World Café: A Closer Look at One Company Impacting Two Local Schools

Lenovo is a company that “Never Stands Still.”

This mindset translates to all aspects of the business, from sales, product development and marketing and even community outreach. With a headquarters in Morrisville, Lenovo is actively engaged locally with strong support for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) education for K-12 students.

Via World Café, Wake Education Partnership connected Brentwood and Millbrook elementary schools to Lenovo and a day of service Monday, April 11. True to the “Never Stand Still” mantra,  more than 250 Lenovo employees from across the U.S. and Canada joined together to help transform the schools. Volunteer projects were tailored to fit each school’s needs and magnet curriculum.

At  Brentwood Elementary School in Raleigh, Lenovo issued a school wide “STEM Challenge” and student teams at each grade level designed, built and launched rockets. Volunteers also engaged in campus beautification projects including painting and landscaping.

At Raleigh’s Millbrook Elementary School, Lenovo issued a “Global Makers Challenge.” Students and volunteers transformed the media center into a more interactive learning space, engaged students in hands-on learning projects and created a mural with more than 6,000 plastic bottle tops. Local artist Denise Hughes led the mural project.

Lenovo also donated more than 50 tablets, laptops and desktop PCs to upgrade media centers at each school. “We are MOST grateful to team Lenovo for such an incredible gift to our school!” said Jamee Lynch, Principal of Millbrook Elementary School.

See a video from Lenovo’s Millbrook and Brentwood volunteer day on Facebook or Twitter.

The Lenovo team members left the experience with a renewed appreciation for the work teachers do every day. The company has created a social media campaign that allows participants to  recognize and thank teachers. Visit www.lenovo.com/thankateacher to participate in this effort that will reward teachers and contributors with great giveaways, including Lenovo YOGA PCs.

Suzie Koonce
Community Engagement Manager
Lenovo North America

Jamie Royster, Director of Public Sector Sales Southeast for Lenovo, is a valued member of WakeEd’s Board of Directors.