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The Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Dallas has been named the New North Texas Hub Site for the Global Education Tele-Community Initiative (GEI)
PHOENIX, Arizona (October 27, 2003) – EDT Learning, Inc. (AMEX:EDT), a leading provider of e-Learning solutions and Web collaboration software, today announced that it was participating in a strategic initiative to bring a global education to Dallas’ inner city youth. Earlier today, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Dallas, Inc. (BGCDallas) unveiled its new status as a learning hub made possible by The John C. Ford Program and through contributions of more than $300,000 from GEI/BGCDallas partners EDS, Cisco Systems, Microsoft, EDT Learning, and The John C. Ford Program.
In making the announcement, James M. Powers, Jr., president and chief executive officer of EDT Learning, said, “We strongly believe today’s children are our future, and an investment in the education of those children is an investment in the future of all of us. We believe our iLinc™ platform, and specifically our LearnLinc® software, is ideally suited for use in this worthwhile endeavor, and we look forward to joining forces with such a well-respected group to help make this initiative a success.”
U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison announced the new initiative at the East Dallas Boys & Girls Club/Charles S. Sharp Building on Monday, October 27, during a press conference that included DISD Chief of Staff Dr. Carol Francois, Dallas City Council Members Don Hill and Gary Griffith, acting Dallas Police Chief Randy Hampton, BGCDallas President and Chief Professional Officer Cynthia B. Nunn, and GEI /BGCDallas partners.
“Every child deserves a chance to succeed,” said Senator Hutchison. “As a former board member of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Dallas, I have seen first-hand the difference after-school and outreach programs can make in the life of an at-risk child. I am very pleased the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Dallas has been designated the official hub for North Texas. They will be instrumental in promoting this global initiative.”
According to Nunn, “There is no better way to serve our inner city youth than to prepare them for the future – and that future combines technology with interaction among a global community. We are particularly grateful to our partners at The John C. Ford Program, EDS, Cisco Systems, Microsoft, and EDT Learning for making this dream a reality.”
The goals of GEI are to increase literacy and the number of high school and college graduates from underserved communities worldwide and to grow tomorrow’s engineers, scientists, and educators today through real-world engineering and science projects. At the Dallas hub sites, LearnLinc Web casting technology is used to connect youth worldwide with each other and to GEI’s global learning community of leading scientists, educators, and engineers, including The Smithsonian Institute, Prague Institute for Global Urban Development, Owerri Digital Village in Nigeria, and other worldwide projects.
More than 9,400 BGCDallas youth will have access to the worldwide classroom through the 10 Dallas Boys & Girls Club sites. The East Dallas Club is currently hosting the LearnLinc Web casting technology in a newly renovated New York Life Foundation Learning Center that was made possible through a generous grant to Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA) that provides funding for improving the outreach to youth in Clubs worldwide.
About the Global Education Tele-Community Initiative
For more information about The Global Education Tele-Community Initiative, its mission, goals and outreach see GEI’s Website at http://www.geiproject.org; http://www.fordtelecommunities.org, or contact Leslie Baker, Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Dallas at lbaker@bgcdallas.org, or Jacqui Varma, The John C. Ford Program, at fordpgrm@aol.com.
For more information contact:
Jimmy Georgiades
+31 343 460 532
jimmyg@parsecinfo.nl
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