REF: Request for Funding for Class Act, the Washington Times Newspaper in Education Program

REF: Request for $600.00 of Funding for Class Act, The Washington Times Newspaper in Education Program.

Pete

MID ATLANTIC NEWSPAPER SERVICE

2221 MARENGO PLANTATION LANE,

WOODFORD, VA22580

Dear Pete:

Class Act, The Washington Times Newspaper in Education program donates 2.4 million newspapers a year, to about 250 schools in Maryland, Northern Virginia, and the District of Columbia. Our education program is among the largest and most comprehensive in the nation. It is also one of the few NIE programs that is free to participating schools – and we would like to keep it that way

Newspapers aren’t just for current events or finding the “Who, What, When, Where, Why and How” anymore. We also provide curriculum guides to meet state and national standards for both elementary and secondary schoolteachers. Among the subject materials that we offer are careers/school-to-work, language arts, social studies, media literacy, character education, math, civics, and science. We have also sponsored character education training for nearly a hundred schools. Currently, The Washington Times invests over $720,000 a year in local schools.

And we visit the schools. We provide an average of three or four newspaper workshops a week for teachers in most of the twenty school systems we serve. We also conduct school groups on tours of The Washington Times facilities, work with journalism students, write curriculum materials on request, and visit classrooms to explain how newspapers work.

So far, Washington Times readers and newspaper industry donations have provided $100,000 in funding to help defray the 7.5 cents per paper that the Audit Bureau of Circulation requires us to fund from outside sources. The cost is rising as our program is expanding rapidly. Our choices are to begin charging schools, which few could afford, or finding other sources of revenue to defray the 7.5 cents per paper to continue supporting the schools we serve.

Every dollar of your sponsorship donation to The Washington Times Foundation, a 501 (c) (3), nonprofit organization, will be used to fund newspapers for local schools. To increase the value of your donation, The Times willmatch every dollar you donate with three dollars.

Thank you for willingness to make a $600.00 donation to our Class Act program. Please send the donation to my attention to the address on the letterhead above.

We appreciate your support in helping make a difference in the life of the youth we serve.

Sincerely,

Doug Alexander

Educational Service Manager

202-636-4847, Visit our Class Act Web page at