The Kansas City, Mo.,-based Sprint Foundation, the philanthropic arm of
SprintNextel, has pledged $250,000 during the next three years to help Missouri
University of Science and Technology train pre-college educators to teach
Project Lead the Way curriculum.

Project Lead the Way (PLTW) is a national, not-for-profit organization that
helps pre-college students gain knowledge in high-tech fields like science and
engineering. Because there is a critical shortage of engineers and engineering
technologists entering the field at a time when technology is constantly
reinventing itself, PLTW partners with public schools, higher education
institutions and the private sector to increase the quantity and quality of
students graduating with degrees in science and engineering.

Students participating in PLTW take the highest level of college preparatory
math and science available during all four years of high school in order to
develop a solid background that will prepare them for college courses in these
areas. In some participating schools, students are even given the opportunity
to earn college credit during high school through PLTW.

The funds donated by the Sprint Foundation will be used by Missouri S&T
to train teachers from the Kansas City area to administer PLTW math and science
curriculum. As the leading PLTW affiliate in Missouri, Missouri S&T
provides teacher training, professional development and information to
administrators and counselors, and also holds the Missouri S&T Summer
Training Institute.

“Sprint is committed to K-12 education,” says Ralph Reid, president of the
Sprint Foundation and vice president of corporate social responsibility for
SprintNextel. “Our focus, first and foremost, is to provide students with a
quality education. We also recognize there is a growing shortage of engineers,
scientists and technicians in this country. Supporting Project Lead the Way is
one way in which we can increasing math and science education in the
schools.”

Also partnering with the Sprint Foundation to fund PLTW is the Ewing Marion
Kauffman Foundation, which provided matching funds for the program.

“To help get this program off the ground in the Kansas City area, it’s
important to focus on supporting the teachers,” Reid says. “Sprint is proud to
support Project Lead the Way.”