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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Brian BanPhone: 773-454-7423 cell/text Email: briandban@earthlink.net

CHICAGOS MICHIGAN STATE ALUMNI ADOPT RAVENSWOOD ELEMENTARYMajor alumni network announces partnership to volunteer, promote and boostacademic experience of 500 Chicago elementary students

CHICAGO The Chicago Alumni Club of Michigan State University [one of thelargest alumni networks in the United States] and Ravenswood ElementarySchool announced today a partnership to support the magnet arts clusterschool with its 30,000 strong network of Chicago area alumni. Ravenswood willbe its exclusive Chicago elementary partner school.

Spartan alumni will engage in volunteer activities throughout the year topromote the school, strengthen its outreach to the community, help withfundraising efforts and provide student enrichment activities such as thesupport of its existing math and running clubs.

As Spartans we believe that extraordinary potential lies in ordinaryindividuals to create circumstances in which that potential may be achieved,said Vic Maurer, head of the MSU Chicago Club network, also known as the

Chicago Spartans. We hope to be a transformative force for good throughservice to the students and staff of Ravenswood Elementary. From this dayforward, our two schools share one future.

Ravenswood Elementary is a neighborhood, fine and performing arts magnetcluster school. Students at Ravenswood enjoy small class sizes in a close-knit,supportive environment and receive one to two periods of art instruction aweek, as well as one period of music a week, and one to two periods of dramaa week. Arts are integrated into the curriculum to reinforce core concepts.

The award-winning teaching staff boasts a blend of experienced veterans and

energetic new talent who all share best practices and a common educationalpedagogy. The school reflects the diversity of its urban surroundings,encompassing students from the Graceland West, Ravenswood, Uptown,Northcenter neighborhoods and beyond.

Ravenswood Elementary has an award-winning teaching staff, strong parentbase and increasing community support, and this partnership will help raiseawareness about Ravenswood and enhance the experience for the student

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body, said Ravenswood Principal Heather Connolly, whose children alsoattend the school.

August 13, 2012

The partnership is supported by Alumni for Public Schools (APS), a Chicagonon-profit that creates mutually beneficial relationships between schools andalumni clubs. This is accomplished by matching the strengths, as well asneeds, of a local public school with the talents and commitments of a

university or college alumni club.

"Connecting a fine-arts elementary like Ravenswood to the experience andresources of a university like MSU, with their acclaimed fine-art department, isa perfect fit" said Cameron Croft, APS Program Manager. "We're focused onmaking sure our alumni partners find a school their alumni can truly connectwith, and it's the students, in this case Ravenswood's, that will benefit."

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