OMAHA, Neb., Sept. 19, 2008 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- It was announced today that All Our Kids, Inc. and Winners Circle Educational Foundation have legally changed the agency name to The Partnership for Our Kids, a name inspired by the vision of both organizations. With a desire to help more disadvantaged youth in Omaha Public Schools to stay in school and graduate, All Our Kids and Winners Circle joined forces in 2005 and officially merged agencies in September 2007. "We hope to send a message to these students and their families that with hope, hard work and high expectations, you can go as far as your abilities will take you," said Julie Hefflinger, President of The Partnership for Our Kids.
The Partnership for Our Kids currently serves more than 4,500 at-risk youth in Omaha from pre-kindergarten through college. The vision of The Partnership for Our Kids is to create a community of caring for students which provides positive role models, academic support and scholarships to help more disadvantaged youth to graduate from high school and pursue post-secondary education. This vision will be achieved by:
* Empowering students to succeed through goal setting, life
skills education and service learning projects
* Strengthening families by encouraging school involvement
* Providing volunteer opportunities to improve public education
* Increasing the high school graduation and college enrollment
rates through academic support and scholarships
* Evaluating program outcomes to determine the effectiveness
of The Partnership
All Our Kids was established in 1989 as a mentoring and scholarship program to serve at-risk youth in Omaha Public Schools, grades 6-12 and beyond. The mission of All Our Kids is to provide more group mentoring and scholarship opportunities for disadvantaged youth in Omaha Public Schools so that young people can become employable, productive citizens. Today, All Our Kids provides mentoring opportunities for nearly 500 youth with academic potential and offers post-secondary scholarships for graduates of the program.
Winners Circle was first introduced in 1996 in one elementary school in the Omaha Public Schools District. The mission of Winners Circle is to improve access to educational opportunities through a program of early intervention by providing students with goal setting, positive role models, and incentives that celebrate academic achievement and good citizenship. Winners Circle currently serves more than 4,000 students from pre-kindergarten through 6th grades at twelve Omaha public elementary schools.
For more information, contact Julie Hefflinger, The Partnership For Our Kids President at 402-930-3000; email jhefflinger@allourkids.org or contact Beth Smith, Winners Circle Executive Director at 402-557-6385; email bsmith@winners-circle.org