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Alcoa Foundation, Discovery Education to host virtual field trip Oct. 3 for classrooms nationwide

Alcoa Foundation, Pittsburgh, and Discovery Education, Silver Spring, Md., a provider of digital content and professional development for K-12 classrooms, will celebrate Manufacturing Day on Oct. 3, 2014, with an interactive virtual field trip. The Manufacture Your Future LIVE Virtual Field Trip will be hosted from an Alcoa facility as part of Alcoa Foundation and Discovery Education's Manufacture Your Future program, which provides middle and high school students with an inside look at careers in advanced manufacturing.

The virtual field trip will occur at a high-tech aluminum manufacturing facility that has produced lightweight metal and other materials for every U.S. space vehicle. Students will tour Alcoa's Davenport facility to see how products for major aircrafts are manufactured, including the wings of Air Force One. The tour also will showcase the company's new auto treatment line, which enables mass production of aluminum for cars — a growing trend in reducing vehicle weight for increased fuel efficiency.

"Giving students the opportunity to look inside a facility makes manufacturing come to life," said Mark Case, a teacher at Southern Guilford High School, Guilford County Schools, N.C. "An event like this creates a stronger impression than getting the information from a textbook. Students can see how information we provide in the classroom translates into a career path."