At PoliticalFest...

PHILADELPHIA, July 27 -- To highlight the technology initiatives of the 2000 Republican National Convention and focus attention on a solution to the student achievement gap in our nation's schools, beyondbooks.com, official provider of online educational content for PoliticalFest, takes 'Fest visitors on a series of educational Cyber Explorations through our nation's political history at four interactive kiosks - at Philadelphia and the Presidency, The White House, On the Campaign Trail and The Media Zone.

Portraying Abraham Lincoln, Bob Gleason of American History Theater discusses beyondbooks.com's historical Cyber Explorations with, from left, April Williams, and Holly and Amber Hendrick at PoliticalFest in Philadelphia.

Did you know, for instance, that Philadelphia was home of the first Republican Party Convention in 1856? Or that in 1948, Philadelphia scored a political hat trick, hosting not only the Republican and Democratic national conventions, but also the Progressive Party's presidential convention? Through engaging writing, multimedia and graphics, beyondbooks.com offers an in-depth view of key events in the history of the American political system and the colorful personalities who have held, or aspired to, our nation's highest elected office -- the Presidency.

The rich historical information available on the beyondbooks.com Cyber Explorations also is available to students in our nation's high schools and middle schools. beyondbooks.com is an Internet-based source of advertising-free educational content that parallels current curricula in schools across the nation. Beyondbooks.com programs are now available to every school with Internet access.

"Our concept with Beyond Books is to harness the power of the Internet as an educational tool," said James S. Cassano, president and chief executive officer of New Forum Publishers, Inc., creators of beyondbooks.com. "Our content is unique in its depth, breadth and originality. Students may engage and interact with our digital content, with famous guests in live chats, and with each other."

Cassano asserts that the primary factor inhibiting teachers' ability to effectively use the Internet in the classroom is the lack of engaging content that parallels school curriculum. To make the beyondbooks.com content as attractive as possible, New Forum Publishers works with experienced teachers to create original content providing a foundation for inquiry, discovery, discussion and further exploration. The beyondbooks.com research staff scours the Web for pictures and graphics to illustrate the content. They also review, rate and summarize the best relevant web sites and link them to the beyondbooks.com curricula.

In addition to its U.S. History programs, beyondbooks.com offers programs on American Literature, British Literature and World History. For the 2000-01 school year, new programs will be available in science, mathematics, creative writing, foreign languages, and several other areas. Currently, beyondbooks.com is being piloted in more than 2,500 schools throughout the United States. Teachers and students may access their beyondbooks.com programs by password anywhere they have access to the Internet.

For more information, e-mail Jim Cassano.