New England's First-Ever "You CAN Do The Rubik's Cube" Tournament to Be Held at Boston's Museum of Science

BOSTON, Nov. 16, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The "You CAN Do The Rubik's Cube" program will host the first-ever New England-wide tournament, in which teams of students from a dozen schools across New England will compete for the fastest time to collectively solve 25 Rubik's Cubes. More than a hundred K-12 students will compete in teams, but only the quickest will go one-on-one in the individual heats for the fastest Rubik's Cube solution time. The "You CAN Do The Rubik's Cube" tournament is being held at Boston's Museum of Science on Saturday, November 19. Retired New England Patriots three-time Super Bowl champion, Ty Law, a Rubik's fan and supporter of this in-school program designed to foster students' STEM skills, will preside over the tournament, providing live commentary and presenting the winning teams with awards.

"The complexity of the Rubik's Cube and the game of football have quite a bit in common. Hard work, perseverance and attention to detail are key components to mastering each," said New England Patriot alum, Ty Law. "I have always placed high value on teamwork and supporting members of any team aiming for success. I'm looking forward to cheering alongside students and telling them myself, 'You CAN Do the Rubik's Cube,' because it's not an easy feat and they should be proud of the hard work, time and effort that went into competing against other local schools."

The new "You CAN Do The Rubik's Cube" program is a community initiative that uses the world's most famous puzzle as a math manipulative in classrooms and in afterschool programs, helping students learn such concepts as perimeter, volume, area and 21st Century skills like problem solving and perseverance. Designed to foster life lessons such as following directions, negotiation, and teamwork, the "You CAN Do The Rubik's Cube" program provides students with fun, hands-on educational activities that are aligned with national and state curriculum frameworks, major math text books and the Partnership for 21st Century Skills. Through the use of a free, downloadable "You CAN Do The Rubik's Cube" Solution Guide, the program teaches students how to solve the Rubik's Cube step-by-step.

"Many of the competing students are at different stages of solving the Rubik's Cube – some are able to solve the Cube on their own, whereas others require the help of peers. That's where teamwork comes into play. Solving 25 Cubes is not an easy feat as an individual, so teams of eight students work together to solve them collectively," said Holly Riehl, Senior Vice President, "You CAN Do The Rubik's Cube" program. "We're thrilled to be able to offer the top teams STEM grants for their schools for all their hard work and effort to get here, and we couldn't have done it without the generous support of MathWorks."

The "You CAN Do The Rubik's Cube" tournament will take place on Saturday, November 19 from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. ET. The competition will feature both individual and team heats across two divisions – elementary and middle/high school. The winners from each division will be honored during an awards ceremony that will take place at 12:30 p.m. EST.

The final results and images from the "You CAN Do The Rubik's Cube" tournament will be announced on Facebook. To learn more about the "You CAN Do The Rubik's Cube" program and how to host a local Rubik's Cube tournament, visit www.YouCanDoTheCube.com.

About You CAN Do The Rubik's Cube

Since its release in 1980, the Rubik's Cube has since found its way into over 350 million homes worldwide and has continued to fascinate, bewilder and challenge millions of people. The new You CAN Do The Rubik's Cube initiative is a U.S. campaign aimed at teaching youth how to solve the Rubik's Cube and experience the many benefits of this accomplishment.  Math lessons have been designed to use the Rubik's Cube to help teachers engage students with an interactive and tangible way to learn the many math disciplines.

SOURCE You CAN Do The Rubik's Cube