Contest asks students to
envision an ideal school

LOS ANGELES, CA - Disney and the Just Think Foundation are sponsoring a contest that will send four teams of students from the United States to the International Children's Summit held at Disneyland Paris, June 9-13. There, they will join nearly 600 children from more than 40 countries to participate in workshops and brainstorming sessions to discuss issues that affect children globally.

"Society" is the theme for this year's summit, which is divided into four sub-category themes of education, community, family and traditions. In keeping with the overall society theme, this year children are required to respond in teams of two to three to enter.

Education is the sub-category chosen for the United States, where each team will answer the question, "If you could create a school of your very own, what would you teach and how would you teach it?" The contest is open to children ages seven through 14.

Qualifying entries will include a visual image and/or detailed written description of the team's ideal school, presented on a 8 1/2" x 11" single sheet of paper or a single computer screen of text and/or pictures. The deadline for entries is a postmark or on-line posting date of April 21, 1997. The four winning teams will be notified in mid-May.

The final selection of winners will be made by a nationally renowned team of education and new media experts. Judges will base their decisions on creativity, originality and educational value of the entries. Upon selection, the winning students will work with a Disney film crew and the Just Think Foundation to create a video that describes and reflects their concepts of the perfect school.

The Just Think Foundation is dedicated to helping kids be intelligent consumers of media and able users of media tools such as computers and the Internet. Said co-founder Elana Rosen, "Children are capable of describing a vision for a school that could excite kids, teachers and their parents about new possibilities for education."

The Children's Summit was established in 1994 as a forum in which children can speak out about their future. It's presented in association with the UNESCO, the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization based in Paris.

For entry information and complete rules about the U.S. Children's Summit Contest, call 800/728-0430, or visit either sponsor's web site via the links provided at the beginning of this story.