Written by: 4/21/2011 8:51 AM
Allentown – Lehigh County Board of Commissioners Chairman Dean N. Browning joined a group of Lehigh County middle school students, Ferrous from the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, Coca Cola Bottling Group of the Lehigh Valley and other program sponsors in announcing a new incentives program that was inspired by his childhood baseball memories.
The newly developed “Straight A All Stars” Program offered free tickets to any 7th and 8th grader who lives and goes to school in Lehigh County and received straight A’s, or a 4.0 grade point average for the recently concluded marking period.
The program is modeled on a similar offering by the Cincinnati Reds franchise that made an impact on Commissioner Browning during his childhood years spent growing up in Cincinnati.
“The Straight A All-Stars Program is a great way to incent kids in middle school to work hard and get good grades,” said Browning. “When I was a kid, a program like this made a real difference for me, and I’m pleased to have the opportunity to create something similarly meaningful here in Lehigh County.”
Program sponsor Coca Cola Bottling Company of the Lehigh Valley, who donated products, funding and other items to the program, said “Here in the Lehigh Valley, the Coca Cola Bottling Company believes strongly that it’s part of our role as a good corporate citizen to help students be successful.” Jonathan Isaacs, Director of Sales, continued “Coca Cola has made it a point to support this effort in addition to our normal philanthropy program because we support excellence in education for Lehigh County’s kids.”
As the IronPigs’ Ferrous marched a group of Lehigh County middle school students into the room and handed them vouchers for a free game, Dr. Gerald Zahorchak, Allentown School District said “The Allentown School District has been at the forefront of cutting edge trends in education targeted towards student achievement. We hope that this program adds an extra incentive to do well for these kids.”
Kurt Landes, the team’s general manager, said “The Lehigh Valley IronPigs works hard to create quality programs for the Lehigh Valley’s youth. It’s important to us that these kids excel in school, and we’re happy to be part of the reward for excellence.”
This season’s program offered vouchers for two tickets to an IronPigs home game and two of Coca Cola’s many beverage options on selected dates throughout the regular season. Letters were sent to schools in each school district in Lehigh County and 26 signed up to participate. 820 vouchers have been awarded so far.
“This season’s program has been a success by any measure,” said Browning who, in addition to serving on Lehigh County’s Board of Commissioners, is also the Chief Financial Officer for program sponsor New World Aviation, Inc. “We’d like to see every school district in Lehigh County participate for next season.”
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