Nov. 13, 2003

By Christi C. Babbitt
Provo Daily Herald

PROVO, Utah - An organization known for collegiate athletic competition is helping children in Utah and five other states improve their math and language arts skills.

The Mountain West Conference is offering Kid's College, a Web-based education program, free of charge to schools in the states where its member universities are located.The MWC's eight members include Brigham Young University and the University of Utah.

Designed for kindergarten through eighth-grade students, Kid's College teaches using MWC sports teams and mascots. Students can play games based on sports such as football, soccer and basketball, with their ability to succeed in the game determined by their answers to questions about math and language arts.

BYU athletes attended a formal announcement of the program's availability on Wednesday at Joaquin Elementary School in Provo. The MWC filmed public service announcements at Joaquin last summer promoting its education initiative.

Aaron Evans, MWC spokesman, said the program is part of the MWC's education initiative announced last March and was first made available in schools this fall. Approximately 85 schools in Utah have signed up to use the program so far. The program was created by Learning Through Sports.

Schools access the program over the Internet and can sign up to use it on the MWC Web site.

"It's all online," Evans said. "They download the pieces that they need."

Don Capps, computer teacher at Joaquin, said students at his school have been using the program for about a month. "They think it's a game but they are actually learning," Capps said.

The program charts individual progress and its questions are directly related to the state curriculum standards for math and language arts, he said.

Joaquin Principal Don Dowdle said Kid's College would be a regular part of his elementary school's curriculum. Purchasing similar software would have been expensive for the school.

"Resources that could have been spent on computer software can now be freed up to spend on additional teachers' assistants" and other needs, Dowdle said.

Ana Garcia, a fourth-grader at Joaquin, said basketball was her favorite sport in Kid's College. "I like answering the questions and playing," she said.

Kid's College also allows students to explore the MWC's schools through a virtual campus tour and is available in English and Spanish.