For further information: Audris Tillman
The Conference Board
(212) 339-0343
For Release Thursday, May 7, 1998, 1:30 PM (ET) Release #4415
CVS/PHARMACY, E.I. DU PONT DE NEMOURS AND COMPANY, JCPENNEY, KELLOGG COMPANY AND SEAFIRST BANK WIN CONFERENCE BOARD'S 'BEST IN CLASS' AWARDS FOR INNOVATIVE PROGRAMS TO IMPROVE EDUCATION
May 7...Five companies-CVS/pharmacy, E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, JCPenney Company Inc., Kellogg Company and Bank of America/Seafirst Bank-were today named winners of The Conference Board's "Best in Class" awards. The awards, which honor outstanding corporate programs that strengthen education, were presented at the Board's 1998 Business and Education Conference at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in New York.
"The selection of this year's winners involved very difficult choices" said David Vidal, Research Director of the Global Corporate Citizenship Program at The Conference Board. "During the eight years since these awards were initiated, many companies have developed effective programs to strengthen education. But the five firms we honor today especially stand out because they have designed programs that are innovative, have produced measurable results, and can be used as models for other organizations."
Entries were examined by a panel of five judges representing business, academia and community organizations.
CVS/PHARMACY - INNOVATIONS GRANTS PROGRAM
CVS/pharmacy was honored for its Innovations Grants Program which is improving K-12 education by investing in communities where the company operates, and developing new models of change that can be replicated nationally. The firm's conferences bring together school-based teams of teachers and administrators, community members and parents to learn from nationally known educators on how to develop and assess educational programs with other schools. CVS/pharmacy also works with its employees in educational problem solving activities, sponsors regular visits by educational experts to schools to provide technical assistance and training, and sponsors off-site retreats to stay abreast of educational developments and create community-wide programs aimed at improving education.
E.I. DU PONT DE NEMOURS - DELAWARE ELEMENTARY SCIENCE INITIATIVE
E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company received a Best in Class Award for its Delaware Elementary Science Initiative, a statewide program that promotes hands-on, inquiry-based science learning. Through this program, DuPont is a leader in improving science education for all students and helps them meet the Delaware Science Standards, which define what children need to know about science issues throughout their schooling. The program emphasizes learning science by "doing science." Under DuPont's leadership, a non-profit foundation was established to help direct business support for comprehensive standards-based reform of K-12 science and math education.
JCPENNEY - LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE ON SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT
JCPenney Company was honored for its JCPenney Leadership Institute on School Improvement, which broadcasts and televises information on K-12 education to viewers in the company's stores and other public and private facilities. JCPenney and the National Alliance of Business jointly created the Institute and recruited participation from the U.S. Chamber Center for Workforce Preparation and Quality Education to reinforce the efforts of local leaders to improve their schools. Recognizing that it could not create partnerships with all 1,300 communities in which it operates, JCPenney funded NAB to design a national dissemination strategy that focuses on lessons learned from partnerships forged by JCPenney and other groups.
KELLOGG COMPANY - LEARNING NOW!
Kellogg Company received a Best in Class Award for its community-wide Learning Now! Initiative to promote and facilitate community awareness about the importance of early childhood learning. The program was created to inform parents and caregivers about the learning capacity of children who are three years old or less, to stimulate behavioral changes in parents and caregivers to enhance learning opportunities for children, and to increase community awareness about the importance of early childhood learning. This broad-based program involves print and broadcast advertising, free subscriptions of program information, presentations and seminars, and a full-time community educator to communicate the program's message to parents. Nearly 80 percent of the families in the Battle Creek, Michigan area with children under three are enrolled in this program.
BANK OF AMERICA/SEAFIRST YOUTH JOB PROGRAM
Seafirst Bank, a division of Bank of America NT & SA, won a Best in Class Award for Bank of America's NW Region Youth Job Program, which provides jobs, mentors and the promise of college scholarships to youngsters in low-income families throughout the Northwest. Each student is paired with a bank mentor, an employee volunteer who meets with the student weekly to discuss school, personal goals and other ideas or questions the student may have. At the end of each day, students report to a bank branch or office where they work with a supervisor who keeps track of job performance and personal and professional well-being. Students in this program develop marketable skills and a sense of service. Upon graduation, students are awarded scholarships to a state college, university or vocational training program. The company continues to monitor each student throughout the scholarship phase of the program and provides tutoring as needed.
# # #
RSS