White House Event Spotlights AP Student Enrolled in National Math and Science Initiative Program
Exemplary student underscores success of STEM education program for students in military families as well as need for further expansion
DALLAS – Arimus Wells, a senior at Fountain-Fort Carson High School in Fountain, Colo., was a special guest this morning at a White House event designed to spotlight the need for private-sector investment in successful math and science programs. Wells, who is his high school’s student body president, is enrolled in the Initiative for Military Families (IMF), a program of the National Math and Science Initiative (NMSI).
The overall goal of the IMF program is to support children in America’s military families by providing consistent, quality coursework through NMSI’s Advanced Placement* Training and Incentive Program (APTIP). IMF was launched in 2010 in four school sites, two near Fort Campbell in Kentucky and two near Fort Hood in Texas, and has since been expanded to 29 high schools in 10 states. First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden announced the expansion of the program to Fountain-Fort Carson High School last April as part of their national “Joining Forces” movement to provide support and resources to military families.
Wells has already grasped the importance of science, technology, engineering and math (or STEM) studies in paving the way to a promising career. He is currently enrolled in AP Environmental Science, AP English Literature and AP Calculus. He hopes to major in urban planning or civil engineering as a way to “make a difference” in the world.
“Arimus is an outstanding example of the young students who are benefiting from NMSI’s outreach to our country’s military families,” said Dr. Mary Ann Rankin, president and CEO of NMSI, who was also invited to the special event Tuesday. “This program is helping those students become proficient in the math and science subjects that are so critical for their future careers – and for the future of this country.”
Almost two million young people in America have a parent serving in the military today. More than 220,000 of those young people have at least one parent deployed overseas. The long separations, concerns about safety, and frequent transfers can be particularly hard on the children whose parents protect our country.
Wells knows first-hand the challenges that come with having parents in the military: His father, Wendell Wells is an E7 in the U.S. Army and has been deployed five times overseas during Arimus’ school career, including two deployments in Iraq. Those reassignments meant that his son attended three different elementary schools and two middle schools.
Because the AP curriculum is uniform across the country, the IMF program provides excellence and continuity for students whenever and wherever their families are transferred. While the IMF focus is on schools near military installations, all the students in participating schools can benefit from the program.
Today’s White House event recognized the work of Change the Equation, a CEO-led initiative to cultivate widespread literacy in STEM that was launched in September 2010. The organization is focused on increasing private and philanthropic involvement in STEM education and spotlights programs, such as NMSI’s APTIP and UTeach programs, that will help meet a critical need to build a U.S. workforce and a citizenry fluent in science and math.
About IMF: The IMF program was launched in 2010 as a result of generous inaugural funding from Lockheed Martin Corporation. Major funding to add high schools is being provided by the Army Education Outreach Program, BAE Systems, The Boeing Company, the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA), the Exxon Mobil Corporation, the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation, the Office of Naval Research, and Northrop Grumman.
Commitments are in hand to expand the IMF to more than 50 schools by fall 2012. With additional funding, it is anticipated the IMF could reach 150 public high schools, ensuring that a very high percentage of military families will be served.
About APTIP: APTIP dramatically increases the performance of high school students in rigorous AP courses in math, science and English. The comprehensive approach includes intensive teacher training, support from master teachers, increased time on task for students in special study sessions, open enrollment, and incentives for teachers and students. Passing AP exam scores are almost universally accepted for course credit by the nation’s colleges and universities, which see success in AP courses as reliable indicators of students’ subject-area knowledge and capacity for college-level thinking.
About NMSI: NMSI is an agent of change that was launched in 2007 by top leaders in business, education and science to improve student achievement in math and science across the American public school system. NMSI’s mission is to bring best practices to the education sector by replicating proven programs on a national scale that have more than 10 years of proven results. NMSI has received major funding support for its groundbreaking national initiatives from Exxon Mobil Corporation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation, with additional support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York.
Contact: Gregg Fleisher, NMSI National APTIP Director, at 214 665 2519 or gfleisher@nationalmathandscience.org.
For more information, visit www.nationalmathandscience.org.
*AP and Advanced Placement Program are registered trademarks of the College Board.
12:12 PM CST on 2.7.2012
