Daman Products received recognition for its ongoing support of education in local K-12 schools when it accepted the Contributions to Education – Corporate Award from the South Bend Alumni Association in November. Presented during the association’s annual Hall of Fame banquet, the award recognizes Daman’s active involvement with education programs that positively affect students in the South Bend Community Schools.
Among the programs Daman supports through leadership, financial resources and volunteerism are:
Five Star program – supports adult volunteers in four counties who work with junior high students to develop compassion, respect, responsibility, integrity and sacrifice. Daman has supported the program primarily through fundraising efforts and as a corporate ambassador for the local program.
“Kids are learning to take control of their lives and live by the Five Star code,” said Larry Davis, Daman president. “They are learning to respect themselves and others. Their attitudes are changing and their grades are improving. They are coming alive.”
Fluid Power Challenge – challenges junior high students to learn about mechanical engineering and fluid power principles. The National Fluid Power Association originated the Fluid Power Challenge to expose middle school students to a learning environment where engineering and math are fun. Students develop teamwork and problem-solving skills as they are introduced to careers in the fluid power industry. Daman sponsors a Fluid Power Challenge each year for students in north central Indiana as a path to discovery through hands-on, applied use of theoretical knowledge.
“These kids grow immensely in a six-week period and accomplish what they must think is impossible in that timeframe,” explained Davis. “They learn teamwork, project management, utilization of resources, working under pressure, division of labor, and mechanical and fluid power concepts. They get a taste of the real world work and its inherent issues. And they pick up some cool knowledge along the way.”
New Technology High School – provides experiential and project-based learning in a real-world context. Through leadership on the community advisory board for the school, Daman helped the South Bend Community School Corp. open its NTHS in August 2011.
“The business community has lamented the disconnect between what the work world would like to see in high school graduates and what is actually being produced,” Davis said. “These schools unlock the natural passion kids develop for learning when personal responsibility, critical thinking, personal leadership, community service and teamwork are wrapped around content. NTHS is capable of preparing our children to have a profound impact on the way some organizations are working now and more will work in the future.”
The South Bend Alumni Association aspires to support education in local schools by funding co-curricular activities that are not tax funded. It also instills an awareness of the need for student services in the community.
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