(San Francisco, CA, May 21, 1999) A new education guide designed to teach students how to create a classroom newspaper has been initiated by the Newspaper Association of America Foundation with additional sponsorship from the International Reading Association and the National Council for the Social Studies. The publication, entitled "Press Ahead!," will be produced by Use The News. The project provides key resources for teachers and is being produced in observance of Newspaper in Education (NIE) Week 2000.

The new publication and related teacher-training workshops are designed to foster a yearlong celebration of the use of newspapers in the classroom. The teacher-training workshops will be held early in the 1999-2000 school year. "Press Ahead!" will be released by October 1, 1999.

NIE Week 2000 will be held March 6-10, 2000. As part of NIE Week, students participating in the "Press Ahead!" program will take what they have learned about newspapers throughout the year and create a classroom newspaper. "Press Ahead!" also offers five instructional newspaper features designed to encourage students and parents to focus on newspaper-related activities.

"‘Press Ahead!’ is a very exciting concept," said Dr. Betty L. Sullivan, who co-founded Use The News with Dr. Sherrye Dee Garrett. "We are proud to present publications that use newspapers to make learning more relevant to students and their families."

Use The News is one of the nation’s fastest-growing educational services companies. It publishes a variety of distinguished educational resources for middle and secondary school curriculums, most recently, "Here Comes the Millennium."

Use The News products are imaginative, colorful and designed to build a long-lasting awareness of newspapers among students. Other notable publications include: "Reach for the Rings: Focus on Respect," produced with the United States Olympic Committee, examines concepts and values like respect for self and others and citizenship through sportsmanship. "Newspapers and the ’Net," in which students compare the news reporting of their local papers with on-line coverage in the United States and around the globe. "Welcome to the Newspaper," which introduces students to the essential aspects of producing a newspaper and is often distributed to school groups touring newspaper facilities, discusses major topics such as "what is newsworthy?" and the importance of features, sports and opinion pages.

Use The News Foundation was established in 1998. It serves as a nonprofit fiscal sponsor to Newspaper in Education programs nationwide and provides technical assistance on strategies, grant proposal development, identification of partners and project verification and evaluation.

The NAA Foundation is the educational and charitable arm of NAA. Founded in 1961, the Foundation was established to advance informed and intelligent media use by all citizens, especially young people, and to encourage them to value their right to a free and unfettered press. The Foundation is dedicated to developing tomorrow’s readers by encouraging them to acquire and value information from newspapers and other media.

For further information about how to obtain "Press Ahead!," contact James Abbott, Newspaper Association of America Foundation, at (703) 902-1730 or e-mail abboj@naa.org.