Booz Allen Launches “Time To Inspire” Mentoring Initiative With Celebration For Anacostia High School’s FIRST® Robotics Team

Booz Allen today announced the launch of Time to Inspire, a mentoring initiative intended to promote support and inspiration for school-aged youths, and will kick off the program tonight with an event to acknowledge the accomplishments of the FIRST® Robotics Competition (FRC®) team at Anacostia High School in Washington, D.C.

Anacostia High students and their families, FIRST regional directors, community supporters, and employees from Booz Allen will gather to celebrate the accomplishments of the FIRST team and view for the first time together a Time to Inspire promotional video in which the team stars. The video was shot throughout the 2012 competition season, and calls attention to the impact STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) professionals can make when they get involved in their communities.

Booz Allen’s Time to Inspire initiative was established to increase the number of mentors inspiring the nation’s youth. The firm is not only focused on channeling more of its own employees to programs connecting professionals to teachers and students, but also helping other companies—of all sizes—build similar relationships with the profiled nonprofit organizations. This year, Booz Allen employees are mentoring nearly 60 FIRST Robotics and FIRST LEGO® League teams across the country.

Christina Kang, an Associate with Booz Allen, was the catalyst for Booz Allen’s involvement at the Anacostia school due to her role as a team mentor, and has seen firsthand the importance and impact of working directly with young people to help them develop professional skills.

“I was a member of a FIRST team in high school and am thrilled now to be able to give back and experience the program as a mentor,” she said. “Hands on exposure to robotics through FRC greatly influenced my passion for science, technology, engineering, and math and helped me succeed both at MIT and throughout my career.”

Earlier this month the FIRST organization unveiled its new competition theme for 2013, ULTIMATE ASCENT ^SM. Approximately 51,000 students from 81 cities around the world joined the unveiling via live NASA-TV broadcast and webcast.

"My students, who come from an overlooked corner of the city, are able to viably compete in a battle of the mind with students from all over the world,” said Kris Comeforo, the Academic Dean at Anacostia High School. “Without the mentors and financial support of Booz Allen, we would not be able to participate in FIRST. By pairing highly motivated, intelligent people with a school like ours, both students and mentors have a lot to gain."

Anthony Priest leads robotics programming for District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) and noted, “DCPS has ten high schools participating in FIRST. The efforts of the over 150 students, teachers and mentors would not be possible without the outstanding support from the professional community. Companies such as Booz Allen not only provide the extra level of financial support that makes the DCPS teams competitive, but they provide an even more important resource – mentors. DCPS thanks all our community sponsors and hopes that those not already involved will see how rewarding and fun it is to mentor and support these students.”

To learn more about the Time to Inspire initiative, visit www.boozallen.com/inspire To view the Time to Inspire launch video featuring Booz Allen mentors and Anacostia High School students click HERE.

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