Markeisha

McCall Weber Shandwick 312-988-2019 mmccall@webershandwick.com

Mia Jazo-Harris State Farm Public Affairs 309-766-5242 Mia.jazo-harris.sfdx@statefarm.com

Fourteen National Organizations Join 26 Seconds, a Teen-Focused Campaign to Address the Nations Dropout Crisis
Bloomington, Ill. Nov. 22, 2011 Every 26 seconds, a student drops out of high school in America - more than one million each year. Empowering teens to not only be aware of this startling statistic, but to make a personal commitment to graduate, can be a powerful force in raising awareness and ending the high school dropout crisis. Another essential part of this important work is the support of caring adults and committed organizations. A coalition of national organizations has lent their support to the 26 Seconds campaign. The 14 national organizations will provide on-the-ground reinforcement and raise awareness of the issue and the online campaign. 26 Seconds was launched earlier this year by State Farm in conjunction with the Americas Promise Alliance. It is supported by numerous community and education leaders, including LeBron James. Via its BMOR Project on Facebook and at 26seconds.com, the campaign encourages high school students to be more (BMOR) than the statistic by pledging to stay in school and offers online activities and resources. New activities and prize opportunities are launched on the 26th of each month. Students who complete at least five online activities are entered to win the grand prize, an end-of-the-year celebration to be held in their community. The following organizations are working through their local affiliates help reach youth and connect them to the 26 Seconds program: Boys & Girls Clubs of Skills USA YSA (Youth Service America 4-H America) After School All-Stars FFA KIPP (Knowledge Is Camp Fire USA Teach For America Power Program) Jobs for Americas City Year HOSA - Future Graduates The First Tee Health Professionals Junior Achievement By aligning themselves with one of the participating organizations when they take the BMOR pledge, students can also help the organizations earn $2600 grants from State Farm, based on the number of new and participating students engaged in the program. Boys & Girls Clubs of America earned the initial grants. Were impressed by the 26 Seconds campaign and see it as a complement to the work were doing on the ground to encourage Club members to stay in school, said Roxanne Spillett, Boys & Girls Clubs of

America president and CEO. By educating Americas youth about the dropout crisis and offering a sounding board for them to share their stories, we hope to shine a light on the importance of on-time high school graduation and motivate teens to stay in school. We have some 4,000 Boys & Girls Clubs across the country plus the BMOR Project is available through the campaigns Facebook community. We are proud to join State Farm and Americas Promise in this important effort, and to work with LeBron James who is a strong supporter of Boys & Girls Clubs and 26 Seconds.
About 26 Seconds: State Farms 26 Seconds campaign, introduced with the support of Americas Promise and Lebron James, uses music, sports, video, online activities and prize opportunities to engage students via facebook.com/26seconds and 26seconds.com. Youth can express their feelings on the dropout issue and creatively share their talents while encouraging their peers to make graduation a priority. The campaigns BMOR Project offers monthly activities and prize opportunities for teens, 13-19 years, who pledge to BMOR than a statistic and complete the school year. th New activities are introduced on the 26 day of each month to help students discover new interests, set goals and be more (BMOR) than a statistic. The campaign encourages students to BSEEN, BHEARD, BYOU and BMOR. 26 Seconds is one of many education initiatives that State Farm has supported for more than two decades. Its partnership with Americas Promise Alliance strongly focuses on improving the high school graduate rate through the GradNation campaign.

About State Farm: State Farm and its affiliates are the largest provider of car insurance in the U.S. and is a leading insurer in Canada. In addition to providing auto insurance quotes, their 17,800 agents and more than 66,000 employees serve 81 million policies and accounts more than 79 million auto, home, life and health policies in the United States and Canada, and nearly 2 million bank accounts. Commercial auto insurance, along with coverage for renters, business owners, boats and motorcycles, is also available. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company is the parent of the State Farm family of companies. State Farm is ranked No. 37 on the Fortune 500 list of largest companies. For more information, please visit http://www.statefarm.com or in Canada http://www.statefarm.ca. About Americas Promise Alliance Americas Promise Alliance is the nations largest partnership organization dedicated to improving the lives of children and youth. We bring together more than 400 national organizations representing nonprofit groups, businesses, communities, educators and policymakers. Through our Grad Nation campaign, we mobilize Americans st to end the high school dropout crisis and prepare young people for college and the 21 century workforce. Building on the legacy of our Founding Chairman General Colin Powell, Americas Promise believes the success of young people is grounded in Five Promises: caring adults; safe places; a healthy start; an effective education; and opportunities to help others. For more information, visit www.americaspromise.org.