Wednesday, November 1, 2006

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Bradley Metrock, President (bradley@ahsimc.com)

iTest crowns 2006 national champion, announces plans for expansion

(Nashville, TN) - The 2006 iTest culminated today in the crowning of a new national champion math team. "Quagga" cruised to victory in posting a brilliant 97.5 score out of a possible 100 points, besting runner-up "BARK" by a full 9 points.

Quagga team captain Shobhit Vishnoi attends the Hammond Academy in Columbia, South Carolina. Other team members include Yannik Pitcan (Lake Howell High School, Florida), Arnav Tripathy (East Chapel Hill High School, North Carolina), Rui Yang (Miami Palmetto Senior High School, Florida), and Alex Zhai (University Laboratory High School, Illinois).

These team members overcame geographical distances by working together using the internet. For the first time, iTest competitors had access to a variety of collaborative tools built into the competition's own webpage, which all students could utilize in delegating test questions and tracking team progress.

"The iTest combines the collaborative power of the internet with the educational power of team-based problem solving to create unprecedented opportunity for today's students," remarked iTest President and founder Bradley Metrock. "As a result, the iTest has attracted a diverse group of the nation's brightest young intellects to learn more mathematics and build their team-based social skills."

The organization's mission is to augment the United States educational system through competition by providing free contests across a variety of high school subjects; the iTest piloted a computer science competition earlier this year, and plans another pilot of a languages competition for release sometime in 2008.

"As the iTest expands into other subjects, a community where young people can network and meet lifelong friends will be created," noted iTest Chief Operations Officer Dave Cowart. "It's our job to use the social networking phenomenon to positively impact the lifelong education of our nation's youth."

The iTest, a product of parent non-profit organization AHSIMC, is the largest online mathematics competition and the fastest-growing academic competition in America. The iTest is made available for free to all students, educators, and schools thanks to generous contributions by corporate sponsors and charitable interests. High school students also have free access to monthly "challenge" problems, as well as a national ranking system for 'mathletes' to promote competition and continued math education throughout the school year.

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