City of Atlanta Declares Box Tops for Education Day as Celebrities and Key Community Advocates Join in Nationwide Town Hall Event

The General Mills program Box Tops for Education®, in conjunction with BET Networks, is hosting a Town Hall discussion to strengthen active parental engagement in our children’s primary education. Moderated by MSNBC contributor and executive editor of Politic365.com Jeff Johnson, the event takes place at Cosby Auditorium on the campus of Spelman College Thursday, January 24, 2013 at 7:00 p.m. The Town Hall is sponsored by Walmart and Honey Nut Cheerios®. The event is free and open to the public.

BET’s “Real Husbands of Hollywood” star Boris Kodjoe along with his wife, actress and mother Nicole Ari Parker, as well as Spelman College president Dr. Beverly Tatum, and Box Tops for Education brand manager Tommy Hillman will participate in a panel discussion. The event will unite parents, teachers, and community leaders in an effort to make a real impact on education in our schools systems. The City of Atlanta will also present a proclamation declaring January 24 “Box Tops for Education Day” in support of the program’s continuous efforts in the Atlanta school system. Key figures from Atlanta’s music and entertainment industry will be in attendance to stand in solidarity to offer support and share personal stories.

The Box Tops for Education Town Hall will premiere in its entirety via BET.com Monday, February 4. Parents and community members can visit www.bet.com/boxtopstownhall to check out this riveting conversation and learn how to become more involved in their child’s education.

The Box Tops for Education program was designed to help combat some of the budget challenges many of our nation’s schools are facing by creating an easy way for community members to support schools without having to spend extra money. There are many participating brands such as Honey Nut Cheerios cereal, Hamburger Helper® skillet meals and Cinnamon Toast Crunch® cereal that are already household favorites. Each participating brand carries a “Box Top” coupon worth 10 cents to a school, and unrestricted funds earned by submitting the Box Tops to General Mills can be used to purchase books, school supplies, playground equipment, teacher training, computers, etc.

With Box Tops for Education, parents and the community-at-large can make a real difference in our children’s education. A wonderful example of Box Tops in action is found at Greenforest McCalep Christian Academic Center. This private school located in Decatur, GA, has earned over $8,000 since 2010.

Four mothers, each with fulltime jobs, spearhead their Box Tops efforts. They work as a team by meeting once a month to create a strategy, then plan and organize contests. The funds earned are being used to purchase 30 computer monitors for teachers and projectors for classroom smart boards.

“It’s an honor to have the support of the City of Atlanta and our engaging panelists to unite on an important topic that ultimately affects our future,” states Box Tops Brand Manager Tommy Hillman. “We all know the primary level is when children are first introduced to school activities like band, choir, and sports, all of which can benefit from the Box Tops program. It is paramount to children’s success and we are excited to lead this discussion, which we believe will drive continued engagement among parents and schools.”

Since 1996, schools nationwide have earned more than $522 million through the Box Tops for Education program, including $47 million just since March 2012. Schools can earn up to $20,000 a year from the clip program and more through other programs offered online at the Box Tops website and other social media outlets.

The Box Tops for Education Town Hall is a call-to-action to get parents, teachers and community members involved and help children succeed in school. Like the Box Tops moms from Greenforest, one great way to participate in the program is to become a Box Tops coordinator volunteer. Coordinators promote the program, explain how it works and keep parents updated on how much their school has earned. They directly impact the program’s success in their school.

Those who are interested in Box Tops for Education will get a chance to speak with coordinators on site at the event, and can even sign up to be a coordinator at that time.

For more information about Box Tops for Education, please visit: www.btfe.com.

About Box Tops for Education
America’s schools have earned more than $522 million through the Box Tops for Education® program since the program started in 1996, including $47 million just since March 2012. More than 90,000 schools use that cash to purchase items such as computers, library books, art supplies and playground equipment. Schools can earn up to $20,000 by clipping Box Tops coupons from 240 products and can earn eBoxTops by shopping online through the Box Tops Marketplace. To learn more and for a list of participating products, visit www.btfe.com.

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Twitter at www.twitter.com/BTFE
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About BET Networks
BET Networks, a subsidiary of Viacom Inc. (NASDAQ: VIA, VIA.B), is the nation’s leading provider of quality entertainment, music, news and public affairs television programming for the African-American audience. The primary BET channel reaches more than 90 million households and can be seen in the United States, Canada, the Caribbean, the United Kingdom and sub-Saharan Africa. BET is the dominant African-American consumer brand with a diverse group of business extensions: BET.com, a leading Internet destination for Black entertainment, music, culture, and news; CENTRIC, a 24-hour entertainment network targeting the 25- to 54-year-old African-American audience; BET Digital Networks - BET Gospel and BET Hip Hop, attractive alternatives for cutting-edge entertainment tastes; BET Home Entertainment, a collection of BET-branded offerings for the home environment including DVDs and video-on-demand; BET Event Productions, a full-scale event management and production company with festivals and live events spanning the globe; BET Mobile, which provides ringtones, games and video content for wireless devices; and BET International, which operates BET in the United Kingdom and oversees the extension of BET network programming for global distribution.