SMARTer Kids Foundation extends sponsorship of U.S. State and National Teacher of the Year Programs through 2010

More than US$5 million in cash, training and technology products to be donated over the next five years

Calgary, AB --- January 18, 2005 --- The SMARTer Kids™ Foundation of Canada announces a five-year sponsorship commitment to the U.S. State and National Teacher of the Year Programs worth more than US$1 million per year. The SMARTer Kids Foundation has been a sponsor of these programs for the past five years through its Teaching Excellence Award program and will provide the same support from 2006 to 2010 inclusive. The sponsorship includes a classroom technology package for each State Teacher of the Year (STOY), technology training and hosting for recipients, and cash donations to the National Teacher of the Year (NTOY) program.

Every year up to 62* State Teachers of the Year receive an education technology package worth more than US$14,000. The package includes classroom technology products that improve student engagement and learning, and make lesson planning and delivery easier for teachers. This package includes hardware and software products from SMART Technologies Inc., AlphaSmart, Inc., NEC Solutions America, Visual Systems Division, eInstruction Corporation and Immersive Education Ltd.

“The SMARTer Kids Foundation has brought tremendous value to the State and National Teacher of the Year programs in the past five years,” says Jon Quam, director, National Teacher of the Year Program. “Its commitment through the 2010 program year demonstrates the Foundation's dedication to education and to placing the best technology in the hands of our teachers and students.”

“The National Teacher of the Year program selects the best of the best teachers and celebrates the important work they do for students in the United States,” says Nancy Knowlton, executive director of the SMARTer Kids Foundation. “With this continued sponsorship, we are able not only to recognize the outstanding contributions of these teachers, but provide them with the technology they can use to ensure students are focused and learning to their full potential.”

About the sponsorship
In January, the Teaching Excellence Award is presented to each STOY during the NTOY conference in Dallas, Texas. The conference is at the Hilton Hotel at Lincoln Center, January 19–22, 2005. On January 20, winners will receive a day of training on how to use their new technology products effectively in the classroom.

In April, each NTOY nominee is invited to attend a ceremony at the White House in Washington, D.C. where the national winner is announced. As part of its sponsorship, the SMARTer Kids Foundation hosts a technology-champions workshop and a celebration dinner for award recipients, guests and sponsors. The workshop provides teachers the opportunity to develop their skills in a hands-on, small group setting.

Also part of the sponsorship, the SMARTer Kids Foundation provides an annual endowment of US$5,000 to the NTOY program to support STOY program coordinator attendance at the NTOY conference in Dallas.

The SMARTer Kids Foundation sponsorship of the State and National Teacher of the Year programs, including classroom technology packages, training and cash donations, is worth more than US$1 million per year.

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