Innovative Educational Program Takes Third Place in National Voya Unsung Heroes™ Awards Competition

"Teaching Physics through Radio" transforms traditional classroom setting; students learn wireless technology as they build amateur radio station

News provided by

Voya Financial, Inc.

Sep 30, 2015, 12:10 ET

WINDSOR, Conn., Sept. 30, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE: VOYA), announced today that Timothy Overocker and Eric Schroeter, Ph.D., teachers at LakeView Technology Academy in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin, have received the third-place prize in the company's national 2015 Voya Unsung Heroes awards competition.

Since the Voya Unsung Heroes program began in 1996, Voya has awarded over $4.5 million to more than 2,000 K-12 educators nationwide in support of their innovative teaching methods, creative educational projects and ability to positively influence the children they teach.

Voya Unsung Heroes 3rd place prize awarded to faculty and children at LakeView Technology Academy in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin

As the third-place winners, selected from nearly 1,000 applications, Overocker and Schroeter will receive $5,000 in addition to an initial $2,000 grant. This will bring their total financial award from Voya up to $7,000. The money will be used to help fund "Teaching Physics through Radio," the award-winning program they are implementing at LakeView Technology Academy.

"Voya Financial is honored to salute Tim Overocker and Eric Schroeter who have the vision to pioneer new methods and techniques in the classroom that inspire learning," said Carolyn Johnson, president of Annuities and Tax-Exempt Markets for Retirement at Voya Financial. "Each day, we help individuals plan, invest and protect their savings to prepare for their financial future, and we are proud to recognize these men and women who prepare students for their future. Teaching is one of the most important professions in the world, and we are privileged to help Tim and Eric continue to make a positive, lifelong impact on the children they teach."

"Tim Overocker and Eric Schroeter are exceptional teachers," said William R. Hittman, principal and director of LakeView Technology Academy. "With their personal enthusiasm for their subjects, they then tap into the interests of their students — tie the two together and what you end up with are students who are 'turned on' to learning."

Overocker and Schroeter's innovative teaching idea, "Teaching Physics through Radio," is focused on helping students understand how wireless technology works by building an amateur radio station in the classroom. Students will use this tool as a platform to learn about wave theory, sound, light, electricity, magnetism and space. Through experimentation as amateur radio operators, students will bridge what they learn with next generation science standards in physics. They will directly apply STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) skills in the design, construction and use of the radio station. Students will also work with community organizations to learn about how wireless technology is used in emergency communications. They will take this knowledge and share it with other schools and the community through field-day activities, presentations and a website.

The $7,000 grant will allow Overocker and Schroeter to purchase additional equipment to enhance the program and build more tools and features, such as different types of antennas, a mobile operating center and satellite capabilities. All of these resources will enable students to understand the intricacies of how wireless technology works, including how to locate transmitters through radio direction finding.

To learn more about this year's winning projects, as well as those from previous years, visit the Voya Unsung Heroes website (unsungheroes.com). Applications for the 2016 Voya Unsung Heroes awards are currently being accepted through the website until April 30, 2016.

As an industry leader and advocate for greater retirement readiness, Voya Financial is committed to delivering on its vision to be America's Retirement Company^TM and its mission to make a secure financial future possible — one person, one family, one institution at a time.

Media Contact:
Bill Sutton
Voya Financial
Office: (860) 580-2626
Cell: (315) 373-9685
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About Voya Financial®

Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE: VOYA), helps Americans plan, invest and protect their savings — to get ready to retire better. Serving the financial needs of approximately 13 million individual and institutional customers in the United States, Voya is a Fortune 500 company that had $11 billion in revenue in 2014. The company had $484 billion in total assets under management and administration as of June 30, 2015. With a clear mission to make a secure financial future possible — one person, one family, one institution at a time — Voya's vision is to be America's Retirement Company^TM. The company is equally committed to conducting business in a way that is socially, environmentally, economically and ethically responsible — Voya has been recognized as one of the World's Most Ethical Companies, by the Ethisphere Institute, and as one of the Top Green Companies in the U.S., by Newsweek magazine. For more information, visit voya.com or view the company's 2014 annual report. Follow Voya Financial on Facebook and Twitter @Voya.