Yelena Shuster Wins $100,000 in NBC's 'American Dreams,' Campbell Soup Company and Scholastic National Essay Contest

Yelena Shuster Wins $100,000 in NBC's 'American Dreams,' Campbell Soup Company and Scholastic National Essay Contest

San Francisco Teen Chosen as Grand Prize Winner

CAMDEN, N.J., March 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Yelena Shuster, a Ukrainian immigrant from San Francisco, has been selected from more than 40,000 teens as the winner of the $100,000 grand prize in a national essay- writing contest for high school students, sponsored by Campbell's Tomato Soup. The iconic brand partnered with NBC's "American Dreams" (Wednesdays, 8-9 p.m. ET) and Scholastic Marketing Partners to provide this opportunity to teens across the country.

The essay contest asked participants to describe, "How does your American Dream compare to that of your parents"? The contest was open to teenagers 13- 18 who are in grades 9-12. Shuster received a telephone call today from Scholastic alerting her that she had won.

"I am very honored to have been selected as the winner of this contest," said Shuster. "I am grateful to Campbell's Tomato Soup, NBC and Scholastic for their efforts, as the prize money will make it easier for me to work toward achieving my dreams."

Shuster's first-person essay impressed the panel with her rich and compassionate tribute to her wise Ukrainian grandmother -- or "babushka." A senior in high school, Shuster plans on studying journalism and English at one of the several colleges from which she awaits word of acceptance, including Harvard, Columbia, Wellesley, Stanford, Pomona Colleges, UCLA and the University of California at Berkeley. What she likes most about "American Dreams" is the music and "American Bandstand" performances by contemporary artists who portray classic 1960s icons.

Brittany Snow, who plays Meg Pryor on the "American Dreams" series, will join executives from Campbell's Tomato Soup and Scholastic at Campbell Soup Company's world headquarters in Camden, N.J. to award Shuster her $100,000 check. The check presentation will be broadcast during the credits at the end of the March 9 episode of "American Dreams."

In addition to Campbell's Tomato Soup awarding $100,000 to the grand prizewinner, Shuster's school, Hebrew Academy, will receive one million Campbell's Labels for Education(TM) labels.

The essay contest, which launched in August 2004, asked teenagers in grades 9-12 nationwide to write an essay on "How does your American Dream compare to that of your parents?" The contest was then mirrored in a storyline on NBC's "American Dreams" drama series and was promoted nationwide on Campbell's Tomato Soup cans in addition to being part of a Scholastic in- school educational program. Representatives from Scholastic, NBC and Campbell judged the entries.

Scholastic Marketing Partners, a division of Scholastic, that publishes Instructor Magazine, and develops custom supplementary educational materials for schools, developed a multi-faceted and interactive program that included in-school and online curriculum for teachers and for students. These materials were distributed to more than 11 million teens in 60,000 high school classrooms.

The effort adds new meaning to enhanced, interactive television and marks the first time that a television program was wedded to a branded product in such a partnership. The campaign included a cross-promotional effort that projected the creative storyline into real-time activity allowing "American Dreams" viewers to both watch and participate. At the same time, teenagers around the country were benefiting from an in-school curriculum program that teaches the history of the period while promoting inter-generational dialogue.

"American Dreams" is from NBC Universal Television Studio. Dick Clark ("American Bandstand"), Jonathan Prince ("Wilder Days"), and David Semel ("Beverly Hills 90210) are the executive producers.

Campbell Soup Company (NYSE:CPB) is a global manufacturer and marketer of high quality soup, sauces, beverage, biscuit, confectionery and prepared food products. The Company is 135 years old, with nearly $7 billion in annual sales and a portfolio of more than 20 market-leading brands. For more information on the company, visit Campbell's website on the Internet at http://www.campbellsoup.com/ .

Scholastic Corporation (NASDAQ:SCHL) is the world's largest publisher and distributor of children's books and a leader in educational technology. Scholastic creates quality educational and entertaining materials and products for use in school and at home, including children's books, magazines, technology-based products, teacher materials, television programming, film, videos and toys. The Company distributes its products and services through a variety of channels, including proprietary school-based book clubs, school- based book fairs, and school-based and direct-to-home continuity programs; retail stores, schools, libraries, and television networks; and the Company's Internet Site, http://www.scholastic.com/ .

The NBC Agency, founded in November 1999, is a multi award-winning advertising team that made "Must See TV" a household slogan and reinforced the term "appointment television" for NBC programming. It is a unique, full- service advertising agency servicing the advertising and promotional needs of all NBC-Universal owned entities, which include entertainment, news, sports and corporate divisions of NBC as well as the cable, Internet and syndicated properties and brands that the company owns or holds an equity interest in, such as CNBC, MSNBC and MSNBC.com, Bravo, USA, SCI FI, Trio, Telemundo and NBC-Universal Television Distribution.

Source: Campbell Soup Company

CONTACT: Amanda Brokaw of Hunter Public Relations, +1-212-679-6600 x210,
abrokaw@hunterpr.com, for Campbell Soup Company; Beth Jolly of Campbell Soup
Company, +1-856-968-4301, beth_jolly@campbellsoup.com

Web site: http://www.campbellsoup.com/
http://www.scholastic.com/

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