Caught in the net

Irma Lemus

MEDIA DISTRICT NORTH -- With the assignments posted each day on the

Internet, Kathy Weiser said students in her Burbank High School computer

science class can no longer claim they didn’t do their homework because

they left the work at school.

Weiser, who has been posting her class assignments on the educational

site yourhomework.com for about a year, was recently named a winner in

the company’s Participation Point contest. She won $500 for her class and

$250 for the school.

Weiser is one of the 560 teachers from across the country who list

homework and class assignments on the Web site.

“They don’t have an excuse not to do their homework, unless they’re

really sick,” said Weiser, who teaches computer science to students in

grades nine through 12.

Weiser, who has been at Burbank High for 13 years, was the sole

first-place winner in the contest. She was selected over six finalists,

said John Nelsestuen a spokesman from yourhomework.com., which is based

in Los Angeles.

The yourhomework.com Internet site, a division of Global Internet

Technologies, offers free Web space for teachers from kindergarten to

higher education, said Nelsestuen. He said the teachers who have

registered at the site since it was created in 1998 are posting assignments for about 40,000 students.

Teachers in the contest were rated on their use of yourhomework.com --

daily homework postings, personal Web site design and referring other

teachers to sign up with the site, Nelsestuen said. “It’s very useful

for me because I also post class handouts and computer files that

students can download from home. So now students can get the information

they missed in class at home,” said Weiser.

Weiser said she plans to use the money she won to expand the computer

program by offering more classes or by contributing to the cost of a

digital camera for her Web design class. She said she was sold on the

virtues of the program.

“I couldn’t live without it -- it makes my life easier,” Weiser said.