Heartland AEA 11

6500 Corporate Dr.

Johnston, IA 50131-1603

NEWS RELEASE

3-2-00

Contacts:

Susan Schrader, Heartland AEA 11, (515) 270-9030 ext. 4332

Steve Jones, Heartland AEA 11, (515) 270-9030 ext. 4317

'LIVE FROM CANYONLANDS' PROGRAMS EXPLORE ANCIENT CULTURE

JOHNSTON, Iowa &emdash; A series of live educational video programs from a remote New Mexico canyon will be broadcast to 1,000 Iowa students beginning Thursday, March 9.

Students will learn about an ancient Native American culture in a two-way video conferencing project developed by Heartland Area Education Agency 11.

"Live From Canyonlands" includes three programs for elementary and middle school students. The programs are March 9, 16 and 30 from 9:15 to 10 a.m. They are broadcast live from the remote Chaco Canyon, 100 miles north of Albuquerque, via satellite to schools through the Iowa Communications Network.

Students from several schools each week will have the opportunity to view and talk to a team of explorers and scientists in the Southwest's Four Corners area. Special portable satellite equipment will be used to bring the video and audio signal to ICN classrooms across the state.

The program was developed by Susan Schrader, Heartland AEA media specialist, and Dan Buettner, an educator, journalist and adventurer. Buettner is leading a team of experts in the Southwest that is exploring the disappearance of the ancient Anasazi civilization. Ancient Pueblo Indians, often referred to as the "Anasazi," developed a highly advanced culture centered in the Chaco Canyon.

Sometime about the year 1300, the Anasazi were gone. Buettner and the team will explore this mystery and contemporary American cultures in the region.

Buettner and Schrader developed similar programs in the past &endash; "Live From Africa" and "Live From Galapagos." The series from Africa in 1998 was the first live video program of its kind in the United States. Iowa students talked with and viewed Buettner as his team trekked across Africa on bicycles.

Many of the Iowa students are supplementing the Canyonlands ICN programs by using an Internet curriculum project entitled AmericaQuest.

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NOTE TO EDITORS: Attached is a list of the schools participating in the live two-way "Live From Canyonlands" programs.

Live From Canyonlands

Two-way interactive ICN sites at which students will communicate with the AmericaQuest expedition in New Mexico.

March 9

Teacher	School	ICN Site
1. Adele Beauchene	Nevada Middle	#338 Nevada HS
2. Don Lester	Lincoln El.	#573 Boone HS
3. Theresa Ficken	Central El.	#338 Nevada HS
4. Jane Stevens	Roland Story El.	#331 Rol.-Story HS
5. Sue Pettit	Waterloo Central MS	#691 Wat. Central MS
6. Terri Luehring	Gladbrook-Reinbeck El.	#263 Glad.-Rein. HS
7. David Den Hartog	Independence HS	#40 Independence HS
8. Michelle Aschbrenner	Central Middle	#481 AEA 7

March 16

Teacher	School	ICN Site
1. Cindy Ransom	Earlham	#319 Earlham HS
2. Judy Younger (Myers, Penheiter, Blake)	Rock Springs El.	#678 NSRF HS
3. Mrs. Ubben	Sacred Heart	#254 Oelwn. Nat. Guard
4. Ginny Elliott	Tama Intermediate	#37 South Tama HS
5. Sheri Johnson	North Tama El.	#532 North Tama HS
6. Debra Calfee	Central Lee El.	#517 Cen. Lee HS
7. Becky Ruth	Glenwood HS	#82 Glenwood HS
8. Becky Ruth	Glenwood St Hospital	#416 Glenwood Hosp.
9. Linda Powell	Guthrie Center El.	#66 Guthrie Center HS

March 30

Teacher	School	ICN Site
1. Adele Beauchene	Nevada Middle	#338 Nevada HS
2. Judy Younger (Myers, Penheiter, Blake)	Rock Springs El.	#678 NSRF HS
3. Mary Jane Kruse	West Lyon HS	#522 West Lyon HS
4. Jody Fitzgerald & Michael Sauer	Central Middle	#691 Wat. Central MS
5. Tim Moses	Logan Middle	#691 Wat. Central MS
6. Deb Barry	Woodbine El.	#361 Woodbine HS
7. James Ehmen	Janesville El.	#600 Janesville HS
8. Joan Myers	Nora Springs-Rock Falls	#678 NSRF HS
9. Ginny Elliott	Tama Intermediate	#37 South Tama HS