MindRap, Innovative Hip-Hop Science Program Documentary Film Screening

Evanston, Illinois - On March 14th, at 1pm at the Evanston Public Library a 
unique documentary film screening will take place. The Motorola Foundation,
through its Innovative Generation Grant Program, awarded funds to Tiz Media
Foundation and the Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems (NICO) to
sponsor Speech and the Cell Phone, a summer science program for high school
students and college science majors during the summer of 2008. MindRap, Tiz
Media's multimedia hip hop education program guided the high school students
through a communications journey that began with the talking drums in Africa
and ended with sound waves traveling through the cell phone network.

"This was a great opportunity for high school students to spend time
learning science concepts on a university campus while participating in a
fun, interactive program that fused the power of pop culture with their
own creativity," said Melanie West, CEO of Tiz Media Foundation. "During
the Speech and the Cell Phone program, six college science majors joined the
MindRap program. These students, recruited to conduct research in the
speech labs at NICO, mentored and shared their experiences with the high
school students. These interactions offered the high school students a
snapshot view of a potential path for their future."

MindRap is a multimedia education program that encourages students to
achieve in math and science by combining interactive teaching applications
with hip-hop music and culture. Founded in 2002, the program has proven to
have considerable appeal to both teachers and students.
In Speech and the Cell Phone, MindRap focused on the science of speech as
students learned how communication signals travel through the cell phone.
This multidisciplinary program incorporated science, art, music, writing,
and storytelling, as well as the social and emotional learning skills
students need to achieve success in school and life. Working together,
students translated what they learned about speech and the cell phone
into a multimedia hip hop module that will be used as a tool to help
other students learn the concept. The students also conducted an interactive
lesson on the physics of sound and hip-hop for elementary students in project EXCITE!, a multi-year, collaborative project between Evanston High School and the Center for Talent Development at Northwestern University.

The mission of Tiz Media Foundation is to encourage underrepresented
minorities to engage in science and math careers. "If the USA is to
maintain its technological edge, it must recruit and produce top-drawer men
and women of science. Yet, fewer and fewer Americans, and fewer still
minority students, study science with the intention of making it their life's
work," said 2007 National Medal of Technology Winner and Tiz Media Board
Member James E. West.

In Speech and the Cell Phone, the MindRap method was
used to energize the learning process for the purpose of encouraging
students to develop an interest in science.

During the film screening Tiz Media Foundation will be collecting old used cell phones to be recycled, so please bring them to the event. 

Proceeds will be donated to Congo Global Action. "80% of the world's reserves of coltan, a
mineral used in the production of cell phones, are in the DR Congo. One
third of the world's tin reserves, also used in the production of cell
phones, come from the DR Congo. These minerals are major contributors
to the country's continual conflict and exploitation."

For more information about Tiz Media Foundation, please visit
www.tizmedia.org.