Symetra Financial Newsroom: John Muir Elementary, Nathan Hale High School Win $15,000 ‘MVP Awards’

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January 06, 2010

John Muir Elementary, Nathan Hale High School Win $15,000 ‘MVP Awards’

SEATTLE — Symetra Financial and the Seattle Seahawks announced toda

y that John Muir Elementary School and Nathan Hale High School have won 2009 Symetra Heroes in the Classroom “MVP Awards.” Through the award, each school will receive a $15,000 grant to fund an innovative student achievement program.

The John Muir program will arm teachers with new innovative software and a mobile lab to help students enhance their math skills and abilities. The Nathan Hale program will bring high-tech equipment to science classrooms, engaging students in real-world experiments.

The Symetra Heroes in the Classroom program honors Seattle Public School teachers for educational excellence throughout the Seahawks football season. Each of the 24 schools represented by a 2009 teacher Hero was eligible to compete for an MVP Award.

Symetra and the Seahawks joined the Alliance for Education and Seattle Public Schools to develop the funding plans and select the winning schools for the MVP Awards.

John Muir Elementary: Math Victory Program
The Math Victory Program will help teachers tailor math instruction for students to meet individual needs in diverse classrooms. The funds will be used to purchase licenses for the Math-Whizz online tutoring program and a mobile computer lab, giving teachers important new resources for pre-teaching and enrichment of the math curriculum.

The Math Victory Program provides motivating, relevant and beneficial instruction to all students, no matter their math level. It helps prepare students who need more support ahead of the day’s lesson, while providing highly individualized lessons for average and above-average students. A tutoring program is available online and also can be used by parents at home to help their children develop their math skills.

“The traditional approach to instruction is to teach a lesson, then pull aside a small group of students who didn’t get it and provide additional instruction,” said Awnie Thomson, principal of John Muir. “For these students, the lesson was a waste of time and often convinced them they were not good at math. By using a pre-teaching approach, the Math Victory Program empowers all students to realize their full potential.”

Nathan Hale High School: High-Tech Science for All Students
The High-Tech Science for All Students program will bring cutting-edge science curriculum to all 34 science classes at the high school. The funds will be used to purchase lab probes, small laptop computers and software, allowing students to conduct real-world science experiments in and outside of the classroom.

From motion sensors to learn about the laws of motion, to computer-based probes to measure the amount of oxygen in a student-built terrarium, this interactive, technology-supported experience is designed to help more students understand scientific concepts.

“We think it is important to engage students of all grade levels and all racial and socioeconomic backgrounds in inquiry-based science,” said Dr. Jill Hudson, principal of Nathan Hale. “This is the most effective way to encourage our students of color and young women to see themselves as potential scientists and to enter into a profession in which they are currently underrepresented.”

The schools were honored by Seahawks CEO Tod Leiweke, Symetra CEO Randy Talbot and Seattle Public School’s High School Instructional Director Michael Tolley during an on-field check presentation at the Seahawks’ last home game of the season on Jan. 3, 2010. For more information about the Symetra Heroes in the Classroom program, visit www.symetra.com/heroes.

MVP Award Committee:
Symetra Financial: www.symetra.com
Seattle Seahawks: www.seahawks.com
Seattle Public Schools: www.seattleschools.org
Alliance for Education: www.alliance4ed.org

Contact(s):

Jennifer Whitman
Symetra Financial
(425) 256-5361
jennifer.whitman@symetra.com

Suzanne Lavender
Seattle Seahawks
(425) 203-8024
suzannel@seahawks.com

Patti Spencer
Seattle Public Schools
(206) 252-0204
pspencer@seattleschools.org