October 16, 2009 - Austin School District officials and University of Texas professor Uri Triesman will join Bowie math teachers Shannon Hoberer and Mia Iseman and algebra students for an AYD (Academic Youth Development) kickoff event to spark interest in next year’s summer math camp. Students and parents who participated in last summer’s inaugural program will provide testimonials on how the camp has boosted their math achievement levels. The kickoff will be at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, October 21, in the Bowie cafeteria, located at 4103 Slaughter Lane.

Uri Treisman is professor of mathematics and of public affairs at The University of Texas at Austin. He is the founder and executive director of the University's Charles A. Dana Center, an organized research unit of the College of Natural Sciences. His research and professional interests include education policy, mathematics and science education, and community service and volunteerism.  
 
Professor Treisman has received numerous honors and awards for his efforts to strengthen American education. For his research at the University of California at Berkeley on the factors that support high achievement among minority students in mathematics, he received the 1987 Charles A. Dana Award for Pioneering Achievement in American Higher Education. In 1992, he was named a MacArthur Fellow. In December 1999, he was named as one of the outstanding leaders in higher education in the 20th century by the magazine Black Issues in Higher Education. In February 2006, he was named "2006 Scientist of the Year" by the Harvard Foundation of Harvard University for his outstanding contributions to mathematics.  
 
The Academic Youth Development Initiative is a project of the Charles A. Dana Center at The University of Texas at Austin. The Academic Youth Development initiative supports the successful transition of students from middle school to high school mathematics. AYD incorporates best practices in the teaching of algebra readiness skills with recent advances in developmental and social psychology in a way that increases students’ engagement and commitment to success in rigorous academic programs. A central feature of AYD is the creation of a cohort of students who can create a positive learning environment for all students in their algebra class. A 14-day summer experience shapes the way students think about themselves as learners. Research demonstrates that relatively modest interventions aimed at shaping the culture of classrooms can have powerful effects on student success.