Igniting Summer Learning for Local Students

CINCINNATI, Ohio (June 30, 2011) – Rumpke Corporate Safety and the Cincinnati Fire Department (CFD) are making STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) Education programs sizzle this summer as they introduce the Fire Logistics & Math Education (FLAME) program to area high school students during sessions at 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. today at Teachers Corner at Clifton and Calhoun on the University of Cincinnati campus.

Forty-five freshmen from Milford, Deer Park and Mt. Healthy schools will participate in Rumpke’s FLAME program. FLAME was introduced in 2010 by the Rumpke Corporate Safety Department as a method to bring hands-on, outside the classroom, math lessons to high school students. FLAME is a free, teacher-reviewed program that assists in
meeting state education objectives. It adds a new twist to Algebra 1 level lessons, requires approximately 1.5 hours to complete and can be altered to meet scheduling demands.

“Rumpke’s known for keeping communities clean, but a big part of the Rumpke tradition involves becoming active members of the communities we serve. FLAME is a vehicle that helps us stay engaged and helps us offer our future leaders a positive learning experience,” said Larry Stone, Director of Corporate Safety at Rumpke.

The CFD will team with Rumpke to add an interactive element to the program. Rumpke personnel and CFD firefighters will use fire hose pressure calculations to challenge the students to apply learned math skills to real-life or on the job duties. This FLAME component gives fire departments a chance to get involved in local learning as well.

“The Cincinnati Fire Department is excited and honored to partner with Rumpke on the FLAME Program, which is an inventive educational initiative. The Program allows students the opportunity to see how CFD firefighters apply their math skills on a daily basis and how their knowledge is critical to meeting the safety needs of our community”
stated Fire Chief Richard Braun.

The educational sessions are offered through the Freshman Challenge Summer Program, a four-week educational program created by the Great Oaks Institute of Technology, the Ohio STEM Learning Network and the University of Cincinnati. The program’s goal is to provide a positive start to the high school experience, therefore further encouraging high school graduation. The program, not only promotes STEM education and STEM careers, but also offers some students their first high school science credits.

About Rumpke Education

Rumpke’s Corporate Safety Department offers a variety of public safety programs including Slow Down To Get Around, Students Against Crashes and Fire Logistics & Math Education. Interested educators can visit Rumpke education for more details.

About the Cincinnati Fire Department

The Cincinnati Fire Department was organized in 1853 and is the nation’s oldest fully paid professional fire department. Its mission is to
protect lives and property and minimize the suffering of those served during emergencies. The CFD is a professional full-service, career-oriented, urban fire department that provides fire prevention, fire suppression, first responder emergency medical services, Advanced Life Support (ALS) transport, arson investigation, hazardous devices and hazardous material incidents response to the seventy-seven square miles of the City of Cincinnati.

About the Freshman Challenge Summer Program

The Freshman Challenge Summer Program is a four-week program created by a partnership among the Great Oaks Institute of Technology, the Ohio STEM Learning Network and the University of Cincinnati. The program experiences provide many opportunities to immerse urban eighth-graders in the STEM disciplines.

The program includes both formal and informal activities with the focus on STEM education at the University of Cincinnati’s main campus, Raymond Walters College and the Cincinnati Nature Center. The students will participate in three strands: scientific inquiry, engineering and engineering design and finally, the combination of both inquiry and engineering together.