DU the Math Video Game Tournament Has Students Competing for $40K in Scholarships, Plus Cool Prizes
Thursday, April 5, 2012
By: Leslie Eicher

DU the MATH, a five-week national scholarship tournament, engages kids grades 3-9 and encourages math competence through game play. The tourney brings a fresh edge to math with vivid graphics, cool prizes, and help from celebrity ambassadors.

New York -- April 5, 2012 -- DimensionU, creators of award-winning educational video games used in thousands of schools across the country, today announced "DU the Math," a nationwide campaign designed to get students to play 50 million minutes of math-based video games to help develop the analytical, problem-solving and critical thinking skills that will prepare them for future STEM-related classes and jobs.

The campaign kicks off today with registration for the 2012 DU the Math National Scholarship Tournament. The virtual tournament includes five, one-week competitions beginning April 9 and ending May 13. In each of the weekly challenges, students in grades 3-9 can compete playing the DimensionU video games for a wide variety of prizes, including a chance to score the top prize of a $25,000 college scholarship.

Other prizes include once in a lifetime fan experiences such as attending a major music awards ceremony, getting a piano lesson from teen pop star Greyson Chance, or being the honorary fifth band member in Mindless Behavior for a day. Each week the top 50 players will receive smaller prizes such as Beats by Dr. Dre headphones, Bobble filter water bottles, celebrity merchandise and other surprises that will get kids revved up to learn. To register, students should go to www.duthemath.com.

Tournament play is available for free to anyone with access to an Internet connection, and centers around DimensionU's games. The games engage students in a series of quick-paced, immersive missions embedded with hundreds of math lessons aligned to state, national, and the new Common Core State Standards.

The DU the Math tournament includes competitions for individuals and for schools across the country. For students playing in the individuals competition, prizes such as an Xbox, iPads, and Amazon.com gift cards will be awarded, in addition to the fan experience prizes. The top three students who answer the most questions correctly during the weekly sessions will qualify for the DU the Math Tournament Finals and Music Festival. The grand prize for individuals is a $25,000 scholarship, with three runner-up prizes of $5,000 scholarships.

For the schools competition, the school that collectively logs the most minutes played wins the honor of hosting the DU the Math Finals and Music Festival in its hometown. The festival will feature up-and-coming celebrity musical acts Mindless Behavior and Greyson Chance. The winning school and location will be announced the week of May 14, with the finals slated for June 16, 2012.

"Since rolling out our games in 2007, the DimensionU learning motivation system has morphed into this phenomenal learning tool that has served just under one million students in schools across the country," said CEO and founder of DimensionU, Ntiedo Etuk. "What has played out in classroom after classroom has been astonishing. We see students begging their teachers to let them play the math games, with the outcomes of improved engagement and motivation levels, confidence, and demonstrated academic score increases that in some cases, top 20 percent."

About DimensionU

DimensionU is the company behind the DimensionU Learning system - an innovative technology designed to maximize students' desire to learn. With DimensionU students can earn virtual currency and rewards by completing academic tasks presented in fun, multi-player video game formats. The technology has been used by major school districts including New York City, Chicago, Dallas, Miami, and over 1,500 others since 2007 and was shown in an independent university study to improve test scores by up to two letter grades. It uses curriculum aligned to the standards of all 50 states so students are sure to be practicing the core skills they need to excel.