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August 5, 1999 FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
WEB PAGES, LEADERSHIP AND CREATIVITY ALL PART OF THE CURRICULUM FOR HIGH-TECH EUGENE STUDENTS With the advent of August, the back-to-school bug seems to have bitten. From August 9 through 13, sixty youngsters from School District 4J will flood the halls to learn how to create their own web pages. These students are serious about learning, and as part of this EWEB-sponsored program, they're going to take their new-found knowledge back to their friends and teachers, too. The fourth through eighth graders are participating in a computer day camp that is part of a School District 4J program called TAPS -- Technology Assistance Program by Students. This is the third year the district has held this popular camp. For one week the students spend half a day learning about web page creation and publishing. The day camp is free -- the only payment required is that the students share their skills with classmates and teachers during the school year. "The kids have a lot of enthusiasm and energy for computers and web pages," says EWEB Grant Coordinator John Bezelj. "If you ask any elementary-aged kid about computers, they'll wow you with talk about stuff you didn't even know existed." The students attending the camp were selected by their teachers last spring, and represent most 4J elementary schools. The chosen students exhibited an interest in technology, an ability to work well with other people and willingness to share their knowledge. The camp is being held at Monroe Middle School. Two groups of students will: one group in the mornings and a second in the afternoons. The computer camp is funded through an education grant from Eugene Water & Electric Board. EWEB distributes over $630,000 annually to four local school districts in the form of grants that support energy and water education activities. The TAPS program provides technical support to other EWEB-funded projects: The Tale of Two Rivers and Virtual Eugene. Those projects involve field studies of local watersheds. Student participants publish information about the field studies on the Internet. -30-
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