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AT&T Furthers Commitment to Education with Donation to STAIR: Start the Adventure in Reading
AT&T Contributes $5,000 towards Cost of Books, Education and More towards Improving Literacy
DALLAS, May 21, 2010 –Building upon an ongoing effort to support education and
strengthen local communities, AT&T* today announced it will make a $5,000 contribution to Start the
Adventure In Reading (STAIR) a New Orleans volunteer-based, non-profit children's literacy organization that provides
reading tutors for public school second grade students in Orleans, Jefferson and Plaquemines Parishes.
As a longtime sponsor of the National Apartment Association (NAA), and a platinum sponsor of this year's
NAA Education Conference, AT&T Connected Communities® has been named STAIR’s Official Community Sponsor for
2010 during its 25th anniversary.
During the 2010 NAA Education Conference & Exposition, June 24-26, in New Orleans, more than 5,000 multifamily
housing professionals will come together for three days of professional development training in the industry.
As a sponsor of the NAA Community Outreach program, AT&T’s donation will provide school supplies and more to students
in the STAIR program.
"At AT&T, education is one of our biggest priorities and we recognize the importance of reading at an early age.
It sets the stage for pursuing higher education and successful careers, plus it inspires creativity and a passion for
learning," said Rick Hubbard, vice president, AT&T Connected Communities. "We're proud to support STAIR
with this donation, and we congratulate the organization on 25 years of dedication to improving the lives of children
and families."
Start The Adventure In Reading (STAIR) deals with a significant educational issue in the New Orleans area:
children's literacy.
According to A Portrait of Louisiana 2009,
a report by the Social Science Research Council, "Research suggests that if all adults in the state had at least
a high school diploma, about 85,000 fewer Louisianans would live in poverty, median personal earnings would increase
by more than $1,700 per year, there would be 62 fewer murders, and 10,000 fewer people would be behind bars."
The STAIR program enters the child's life early, before the problem becomes acute, providing one-on-one tutoring
over the course of a year using volunteer tutors to help place the children back on track by nurturing an enthusiasm
for school and the learning process and helping them become proficient readers.
"STAIR fills a critical need in our community, and the impact this organization and its volunteers have had on
our children is phenomenal," said New Orleans City Councilwoman Susan G. Guidry. "I commend the outstanding
work STAIR is doing in the Greater New Orleans area and encourage others to support initiatives such as this one that
improve the level of education in our region."
Since 1985, STAIR has helped nearly 6,000 second grade public school students, in the greater New Orleans area,
identified as at risk of academic failure – 75 percent of whom are seven- to nine-year-old African-American boys
and girls living at or below the poverty level. Collaboration with parents, teachers and principals allows STAIR to
target the students who can most benefit from the services the program offers. Using a professionally customized curriculum,
community volunteers trained by STAIR work with students to complete five units of reading instruction over the course
of the school year.
"We thank AT&T Connected Communities for its ongoing support and for the significant donation it's made as our
Official Community Sponsor this year," said Sara Woodard, executive director, STAIR. "Ongoing support from
charitable contributions such as this helps provide our students with the tools necessary for learning, such as reading
practice booklets and basic supplies like pencils, crayons, glue sticks, books, dictionaries and much, much more, at no
cost to the students and their families."
As part of its platinum sponsorship with the NAA, AT&T will have an exhibit space during the NAA Education Conference
& Exposition at the Hilton New Orleans Riverside & Morial Convention Center. AT&T will also be featured on the
cover of the May issue of units magazine, and will sponsor the NAA Capitol Conference and Assembly of Delegates Meeting.
For more information on the NAA and the NAA Education Conference, please visit:
http://www.naahq.org/.
AT&T's donation to STAIR aligns with the AT&T Aspire program and its goals of improving education, addressing
and preventing the issue of school dropouts and providing youth with the tools and opportunities to better prepare
them for the workforce.
The AT&T Connected Communities program is a strategic initiative between AT&T and regional or national
single-family builders, developers, real estate investment trusts, apartment ownership and management groups,
and home owners' associations to provide next-generation communications and entertainment solutions to residents.
Based in Arlington, Va., NAA is America's leading advocate for quality rental housing. NAA's mission is to serve the
interests of multifamily housing owners, managers, developers and suppliers and maintain a high level of professionalism
in the multifamily housing industry to better serve the rental housing needs of the public. NAA is a federation of 170
state and local affiliates, comprised of more than 51,000 multifamily housing companies representing more than 5.9
million apartment homes throughout the United States and Canada.
For more information on AT&T Connected Communities, please visit:
www.att.com/communities.
More information on STAIR can be found online at: http://www.stairnola.org.
Find More Information Online:
Web Site Links:
AT&T Web Site
AT&T Citizenship and Sustainability
Related Media Kits:
AT&T Aspire
AT&T Corporate Social Responsibility
2010 Citizenship and Sustainability Goals
Related Releases:
AT&T Announces $150,000 Contribution to Henry Ford Community College and Michigan Alliance for High-Tech Skills Training
AT&T Contributes $1 Million to America's Promise Alliance Grad Nation Initiative to Support Student-Developed Programs that Help Tackle the High School Dropout Crisis
Related Fact Sheets:
AT&T 2009 Corporate Social Responsibility Report
Overview of AT&T's Education Commitment
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About STAIR
Start the Adventure in Reading (STAIR) is a 25-year-old children's literacy program that provides
free one-on-one after school tutoring in reading and language skills to at-risk second-grade public elementary
school students as well as literacy support to family members. Founded in 1985 in New Orleans,
STAIR has grown to serve nearly 6,000 young students and their families from the metropolitan New Orleans area.
There are thousands of students in the New Orleans metropolitan area who will not develop adequate reading skills
without some type of intervention. At no cost to the students, STAIR works to provide extra help in reading to many
children who are in danger of academic failure. Nearly 75% of STAIR students are African-American boys and girls
living at or below the poverty level in our community. As it has been for 25 years, STAIR is led by a strong all-volunteer
Board of Directors and Advisory Council, staffed by qualified literacy administrators, and endowed with a volunteer force
of more than 350 trained community individuals.
For more information visit our website at www.stairnola.org.