St. Louis Teachers Will Be Recognized in OfficeMax 'A Day Made Better' Events
ST. LOUIS, MO, (SLFP.com), September 28, 2008 - The votes are in and nearly 1,300 teachers across the country have been selected by their school's principals to be recognized as part of the OfficeMax 'A Day Made Better' nation-wide surprise events taking place on Wednesday, October 1.
Educators nationwide will now wait in anticipation to see if they have been selected for a surprise visit from their local OfficeMax as the company distributes approximately $1.5 million worth of classroom supplies in surprise school visits throughout the day.
The surprise in-school ceremonies are part of the office supply retailer's campaign to eliminate teacher-funded classrooms, especially during this time of extra economic burden on school districts across the nation. According to national studies conducted by the National Education Association, teachers spend nearly $1,200 out of their own pockets each year for basic classroom supplies -- adding up, nationally, to about $4 billion a year.
In a move to provide some economic relief to teachers, hundreds of OfficeMax associates -- working behind-the-scenes with local school principals to ensure the element of surprise -- will honor these teachers with donations of much-needed school supplies.
OfficeMax partners with Adopt-A-Classroom to identify schools and teachers across the country, including Alaska, Puerto Rico, Hawaii and the Virgin Islands, for recognition of their dedication and innovative approaches to education on this one very special day.
Schools in the St. Louis area included: Arnold, Rockport Heights Elementary; Florissant, Wedgwood Elementary; Pacific, Truman Elementary; Saint Charles, Monroe Elementary; Saint Louis, Busch/academic-athletic Acad., Chaney Elementary, Compton-drew Ilc Middle, Dewey, School-International Studies, Dunbar And Br., Farragut Elementary, Froebel Elementary, Laclede Elementary, Peabody Elementary, Pine
Lawn Elementary; Saint Peters, Lewis & Clark Elementary; Wentzville, Wentzville South Middle; Winfield, Winfield Intermediate.
Steelman Offering Investment Workshops in Wake of Wall Street Shakeups
ST. LOUIS, MO, (SLFP.com), September 28, 2008 - Missouri State Treasurer Sarah Steelman has announced that her office will be conducting Internet-based investment workshops for various local governmental entities throughout the state.
The first workshop scheduled will be for the Missouri Association of School Administrators, on October 7, 2008 at 2:00 p.m.
The workshops will focus on investment strategies, specifically targeting the safety of taxpayer dollars and "best practices" used by her office. While recent Wall Street turmoil has revealed vulnerabilities in many public portfolios, changes Steelman put in place during her term have kept State investments safe. Other entities are now seeking guidance from her office on how to enact similar policies and safeguards.
Steelman has reached out to several other local government associations as well, and is in the process of finalizing dates with them. Steelman says she anticipates doing three workshops in all.
None of the State's $4 billion investment portfolio is held in investments in the sub-prime mortgage market or in debt issued by Lehman Brothers or AIG, which has allowed the State Treasurer's Office to avoid hits from that market's downturn over the past year. The state's investment portfolio yield for fiscal year 2008 was 4.44%.
Some of Steelman's key changes to the State's Investment policies have included:
- Prohibiting the purchase of commercial paper (short-term debt) of any bank, insurance company, or brokerage firm such as Bears Sterns and Lehman Brothers.
- Prohibiting the purchase of asset-backed commercial paper
- Refraining from the purchase of Structured Investment Vehicles (SIVs), Collateralized Debt Obligations (CDOs), or non-agency mortgage-backed securities. In contrast, a number of other states including most notably the State of Florida have invested in these exotic instruments, resulting in potential losses for their taxpayers.
- Continuing to enforce strict collateralization policies for the state's time deposits with banks that includes daily market pricing of collateral in most cases.
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