Below is the official press release for the Scholastic award honoring Ms. Prince.

-Natalie Hopkinson

For Immediate Release


Washington, D.C. Educators Jane Banister and Beth Prince Named Grand-Prize Winners of
2005 Scholastic Early Childhood Professional Awards

Director of Hoya Kids Learning Center at Georgetown University and Kindergarten Teacher at the District of Columbia Public Schools Hearst Elementary Early Childhood Center To Be Honored at the National Association for Education of Young Children (NAEYC) Conference in Washington, D.C. on December 8th

New York, NY- November 1, 2005- Scholastic Early Childhood Today, the leading magazine reaching over 50,000 early childhood professionals, announces Jane Banister, the Director of Hoya Kids Learning Center at Georgetown University, and Beth Prince, Kindergarten Teacher at the District of Columbia Public Schools Hearst Elementary Early Childhood Center, as grand-prize winners of the 2005 Scholastic Early Childhood Professional Awards, a top national awards program recognizing early childhood educators. Ms. Banister and Ms. Prince, along with three other grand-prize winners, will be honored at a national awards ceremony at the annual NAEYC Conference in Washington, D.C. on December 8th.

This year, hundreds of early childhood professionals were nominated by parents, colleagues, mentors, administrators and community leaders. The 2005 award recipients, along with 10 honorable mentions were selected by early childhood experts and advisors from Scholastic based on their overall commitment to advocacy, developmentally appropriate curriculum, cultural sensitivity, leadership, and community outreach, as well as their ability to mobilize resources. Banister and Prince will each receive Scholastic products valued at $200, and will also be featured in the November/December 2005, 20th anniversary issue of Scholastic Early Childhood Today magazine.

“Early childhood professionals play a pivotal role in the development and future educational success of America’s children,” said Diane Ohanesian, Editor-in-Chief of Scholastic Early Childhood Today. “We are thrilled to recognize this year’s winners and reward them for their commitment to helping young children develop the skills they need to learn and grow.”

As Director of the Hoya Kids Learning Center for the past five years, Jane Banister has been instrumental in the center’s growth and success. She uses the resources and diverse talents on the Georgetown University campus to enrich her program and increase its value to university parents and center staff. She implemented a highly successful “Brown Bag Lunch” series—lunchtime information sessions during which parents are invited to hear experts in the child development field speak on topics such as children’s nutrition and kindergarten readiness. With nearly 14 years of teaching experience, Ms. Banister holds a Master’s Degree in Early Childhood Program Administration and works diligently to ensure that her staff has professional development opportunities, ranging from the creation of a fully funded in-house CDA training program to budgeting funds for early childhood education training courses and conferences. Center teacher Holly McFaul praises Banister’s ability to quickly change roles in order to provide children with the highest quality care. “If extra staffing is needed in the classroom, she pushes up her sleeves and jumps right in without hesitation,” McFaul says.

Beth Prince has spent fifteen years teaching in the field of early childhood education. She began her career working with toddlers and preschoolers, and for the past five years, has been teaching Kindergarten at Hearst Elementary. One of Ms. Prince's favorite things about working with young children is witnessing the "wonder on their faces as they discover and learn about the world around them". She ensures that her kindergarten students are infused with an eager desire to learn more about the things they will encounter in their daily lives. Hearst School serves a young, culturally and economically diverse student population, which include students from all corners of our Nation's Capital. Ms. Prince embraces this diversity and it is reflected and celebrated in both classroom materials and her lessons. Her contributions extend beyond the classroom, as she serves on the

-more-
DCPS Math Curriculum Writing Team; she is on the Selector Team which interviews prospective teachers; she writes grant proposals to help secure new classroom materials; she organizes fundraisers with students for those in need, both locally and nationally; she tutors students and mentors new early childhood teachers; and she regularly attends community meetings to promote the growth and vitality of Hearst Elementary School and the DC Public School System.

The Scholastic Early Childhood Professional Awards were launched in 1998 by Scholastic Parent & Childâ and Scholastic Early Childhood Today magazines, in conjunction with National Childcare Professionals Day, established by U.S. Senate and U.S. House resolutions. Today the awards remain a top national program to recognize early childhood professionals. The program celebrates the special relationship between parents and the childcare professionals who are partners in caring for and teaching their children.

The 2005 Scholastic Early Childhood Professional Awards are sponsored by Nova Southeastern University’s Fischler School of Education and Human Services, Post Alpha-Bits and SafeLandings, LLC/Protective Surfacing Distributors, Inc.

About Scholastic
Scholastic Corporation (NASDAQ: SCHL) is the world's largest publisher and distributor of children's books and a leader in educational technology. Scholastic creates quality educational and entertaining materials and products for use in school and at home, including children's books, magazines, technology-based products, teacher materials, television programming, film, videos and toys. The Company distributes its products and services through a variety of channels, including proprietary school-based book clubs, school-based book fairs, and school-based and direct-to-home continuity programs; retail stores, schools, libraries and television networks; and the Company's Internet site, www.scholastic.com.

# # #

Contact:
Teodora Ignatova / Scholastic / 212-343-6402 / tignatova@scholastic.com
Sara Sinek / Scholastic / 212-343-6899 / ssinek@scholastic.com

Help Hearst Get the Playground
We Deserve!

Parents are needed to collect signatures for the Hearst Playground Rehab.

Time frame: Immediate.

Contact: Dean Nielsen at jdnielsen@verizon.net or dnielsen@worldbank.org

The petitition supports full funding and development of the approved design for two playlots (baby lot and grade K-4 lot) on the Hearst Recreation grounds, with other amenities. Parents are needed to collect signatures before and after school, and especially to go out within the neighborhood served by the park.

We have collected 165 signatures so far, and our goal is 500. If you are not comfortable going door to door, you might approach a local business like Whole Foods or Giant and ask to set up a table for two upcoming Saturdays.

Background: The DC Department of Recreation overspent on Phase I and now says it has only $400,000 to $500,000 to reconstruct the playground (Phase II). There is a landscape plan in place that received widespread approval and took into account neighborhood comments and surveys completed by children at Hearst and in th neighborhoods. For more about the approved landscape design firm, Lee & Associates, click here.

Contact Dean Nielsen at jdnielsen@verizon.net or dnielsen@worldbank.org for details.

[disclaimer: the image accompanying this post is intended for illustration only. It does not represent the plan for our playground nor the work of Lee and Associates, Inc.]




Open House Volunteers Needed
To Welcome Prospective Parents
Time frame: First open house is November 17. Future open houses will be in January (at the DC Convention Center) and monthly or twice monthly throughout the spring at the school.

Contact: Lisa Schamess at 202-232-1421 or lisaschamess@yahoo.com (email preferred)
Parents are needed from 8:30 until noon on Open House days at th school to help set up refreshments and materials and to meet-and-greet prospective parents and guide them on tours through the school. The January DCPS-wide Open House is a bit different: parents are needed on a rotating basis all day on a Saturday to staff the Hearst table. Parents may also be needed to prepare material and exhibits before the DCPS event, and to set up and break down the table displays.

Contact Lisa Schamess at 202-232-1421 or lisaschamess@yahoo.com (email preferred)