FORT WORTH, Texas, Nov. 01, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today The Boeing Company awarded the American Airlines C.R. Smith Museum a one-year grant for $55,000 that will allow the museum to extend its flagship “Flight Workshop” education program to students from low-income areas. More than 5,000 students in nearby Title I elementary and middle schools will gain access to hands-on Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) content about flight and aviation, thanks to these funds.
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“This grant will provide us the opportunity to engage students with STEM topics who might not otherwise have the chance to learn about the miracle of flight or visit the museum outside of school,” said Declan Lee, vice president of Engineering, Quality and Training at American Airlines and president of the C.R. Smith Museum’s Board of Directors. “This kind of early exposure can ignite passion and shape a child’s life and career in school and beyond and we thank Boeing for seeing the impressive reach of the C.R. Smith Museum.”
“Boeing is proud to support this opportunity for nearly 6,000 local students to get exposure to science, technology, engineering and math educational programs at the museum and explore potential careers in aviation,” said Ellen Power, Boeing Richardson site leader. “The students will work on engineering challenges co-created by Boeing and education experts for the company’s Centennial celebrated this year. Through the inspiration of aerospace, the program focuses on the next generation of aerospace visionaries.”
Additionally, the grant allows the Museum to bring its programs to educators to reach an even greater number of students.
“As a first step toward putting this generous grant into action, we will bring in more than 50 teachers to learn new STEM-focused skills and approaches that they can take right back to the classroom. By allowing us to teach teachers, this grant has the ability to affect and benefit students for several years to come,” commented Uli Sailer Das, executive director of the C.R. Smith Museum.
C.R. Smith Museum programs, workshops, field trips and summer camps specifically target STEM, the science behind flight and careers in aviation.
About the American Airlines C.R. Smith Museum
The C.R. Smith Museum is an independent nonprofit organization in the American Airlines family. The Museum takes visitors on a flight through American Airlines history, with interactive exhibits that entice participation by all age groups. The museum features hundreds of historical artifacts, photographs, full-scale aircraft engines and a rare open-access Douglas DC-3 airliner. In addition, the museum's state of the art 4K digital theater features Pursuit of Flight, a film, featuring the history and physics of aviation from ancient times through today. The Museum is located at 4601 Hwy 360, Fort Worth, TX and is open Tuesday-Saturday 9:00AM – 5:00PM. For more information, please visit www.crsmithmuseum.org.
About American Airlines Group
American Airlines and American Eagle offer an average of nearly 6,700 flights per day to nearly 350 destinations in more than 50 countries. American has hubs in Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas/Fort Worth, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, Phoenix, and Washington, D.C. American is a founding member of the oneworld alliance, whose members and members-elect serve nearly 1,000 destinations with 14,250 daily flights to 150 countries. Shares of American Airlines Group Inc. trade on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol AAL. In 2015, its stock joined the S&P 500 index. Connect with American on Twitter @AmericanAir and at Facebook.com/AmericanAirlines.