Orleans Parish School Board purchases JRL Enterprises of New Orleans' I CAN Learn program

Keeping students focused and on task is an everyday challenge for Allen Ellender Middle School math teacher Theresa Repak.

Some grasp the subject matter more quickly than others so it is just as easy to lose the attention of pupils struggling with lessons as those who learn quickly and grow bored.

Repak holds the rapt attention of her students by using I CAN Learn algebra software. Students are guided through an interactive audio-video math lesson on their computer with Repak providing individualized support.

Any time you can get students working on math for a solid hour each day, you're bound to see an improvement in what they're doing, said Repak.

I CAN Learn, which stands for Interactive Computer Aided Natural Learning, is the product of JRL Enterprises Inc. of New Orleans. John Lee started the company in the early 1990s after a railcar explosion wiped out the petroleum business he owned in Galveston, Texas.

Regrouping after the loss of his business, Lee went to work in New Orleans as a consulting engineer and met John Alvendia, an electrical engineer with Chevron who would become JRL's executive vice president.