For Immediate Release                                                         Contact: Cordell Jordan

October 18, 2006                                                                                405.587.0232

Wilson Arts Integration School PTA Recognized as

One of the Top Parent Groups in the U.S.

Oklahoma City parent group is named a winner for Outstanding Focus on Involvement in PTO Today’s Parent Group of the Year search.

Oklahoma City -- PTO Today, announced today that Wilson School for Arts Integration at 2215 N Walker was named the winner of the Outstanding Focus on Involvement category in the Parent Group of the Year search.

            “Our parents are an integral part of our school and the successes we have enjoyed,” says Beverly Story, Principal at Wilson. “The fact that we won the award for parent involvement proves that it really does take the help of everyone to educate our children.”

            “The work that parent groups do is absolutely vital to the success of our schools and a child’s education. All too often that hard work goes unnoticed and unrecognized,” says Tim Sullivan, founder and president of PTO Today. “We celebrate and acknowledge the important work parent groups do in their schools and communities through the Parent Group of the Year award.”

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PTA Award Page 2

The Wilson School PTA runs the school’s sports programs, an unusual undertaking for a parent group. The school’s 10 soccer and 10 baseball teams are all run by parents, as are the basketball teams. The PTA builds on the interest in the sports programs to get parents more connected to the academics and other activities at the school. The result is broad-based involvement that spans gender, ethnic, and socio-economic differences.

            The PTO Today Parent Group of the Year search, now in its sixth year, is sponsored by Educational Products Inc., and honors the parent groups that best represent the great work being done by parent groups throughout America.

            The annual Parent Group of the Year search was founded to recognize the vital work that school parent group leaders contribute each year. With school budgets facing increasing funding cuts across the country, the contribution of school parent groups are more important than ever:

•     on average parent groups raise $22,700 per year per group

•     recent research clearly shows the correlation between active parent involvement and school success (ie. higher test scores, increased funding)

In addition to the outstanding focus on involvement category the Parent Group of the Year search also recognizes parent groups in 10 other categories, including outstanding national parent group and outstanding parent group at a private school.

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