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Bayer Corporation Names Southeast Ace High School Student as Its 2005 Bayer Making Science Make Sense Scholar; Student to Attend Astronaut’s International Science Camp, Tackle Global Issues


WEBWIRE

KANSAS CITY, Mo., June 22 -- Ashley D. Reed, an 11th-grader at Southeast ACE High School, has been named Kansas City’s 2005 Bayer Making Science Make Sense(r) (MSMS) Scholar and will spend her summer vacation tackling critical global issues with fellow students from around the world.

As the Bayer MSMS Scholar, she will attend astronaut Dr. Mae C. Jemison’s international science camp The Earth We Share (TEWS) at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., from July 1 through 29, 2005. Miss Reed is one of approximately 40 students attending TEWS ’05 from the United States and abroad.

By attending TEWS as a Bayer MSMS Scholar, Reed will learn more about the scientific process and how it can be applied to community problem solving. In her winning essay, Miss Reed writes of developing new ideas about how to make her Kansas City- area neighbors aware of environmental issues and “organize service learning projects that will improve the quality of life for her family, her school and her community.”

“On behalf of Bayer and its employees throughout the greater Kansas City metropolitan area, we are delighted to award Ashley this scholarship and once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to work with her peers to potentially make a difference in our community, the United States and the world,” said Dr. Dietmar Westphal, Senior Vice President, Region Americas Manufacturing, Bayer CropScience.

Joerg Ohle, President and General Manager, Bayer HealthCare LLC-Animal Health Division added, “Both TEWS and MSMS have a strong focus on problem solving, critical thinking and team work, and this summer experience will enable Ashley to further develop her own science literacy skills as well as understand just how important science literacy is for everyone.”

During the four-week residential camp, Reed and the other students will use an experiential science curriculum to solve current global dilemmas, such as “How many people can the earth hold?” “What do we do with all this garbage?” and “Design a non- fossil fuel energy source for the world.” Designed to strengthen middle and high school students’ science literacy and its associated skills, the TEWS curriculum is based on a hands-on learning philosophy.

“Based on her outstanding application, we are confident that Ashley will be a real asset to this year’s TEWS camp, bringing to it a very unique vision and approach,” said Dr. Mae C. Jemison, scientist, physician, the nation’s first African-American female astronaut and Bayer’s national MSMS science literacy advocate. Dr. Jemison founded TEWS in 1994.

The Bayer MSMS Scholar Search provides an all-expenses paid scholarship to attend TEWS to one seventh- through 11th-grade student in the Missouri counties of Bates, Cass, Clay, Jackson, Johnson and Platte, and in the Kansas counties of Johnson, Leavenworth, Miami and Wyandotte. It is one component of MSMS, a Bayer company-wide initiative that advances science literacy through hands-on, inquiry-based science learning, employee volunteerism and public education.

Currently, Bayer’s Kansas City site is one of 12 Bayer sites around the country that operate local MSMS programs, which together feature a national volunteer corps of more than 1,000 employees.

In Kansas City, Bayer has a roster of 160 employee-volunteers who work in elementary schools to help teachers teach and students learn science the way scientists do - by doing it. These volunteers also serve as mentors and science fair judges. In addition, the site has established partnerships with several local schools and sponsors training workshops for teachers to help them implement hands-on, inquiry-based science learning in their classrooms. In October 2004, Bayer announced a major new partnership with the Kansas City Missouri School District to bring systemic science education reform to K-5 classrooms.

Bayer has long demonstrated a strong commitment to the Kansas City area. It is home to Bayer CropScience’s Core Technology Center and Bayer HealthCare’s Animal Health Division’s North American headquarters.

Bayer CropScience LP is the U.S. business of Bayer CropScience, which has its global headquarters in Monheim, Germany. Bayer CropScience, a subsidiary of Bayer AG with annual sales of about EUR 6 billion, is one of the world’s leading innovative crop science companies in the areas of crop protection, non-agricultural pest control, seeds and plant biotechnology. The company offers an outstanding range of products and extensive service backup for modern, sustainable agriculture and for non-agricultural applications. Bayer CropScience has a global workforce of about 19,000 and is represented in more than 120 countries.

Bayer CropScience LP in the United States has its business headquarters in Research Triangle Park, NC. Sites in Kansas City, Mo., and Stilwell, Kansas, comprise the company’s Core Technology Center.

Bayer HealthCare’s Animal Health Division is the maker of K9 Advantix(r), a triple-protection mosquito, tick and flea control product for dogs, and of Advantage(r) flea control for dogs and cats. The division is a worldwide leader in parasite control and prescription pharmaceuticals for dogs, cats, horses, cattle and poultry. North American operations for the Animal Health Division are headquartered in Shawnee, Kansas. Bayer Animal Health is a division of Bayer HealthCare, one of the world’s leading companies in the health care and medical products industry.

Both companies are part of the global Bayer Group. Bayer Corporation, headquartered in Pittsburgh, is part of the worldwide Bayer Group, an international health care, nutrition and innovative materials group based in Leverkusen, Germany. In North America, as of April 2005, Bayer employed about 16,000 and had 2004 net sales of 8.3 billion euros. Bayer’s three operating companies -- Bayer HealthCare LLC, Bayer CropScience LP and Bayer MaterialScience LLC -- improve people’s lives through a broad range of essential products that help diagnose and treat diseases, protect crops and advance automobile safety and durability. The Bayer Group stock is a component of the DAX and is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (ticker symbol: BAY).

The Earth We Share, founded in 1994, is a project of The Dorothy Jemison Foundation for Excellence, a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization established by Dr. Mae C. Jemison, the nation’s first African-American female astronaut, to honor and implement the teaching principles and life accomplishments of her late mother, who was a teacher in the Chicago Public Schools for over 25 years. The Foundation is located in Houston, TX. For more information, please visit http://www.jemisonfoundation.org.

For more information about the Bayer Making Science Make Sense Scholar, please visit Bayer’s web site at http://www.BayerUS.com/msms.

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Biographical Sketch

Ashley D. Reed

Kansas City’s 2005 Bayer Making Science Make Sense Scholar

Ashley D. Reed, Kansas City, MO, USA: 17 years old; will enter her senior year in the fall at Southeast ACE High School. Parents: Anthony Reed and Deidre Williams. A Cadet Battalion Operation Officer in Southeast High School’s Junior ROTC, Reed plays volleyball and basketball, participates in student government, serves as a peer leader and chairperson of the school’s grant writing committee, is a member of the yearbook staff and was recently elected Prom Queen. In addition, Reed has performed and/or organized six Service Learning Projects leading to the betterment of her local community. Her projects have included outreach with local senior citizens, organizing a local National Youth Service Day and tutoring Southeast Middle School students with special needs. Reed strongly advocates that today’s youth must be involved in their community and school. She believes this is key to developing the future leaders of our society. In her free time, Reed likes to write poetry and short stories, and read books.

By attending TEWS as a Bayer Making Science Make Sense Scholar, Reed hopes to develop new ideas about how to make her Kansas City-area neighbors aware of environmental issues and “organize service learning projects that will improve the quality of life for her family, her school and her community.”

Her future plans include attending college to major in dentistry and obtain a doctorate degree. To that end, she recently completed an internship at the University of Missouri at Kansas City (UMKC) School of Dentistry. She also is considering a career as a psychologist.



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