AT&T gives School Board $248,000 grant

NEW ORLEANS, Oct. 16, 2008 — AT&T Inc. announced more than 170 schools and nonprofit organizations will receive almost $12 million in competitive grants from the AT&T Foundation that are designed to support high school retention programs at national and local levels for at-risk students.

Vermilion Parish School Board, which is one of seven schools in the state, has been awarded a $248,150 grant payable over the next three years to support the expansion of the Voyagers Journeys reading program and the intervention and credit recovery program for at-risk ninth and tenth grade students. These programs will be implemented by teachers trained to successfully administer these programs.

“America’s Promise Alliance has noted that nearly one-third of U.S. high school students drop out before graduating — with about 7,000 students dropping out every school day, or one every 26 seconds,” said William A. Oliver, president of AT&T Louisiana.

“AT&T is doing its part to help address this serious issue. We are proud to support the Vermilion Parish School Board, which serves as an example of the great work already underway to help our kids succeed in school and to help students see the connection between education and their best future.

“Investing in a well-educated workforce may be the single most important thing AT&T can do to help America remain the leader in a digital, global economy.”

The grants are part of the company’s signature initiative, AT&T Aspire, which was announced earlier this year and helps address high school success and workforce readiness. AT&T has committed $100 million in philanthropy through 2011 to schools and nonprofit organizations that are focused on high school retention and better preparing students for college and the workforce.

“We are thrilled to receive this very generous grant from AT&T to support programs that target at-risk youth in our parish,” said Randy Schexnayder, Superintendent of the Vermilion Parish School Board. “We believe these programs will help our students to succeed in their academic careers, and we are pleased AT&T shares our vision. Corporate support of initiatives such as these is critical, and we greatly appreciate AT&T’s ongoing commitment to our parish.”

As one of the largest-ever corporate commitments to high school retention and workforce readiness, the $100 million AT&T Aspire program will support organizations with strong track records that promote educational success, from the classroom to the workplace. The recipient programs of this year’s High School Success grants provide a range of support for students, including academic intervention, mentoring and tutoring services.

In addition to the retention program grants, AT&T Aspire will award funding in three other key areas:

A student job shadowing initiative involving 400,000 AT&T employee hours that will give 100,000 students a firsthand look at the skills they will need to succeed in the 21st century workforce.

The underwriting of national research that will explore the practitioner perspective (teachers, principals, superintendents, school counselors and school board members) on the high school dropout issue.

Support for 100 state and community dropout prevention summits, announced earlier this year by America’s Promise Alliance.

For more information about the AT&T Aspire initiative, please visit HYPERLINK “http://www.att.com/education-news” www.att.com/education-news.