAR about the challenges of training workers for jobs that require specialized skills but not college degrees, will be distributed to all conference participants.

AAR’s sponsorship of this year’s iMATHination conference further reinforces the Company’s commitment to developing a dynamic talent pipeline for the next generation workforce. AAR has education partnerships across the country in cities such as Miami and Melbourne, Florida; Oklahoma City; Goldsboro, North Carolina; and Garden City, New York.