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Lester Claravall Selected as National Finalist for Cable's Leaders in Learning Awards

Washington, D.C. - Lester Claravall, head of the Oklahoma Department of Labor Child Labor Unit, is being honored by the cable industry for his demonstrated commitment to improving education in his community.

Cox Communications and Cable in the Classroom, the cable industry's education foundation, announced today that Claravall has been chosen as a finalist for the 2008 Cable's Leaders in Learning Awards. The annual awards program, now in its fourth year, recognizes outstanding educators, administrators and other community leaders at the forefront of innovation in education.

Finalists are eligible for a national Cable's Leaders in Learning Award, which includes a $3,000 prize, an all-expenses-paid trip to Washington, D.C., and a June awards ceremony and gala in honor of the winners at the Library of Congress.

Applications were received from across the country for the 2008 Cable's Leaders in Learning Award. Claravall is one of just 44 finalists selected from classroom educators, administrators, college faculty and community leaders nationwide. Claravall is being recognized in the General Excellence category for creating ''Paying Attention Pays,'' to protect working minors. It is an interactive game, created by the Department of Labor and Department of Education, played in schools to teach teenagers about their workplace rights before they begin jobs.

''Recognizing the hard-working individuals who are forging fresh and creative paths to improving educational opportunities for the nation's students is among the most important roles we can play,'' said Doug Levin, senior education policy director, Cable in the Classroom. ''Claravall's efforts are a prime example of the sorts of educational innovation the cable industry is proud to honor. Cable has contributed substantial educational content and connectivity for use by thousands of our nation's schools, and it's good to acknowledge the results of that investment through the highly competitive Leaders in Learning program.''

Claravall has had great success with his program. ''The program is currently in use by more than 50 schools and I have given more than 300 classroom presentations. Overall, the program has reached more than 2,500 school officials and more than 10,000 students,'' he said.

Christine Martin, Director of Communications said, ''We congratulate Claravall for being named a Cable's Leaders in Learning Award finalist and for using new ideas to educate and better prepare young students for the future, a commitment that Cox Communications shares and applauds.

Winners will be chosen to receive a Cable's Leaders in Learning Award in one of the following categories:

General Excellence - for leaders who have demonstrated excellence in expanding and enhancing learning opportunities by employing a diversity of traditional and non-traditional approaches to producing measurable improvements in education outcomes in formal or informal settings.

Media Literacy Education - awarded in partnership with the National PTA to a leader who has advanced the teaching and learning of media literacy concepts and skills to children and youth. Media literacy is defined as the ability to access, understand, analyze, evaluate and create media messages on television, the Internet and other outlets.

Cable Partnerships for Learning - for leaders who are working in partnership with the cable industry to expand and enhance learning opportunities for children and youth in or out of the classroom.

Pushing the Envelope - for leaders who push the envelope and/or redefine the education frontier through the use of cable technology and/or cable content.

For more information on the awards and the 2008 finalists, please visit:
www.LeadersInLearningawards.org.

Since 2005, Cable's Leaders in Learning Awards, administered by Cable in the
Classroom, have recognized administrators, educators and community leaders who demonstrate vision, innovation, action and transformation in education in and out of the classroom. The objective of the awards is to promote and encourage innovative learning practices affecting children from preschool through high school across communities nationwide.

Cable in the Classroom, the cable industry's education foundation, works to expand and enhance learning for children and youth. Created in 1989 to help schools take advantage of educational cable programming and technology, CIC has become a leading national advocate for media literacy education and for the use of technology and media for learning, as well as a valuable resource of educational cable content and services for policy makers, educators and industry leaders.