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News Release

NC State Welcomes Author, Awards Friday Medal in Celebration of American Education Week

Media Contact(s)

Lauren Gregg, News Services, (919) 515-3470

Erid Dadey, (919) 513-2814

Nov. 7, 2007

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

As part of American Education Week, Nov. 12-16, North Carolina State University will welcome author and former Washington Post writer Linda Perlstein and will present the second annual Friday Medal to Bette Manchester, director of special projects for the Maine Learning Technology Initiative.

Perlstein will make a presentation to area teachers, students and faculty on Tuesday, Nov. 13, at 4:15 p.m. at the William and Ida Friday Institute on Centennial Campus. A book signing will follow the presentation.

Perlstein worked at The Washington Post from 1994 to 2004, most of that time writing about education and children. In 2000, she wrote a four-part series about life in middle school, which won acclaim and awards, and followed with two books dedicated to the subject, "Not Much Just Chillin" and "Tested."

The presentation of the Friday Medal to Manchester will take place on Wednesday, Nov. 14, at 5:30 p.m. at the Friday Institute. For the past five years, Manchester has directed the Maine Learning Technology Initiative, which has provided a laptop computer to every seventh- and eighth-grade student and teacher in every public school in Maine, and wireless, broadband Internet access in every school building.

The Friday Medal was created to honor significant contributions to education for the people of North Carolina and beyond. Celebrating the achievements of Bill and Ida Friday, the medal is given annually to those who best exemplify the vision, mission, ideals and goals of the Friday Institute.
Other highlights of NC State's American Education Week celebration include:

• The "Change for Change" for North Carolina schools fund-raising campaign. All NC State students, faculty, staff and others around campus are asked to donate their spare change to help support schools. All of the funds raised will be donated to three schools that are in urgent need of financial support. The three schools are West Bertie Elementary (Bertie County), Brawley Middle (Halifax County) and East Bladen High School (Bladen County). Funds will be collected the entire week with donation locations in Poe Hall and in select areas around campus including the Brickyard, Free Expression Tunnel and Court of North Carolina.

• A diversity presentation by Maria Rosa Rangel, titled "Understanding Hispanic/Latino Culture - Bridging the Gap for Student Success," will take place on Wednesday, Nov. 14, at 12:30 p.m. in Poe Hall room 220.

For a complete schedule of events surrounding NC State's celebration of American Education Week, visit http://ced.ncsu.edu/edweek/events.html

- gregg -

NC State University News Services (919) 515-3470 or newstips@ncsu.edu