FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Sally Bowman Alden, Executive Director
(408) 720-8838

COMPUTER LEARNING FOUNDATION PROCLAIMS
OUR TOWN A FIRST YEAR SUCCESS

Project has Students Learning about Computers and Communities

PALO ALTO, Calif., (August 15, 1997) - - Students from schools across the United States and Canada are creating Web sites for their hometowns. The reason for this tremendous show of community pride is Our Town, the newest initiative of the nonprofit Computer Learning Foundation. Developed to provide students with the opportunity to learn about their community, the Internet and the World Wide Web, Our Town is a meaningful project that can be readily integrated into a school's curriculum. At the same time, Our Town encourages students to work with others in their community to create an online resource on their town that is of value to people around the world. The Foundation provides access to the town sites on its Web site (http://www.computerlearning.org).

As its first year ends and its second begins, Our Town is exceeding every goal set by the Foundation. Over 70 towns have already registered their sites with the Foundation, and more are coming in. The project is capturing the imagination of students of all grade levels and backgrounds and making them more enthusiastic about learning. Parents and community members are getting actively involved in education, and in doing so, their communities are coming closer together. In addition, educators are finding the project is a powerful tool for making a difference in their classrooms and for getting students excited about learning. For all these reasons, the Foundation is proclaiming Our Town a huge success.

Whether students are from the United States or Canada, rural or urban communities, or wealthy or poor areas, they are all jumping into the project enthusiastically. The students at Erwin Middle School in Erwin, North Carolina were excited to learn about the things that make their town unique. They visited the Swift Denim Mill that makes their town "The Denim Capital of the World." The visit to the mill, where many of the students have relatives working, boosted the students' sense of pride in their community. At John F. Kennedy High School in New York City, students were devoted to the project even though they had only one slow-working computer to assemble their entire site.

Sixth graders from Sheridan Trail Middle School in Rockford, Michigan would not even let Mother Nature interfere with their project. They showed up for an interview at a senior citizen home on a day when their school was closed because of snow. And while it may have been sunny in Hawthorne, Florida, students were still able to impress Coral Antony, the media specialist at Shell Elementary School, with their interest in history. Students gave their undivided attention to an elderly speaker who brought in paintings of the town and were full of questions about his presentation.

Students were by no means the only group that tackled the project with full force. Parents gave generously of their time and took a genuine interest in what their children were learning through the project. Brunswick, New York found parents taking their children to historical sites and helping them complete log books of observations on the town. Parents also visited the class to describe their occupations. In this way, entire families were learning about the town's past and its present.

Parent volunteer Virginia Conlon of Oakville, Ontario, Canada, took on the responsibility of leading her town's site. All of the group she directed, which included learning disabled as well as gifted students, quickly mastered how to create a Web site. The project enabled her to see first hand how fast students can learn. Parents were also impressed at Schenck Elementary School in Denver. After students presented their site, parents showed so much interest in the project that the school decided to hold an adult education class on how to use the Internet.

Our Town is also bringing together schools, community groups and businesses, and providing powerful benefits to all involved. Local Chambers of Commerce proved to be very cooperative in providing information to many Our Town sites, as they saw the real benefits to local businesses of having their information on the town sites. In addition, many Historical Societies willingly provided information, as they want more people to be aware of their efforts and to take an interest in the history of their community. In Benton, Pennsylvania, for example, members from the Columbia County Historical Society were so happy to see students taking an interest in the town's history that volunteers came in on a day when their history museum was normally closed to give students a tour.

Community members also found that taking a leadership role in the project can yield benefits for both their town and themselves. Will Jones, a local business person in Mancos, Colorado, volunteered as their Our Town Leader. His efforts not only earned recognition for the community; they also led to the school district hiring his company to produce an online tutorial program for creating Web sites.

Many communities recognized the benefits of supporting the project, and many new partnerships were formed. In Mount Carroll, Illinois, the Chamber of Commerce provided funding for the town site and local businesses sponsored some of the pages. Saint Jude School in Fort Wayne, Indiana, formed a partnership with their local newspaper to provide the school with free access to the Internet for one year. In return, the school piloted a program to help the newspaper acquire new subscribers to their Internet service.

Another important way communities showed support was by recognizing students and others involved in the project for their accomplishments. Awards from the community and coverage from local television stations and newspapers provided students with a show of appreciation for their community service. At the same time, recognition helps community members take pride in what their local schools are doing. After working on the site for Dublin, Virginia, and presenting it to the community, the student team from Dublin Middle School found that people were very impressed and awards soon followed. The Town Council presented the team with a certificate of merit and a check for $400. In Bay Minette, Alabama, their site's business listings helped to grab the attention of a television station in nearby Mobile who interviewed the student team about their accomplishments on the project. In Hampton Bays, New York, the local newspaper ran an article on their site, including a picture of the student developers. Their Our Town Leader, Karin Levy, was also recognized for her efforts: She received a job as a technology specialist for another school district.

Through Our Town, students are developing an Internet resource that is a world wide showcase of their towns as well as their skills. During the initiative's first year, many town sites received positive feedback from people just browsing the World Wide Web or interested in moving to their area. The site for Brooksville, Florida even drew the attention of a man in Australia who was excited to see the community his pen pal lives in on the Web.

Our Town is also providing educators with a new way to make a difference in their classrooms. Teachers have found how easily this Initiative can be integrated into virtually every area of the curricu-lum and how excited students become about learning when they are working on their town's site.

Kathryn Spriggs, media specialist at Northwest Whitfield High School in Tunnel Hill, Georgia, found that working on the project provided her with one of the most meaningful moments of the school year. One of her students told her that working on their site was the only thing that kept him from dropping out. Kathryn's involvement with the initiative allowed her to see that student walk at graduation and to feel the difference she made with his every step across the stage. That is the power and promise of Our Town.

If you would like to get your community involved in Our Town , there are only a few requirements. First of all, students must be involved in the creation of the Web site for their town (not just their school). Second, the town's home page (first page of the Web site) must include the Our Town logo (available on the Foundation's Web site). And lastly, the site must be registered with the Computer Learning Foundation (a registration form is also on the Foundation's Web site). What is included in the town site is entirely up to the needs of the community and the creativity and capabilities of the students and others involved in the site's development. More information on Our Town and the Computer Learning Foundation, are on the Foundation's Web site (http://www.computerlearning.org) or in Computer Learning, the Foundation's free annual publication (write to: Computer Learning Foundation, Dept. OT97, P.O. Box 60007, Palo Alto, CA 94306-0007).

The Computer Learning Foundation, based in Palo Alto, California, is an international nonprofit educational foundation dedicated to bringing businesses, schools and communities together to improve the quality of education and preparation of youth for the workplace through the use of technology. Founded in 1987, the Foundation serves as a clearinghouse of information for parents and educators on using technology effectively with children. In addition, the Computer Learning Foundation hosts Computer Learning Month each October, a major national grass roots educational effort, and motivates and recognizes innovative uses of technology through annual competitions for children, educators, community groups and schools. The Computer Learning Foundation is funded by corporate and individual donations and is endorsed by and collaborates with 56 U.S. State Departments of Education and Canadian Ministries of Education and 26 national non-profit organizations.

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