Imation Announces 2006 TechEd Teacher Grant Recipients

OAKDALE, Minn., May 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Imation Corp -- For students in Pam Ledermann's Maplewood Middle School eighth grade science class, identifying different metals based on their densities used to be more guess work than science. Their lab equipment was not precise enough to narrow down the field of possibilities. Funding from an Imation TechEd Teacher Grant enabled Ledermann to purchase six new electronic balances and adapters for her classroom and to use technology to accurately measure their work.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20060518/CGTH049 )

Ledermann was just one of the teachers recognized when Imation Corp announced the recipients of its 2006 TechEd Teacher Grants during a special reception held at its World Headquarters in Oakdale, Minn. Educators in Maplewood, North Saint Paul, and Oakdale-area middle schools will share $20,000 grant money. The dollars will be used to introduce new technology throughout District 622.

"Introducing technology into the classroom can create a richer learning environment for students and teachers alike," explained Imation Community Affairs Manager, Patty Kovacs. "Through the creation of the TechEd Teacher Grant Program, we are encouraging greater innovation at our neighborhood schools." The TechEd Teacher Grant Program is just one of the educational programs Imation supports through its Community Affairs program.

"Innovation is a driving force behind Imation's success," said Chairman and CEO, Bruce Henderson. "This Community Affairs initiative enables us to nurture creativity and curiosity in young people who purchase our products today and may be our employees tomorrow."

The sixteen educators have earmarked the grant dollars for a variety of technology-based initiatives. For example, Maplewood Middle School teacher Daniel Klocke will use the TechEd Teacher Grant to create a digital recording studio in the school's computer lab. With the new Technology Workshop software in place, he will teach songwriting to the school's eighth graders while demonstrating the important role technology plays in the creative disciplines.

"This grant has injected new life into my classroom," Klocke said. "Before receiving this technology, we learned about musical elements such as form, tempo and melody through discussion and listening experiences. Now the students can learn about these same musical elements by actually creating their own music. They are having so much fun that they hardly even realize that they are learning."

In other classrooms, the grants will be used to acquire electronic reference books and to cover the entry fees for a Cyber Knowledge Competition.

The 2005-2006 TechEd Teacher Grant Recipients include: Maplewood Middle School John Glenn Middle School Linda Bryan Krista Hialgo-Range Tyler Dahl Tori Jensen Ray Fini Aron Kukowski Brenda Hovland Daniel Klocke Skyview Middle School Pam Ledermann Bridget Bruner Kathryn Marget Amber Gardner Eileen Moehn Katie Schmidt Randy Tappe Eileen Wegge

Introduced during the 2005-2006 school year, the TechEd Teacher Grant program accepted applicants from Skyview, John Glenn and Maplewood Middle Schools in District 622. A committee of Imation employees reviewed applications and selected recipients based on creativity, student participation, budget and program outcomes.

Imation plans to expand its TechEd Teacher Grant program during the 2006- 2007 school year to include its plant communities (Wahpeton, N.D., Weatherford, Okla., and Camarillo, Calif.) as well as Cerritos, Calif., headquarters to Imation's Memorex division.

Through its Community Affairs program, Imation provides ongoing support to educational, arts and culture, and human services organizations that work to improve opportunities and expand access to technology. In addition, Imation employees donate thousands of volunteer hours each year to a wide variety of non-profit organizations. In 2005, Imation launched its signature "Support Our Troops" program, which provides active duty service men and women with the technology they need to keep in touch with loved ones back home. To learn more about Imation's Community Affairs program, visit http://www.imation.com/ .

About Imation Corp

Imation Corp is the only company in the world solely focused on the development, manufacture and supply of removable data storage products spanning the four pillars of magnetic, optical, flash and removable hard disk storage. In addition to the Imation brand, Imation Corp's global brand portfolio includes the Memorex brand; one of the most widely recognized names in the consumer electronics industry, famous for the slogan, "Is it live or is it Memorex?" Additional information about Imation is available at http://www.imation.com/ or by calling 1-888-466-3456.

Imation, the Imation logo, Memorex, the Memorex logo, and 'Is it live or is it Memorex?' are trademarks of Imation Corp and its subsidiaries. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.