WALTHAM, Mass., May 6, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Two hundred twenty four of the brightest middle school math students in the United States are headed to Boston for the 2015 Raytheon MATHCOUNTS National Competition – an intense, elite math meet that culminates in a high-speed, game-show-style final round. This is the seventh year that Raytheon (NYSE: RTN) has served as the main sponsor – all part of a decade-long commitment to MATHCOUNTS and a larger effort to promote education in science, technology, engineering and math.

Students representing all 50 states, Washington, D.C., United States territories and schools that serve the defense and state departments will compete May 7 through May 10 at the Sheraton Boston Hotel. The Raytheon MATHCOUNTS National Competition follows several rounds of qualifying events at the local and state level. More than 100,000 students take part in MATHCOUNTS competitions every year.

"These students spend hours every week going to math practices. They've made a commitment to the subject and they want to be the best they can," said Lou DiGioia, executive director of MATHCOUNTS. "Hundreds of thousands of kids participate in MATHCOUNTS programs over the course of the year, and 224 get into the national competition. It's such an incredible achievement, and our goal is to make them feel like the winners they are."

This is the first time the national competition is being held in Boston. Organizers say they look forward to showing the students a major world center of technological research and innovation, and will treat them to tours of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Museum and the Museum of Science.

"Boston is such a stronghold of math talent, and we're thrilled our students will have the opportunity to connect with alumni in the area," said DiGioia. "That's going to be an element we haven't had in past competitions. All of the successful, talented alumni attending the event this year started out as MATHCOUNTS students themselves. The kids are really going to get a lot out of meeting them, and I think the alumni are going to get a lot out of it, too."

The action kicks off Friday, May 8, with a private written competition in the morning. The top 12 students advance to the game-show-style Countdown Round at 3 p.m., where they will go head-to-head in a split-second race to answer complex questions.

The event will stream live on ESPN3.

About Raytheon
Raytheon Company, with 2014 sales of $23 billion and 61,000 employees worldwide, is a technology and innovation leader specializing in defense, security and civil markets throughout the world. With a history of innovation spanning 93 years, Raytheon provides state-of-the-art electronics, mission systems integration and other capabilities in the areas of sensing; effects; and command, control, communications and intelligence systems, as well as cyber security and a broad range of mission support services. Raytheon is headquartered in Waltham, Mass. For more about Raytheon, visit us at www.raytheon.com and follow us on Twitter @raytheon.

About MATHCOUNTS Foundation
MATHCOUNTS is a nonprofit organization that strives to engage middle school students of all ability and interest levels in fun, challenging math programs, in order to expand their academic and professional opportunities. Middle school students exist at a critical juncture in which their love for mathematics must be nurtured, or their fear of mathematics must be overcome. For more than 30 years MATHCOUNTS has provided free, high-quality resources to educators and enriching, extracurricular opportunities to students to lay a foundation for future success. Materials and information are available at www.mathcounts.org.

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Raytheon Company
Allison Jeannotte
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SOURCE Raytheon Company