Former U.S. Secretary of State and Senior Partner of O'Melveny & Myers LLP Warren Christopher will give college scholarships to ten students from LAUSD High Schools this Friday, June 17, 2005 at the Los Angeles Central Library. A $1.5 Million endowment established by the firm in the former secretary's name will allow ten more economically challenged Los Angeles students to join the ranks of 80 former "Christopher Scholars" who have gone on to attend prestigious Universities including Yale, MIT, Brown, Harvard, Stanford, Princeton, and UCLA.

Some of the most cherished gifts to help graduates commemorate this milestone in their lives might not be found in a store. They are the gifts of memories. Noted family technology expert James Oppenheim provides three gift ideas to help make that perfect keepsake for this year's graduation day.

Student Loan Funding has pioneered a new partnership between Sallie Mae, the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Ohio (AICUO), and the Ohio Foundation of Independent Colleges (OFIC) to communicate the value and affordability of independent colleges in Ohio via a new Web site: http://www.ohioprivatecolleges.com/.

AlphaSmart, Inc. (NASDAQ:ALSM) , a leading provider of technology solutions for education, today announced that Wilson Elementary School, a public school in the Santa Ana (California) Unified School District, has been named a District Picks Award winner by Scholastic Administrator(TM) Magazine. The school, which provides all third and fourth grade students with an AlphaSmart computer companion for use at home and in the classroom, was named "Best Use of Hardware as a Learning Tool."

To celebrate the accomplishments and dreams of students in Arizona, Southwest Student Services Corporation (Southwest), a nationally recognized higher education lender headquartered in Gilbert, Ariz., has awarded scholarships totaling $14,000 to eight high school seniors and college students from across the state.

Mercedes-Benz USA (MBUSA) will award $1 million in scholarship funding to 500 college-bound students who are the first in their families to attend college. These high school seniors are all recipients of the DRIVE YOUR FUTURE: The Mercedes-Benz USA Scholarship Program, which grants $2,000, one-time scholarships to help students offset tuition and school expenses. Nearly 2,000 high school seniors nationwide applied for the scholarships this year. Five hundred students, representing each state, were selected based on financial need and exceptional achievement in the areas of academic performance, leadership and school and community activities

Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA) today announced it will continue its partnership with the JCPenney Afterschool Fund (JCPAF) to support vital afterschool and out-of-school programs for disadvantaged youth. This summer the partnership, powered by a new $2.2 million grant from JCPAF, will support BGCA out-of-school programs that fight "Summer Brain Drain," a seasonal "malady" that causes millions of young people to lose months of accumulated knowledge.

The Art Institutes and ELLEgirl magazine proudly announce the first annual Art Institutes' "Teen Fashion Innovators Search," a fashion scholarship competition for high school seniors across the US and Canada. Scholarships totaling $230,000 will be awarded on local and national levels. One national winner in Fashion Design and one winner in Fashion Marketing and Merchandising will be selected to receive full scholarships, each worth more than $30,000, to study at The Art Institute school of their choice from 16 locations offering fashion programs across North America.

Communities In Schools, the nation's leading stay-in-school network, is pleased to announce that the print creative of its Choose Success campaign, designed pro bono by SS+K, was chosen by AdCritic.com as their "Pick of the Day." The print ad, entitled "Dropout," currently holds the number six spot on the Web site's "SweetMeter Top 10." Other companies joining Communities In Schools on the Top 10 list include 3M(R), AXE(R) and AquaFina(R).

A $5,000 scholarship award from the Florida Association of Realtors(R) (FAR) can pay for a lot of college tuition fees and textbooks. That's the good news three recent Florida high school graduates are waiting to hear -- an announcement that they are the state winners of FAR's 2004-2005 Scholarship/Essay Contest for High School Seniors.

Paul Nurse, Ph.D., president of The Rockefeller University, announced today that David Rockefeller, honorary chairman and life trustee of the University's Board of Trustees, has pledged $100 million to the University, the largest gift in its history. The gift will support the University's world-renowned, innovative approach to science that has resulted in many of the most important biomedical discoveries of the last 100 years and has garnered a host of honors for its scientists, who over the years have received 23 Nobel Prizes.

Today the Potomac Center for Medical Education (PCME), an ACCME-accredited organization, announced a new continuing medical education initiative, the Bone Health Advisory Council, to educate primary care physicians and other medical professionals about the urgency of early diagnosis, prevention and treatment of osteoporosis. More than 10 million Americans, especially women, suffer from this silent and debilitating disease.

Academic Par Excellence, a student-created business plan for online tutorial programs for ACT and PSAT test preparation for high-school students, won top honors at the second annual "Making the Business: Youth IT Challenge" hosted by Ed Gordon of National Public Radio's "News & Notes." The Youth IT Challenge (YITC) program is a technology-based business plan competition, which began in January throughout the U.S. and hosted more than 150 students vying to compete in the national event by winning locally sponsored Youth IT Challenges in their home communities.

Junior Achievement Worldwide recently announced its annual Teacher of the Year awards and one local teacher gains national recognition. After winning at the local level, John McKelvey, Saline High School Economics Teacher was nominated by the local Junior Achievement office for the national annual teacher of the year award. Although John did not win the prestigious award, he was chosen as one of the three teachers in the US to receive a runner-up award and cash prize from the William Wrigley Jr. Company Foundation for his accomplishments and teaching initiatives.

Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) today announced the launch of the Focus on Your Possibilities scholarship program, the first and only scholarship program specifically for adults living with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). A total of 20 scholarships worth up to $5,000 each will be awarded to United States citizens by an independent panel of experts for the 2005 fall semester -- allowing recipients to continue their education in traditional colleges, graduate schools, technical institutes or General Education Development (GED) courses.