Contact:
Anne Watzman
412-268-3830

For immediate release:
August 7, 2003

Demos of Robots, Computer Programs and Math Projects by Middle and High Schoolers Mark Finale of Unique Summer Program at Carnegie Mellon

EVENT:
Thirty-two students aged 12-17 have spent the past six weeks at Carnegie Mellon University participating in Andrew's Leap, a unique summer program for mathematically gifted young people. The students have been doing advanced work in robotics, computer programming and mathematics, under the guidance of top faculty in robotics and computer science. They will demonstrate their projects at the program's grand finale tomorrow.

The students come from city schools, including Taylor Allderdice, Schenley, Rogers CAPA and the Ellis School; and suburban institutions, including Seton-LaSalle, North Allegheny, Franklin Regional, Hampton, Moon Area, Mt. Lebanon, Upper St. Clair, Fox Chapel, the Blackburn Study Center and Gateway Middle School.

To qualify for Andrew's Leap, students must take "The Interesting Test," where answers don't count as much as the way you arrive at them. More than 300 students have gone through the program since it was initiated in 1991. Some experts feel that the exciting, hands-on curriculum featured in Andrew's Leap has the potential to reinvigorate the study of computer science throughout K-12 education.

WHERE:
3002 Newell-Simon Hall on the Carnegie Mellon campus

WHEN:
1:30 p.m., Friday, August 8

For more information on Andrew's Leap see http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~leap/.