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Apangea Learning: And the Winner is...

Nationwide Contests and Individual Points Motivate Students to Succeed


PITTSBURGH, April 21, 2009 -And the winner is …. Mrs. Peck's fifth grade math class
at Liberty Elementary School in Boise, Idaho.

Apangea Learning Inc., (www.apangealearning.com), leaders in personalized, one-to-one
online tutoring for students across the country, said today that the Boise students were the
winners of a nationwide competition in which thousands of math classes vied for top honors
and prizes. Points were awarded to individual classrooms based on the quality of student
work, problems successfully solved and quiz scores.

Idaho's adoption of the Apangea Learning system is part of that state's Idaho Math Initiative,
a comprehensive effort to improve student achievement in math. The Initiative, which began
this school year, focuses on professional development for teachers as well as providing
additional tools, such as Apangea Learning, to students who struggle in math or need
advanced opportunities.

"I am so proud of the students at Liberty Elementary for their hard work and dedication to
mathematics," Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Luna said. "It is exciting to see
students having so much fun while working so hard on solving math problems. That is what
the Idaho Math Initiative is all about."

"It was fantastic to visit Liberty Elementary and see how excited those students were about
working on Apangea Learning. They voluntarily spent over 100 hours of their own time on
weekends, evenings and over spring break, solving thousands of math problems. Being a
former math teacher myself, I can tell you that is absolutely amazing," said Glen Zollman,
Idaho state director for Apangea Learning.

Sue Peck, the fifth-grade teacher at Liberty Elementary, said that "It was a combination of
three things that contributed to my students' success in this competition. First, Apangea
Learning is a great program because it is individualized for each student so they can go at
their own pace. Second, I have really great students this year who are hard-working. This
competition started with a handful of students and then the enthusiasm spread to the whole
class. Third, I have great parents and a lot of parental support. Parents are the ones who
provided a time and a place for students to do work after school."

Other Liberty faculty members supporting the students' competitive work were classroom
teacher Chris Taylor and Principal Betty Hoogland. Rainey Pieters, Boise School District
math supervisor, also supported the effort.

Apangea's nationwide math competition was one in a series of reward-based motivational
programs conducted throughout the school year. Not only do schools compete against each
other, but individual students working through the Apangea system can earn points for their
work. Once they reach a success threshold, they can redeem their points for prizes such as
backpacks, t-shirts and gift cards.

"Our goal is work closely with the schools we serve across the country to help them get their
at-risk and struggling students excited about their work. Our multi-tiered motivational
programs, including class competitions and individual point awards, engage the students to
work hard in school and at home," said Louis Piconi, Apangea's founder and chief education
officer. "Apangea teachers work with classrooms instructors to develop individualized
learning pathways and then tutor the students in real time, one-to-one, day or night. We have
developed a groundbreaking approach to supplemental learning that is highly effective and
affordable."

Piconi will visit the Idaho school soon to present the students with their first-prize award.

"I am looking forward to visiting Liberty Elementary and congratulating the students in
person," he said, "and we send our thanks to all the school that participate in our reward
programs."

To learn more about the Idaho Math Initiative, please visit
http://www.sde.idaho.gov/site/math/ and click on the "Idaho Math Initiative" link.

ABOUT APANGEA LEARNING

Apangea Learning (www.apangealearning.com) is a pioneer in developing cost-effective, one-on-one online math and writing tutoring services for students in elementary through high schools across the United States. School districts purchase seat licenses for Apangea's services and provide access to their students during the school day and after hours from home. Individual families and students may also subscribe directly. With its programs based on one of the world's largest bodies of cognitive research originally conducted by the U.S. military, Apangea has both strong technical resources and a content-development prowess that enables it to harness advanced Web technologies and offer innovative instruction techniques. The privately owned company is based in Pittsburgh, PA.

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Media Contact

Susan Kim

Marketing Coordinator
866.357.8664 x233
skim@apangealearning.com