TRW and Wolf Trap Institute Set the Stage for Innovative Learning at San Jose Preschools

Business Wire, Dec 7, 1998

SAN JOSE, Ca.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 7, 1998--The classrooms at three San Jose Head Start preschools today became the stage where performing arts and early education meet. Funding from TRW (NYSE: TRW) is enabling nearly 100 children to spend the next five days learning that education can be fun through the stART smART program of the Wolf Trap Institute for Early Learning Through the Arts.

Each day this week, Wolf Trap Artist Daniel Giray, a professional dancer, will lead children, ages three to five years, in a 45-minute session of song, dance, and storytelling at: Parkway Child Development Center on Fruitdale Avenue; Mariposa Head Start on McGuiness Street; and Pajaro Head Start on McGuiness Street. To prepare children to enter primary school ready to learn, stART smART uses the performing arts to teach language, numbers, colors, and motor skills while fostering social and emotional growth. The program also trains teachers to integrate the arts into their curriculum and parents to conduct performing arts lessons at home.

Giray is the California Arts Council's artist in residence at the Zohar School of Dance in Palo Alto, Calif., and has served as the artistic director of the Young Extensions Children's Dance Theatre in Oakland, Calif. Giray is a member of the Palabuniyan and Mindanao Kulintang ensembles. In 1990, he starred in "Danny G's Incredible Learning Fun Times," a children's dance and movement cable television show. Trained in jazz, modern, ballet, and musical theatre, as well as children's dance therapy, he has taught at San Francisco State University in San Francisco and in the Dance in Schools program of the San Francisco Ballet.

"Thousands of children nationwide have already benefited from this program, and teachers have noticed a marked increase in classroom participation and understanding," said Miriam Flaherty, director of the Wolf Trap Institute for Early Learning Through the Arts. "Through active participation in arts-based curriculum activities, the children are experiencing the joy of learning while improving their confidence and problem-solving skills."

Under a $250,000 grant for 1998, TRW is sponsoring the stART smART program in more than 30 U.S. and foreign communities where it has operations. Since 1995, TRW has provided nearly $1 million in funding for the program - more than any other contributor.

"By sponsoring this program in San Jose, TRW is pleased to be able to help foster an interest in learning that will have a lasting impact on our community's youngest students," said Dr. John Woods, vice president and general manager, TRW Electromagnetic Systems, Sunnyvale, Calif.

Founded in 1981, the Wolf Trap Institute for Early Learning Through the Arts is a program of the Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts of Vienna, Va. Wolf Trap in an internationally renowned cultural organization based at Wolf Trap Farm Park, the United States' first and only national park for the performing arts.

TRW Inc. provides advanced technology products and services for the automotive, space and defense, and information technology markets worldwide. The company's sales in 1997 were approximately $12 billion. The company's news releases are available through TRW's corporate web site (http://www.trw.com/).