Cingular and West Orange High School Host First-Ever TXT Bee Event

Cingular and West Orange High School Host First-Ever TXT Bee Event

Damien Fahey, Host of MTV's TRL, to MC unique event that puts Students and
Parents "to the Text" for a chance to win $5,000

WHO: Cingular Wireless, part of the new AT&T, will be joined by West Orange officials, including Mayor John F. McKeon, Superintendent of Schools Jerry Tarnoff and others, including Damien Fahey, host of MTV's TRL to kickoff the first TXT Bee event.

West Orange High School is on the cutting edge of modern technology
and its students exemplify academic excellence, making us the
perfect launching site for Cingular's exciting TXT Bee campaign. We
are thrilled to act as the inaugural host of Cingular's TXT Bee
event.
--Mayor John F. McKeon

WHAT: The Cingular TXT Bee is an innovative event that is designed to bridge the communication gap that sometimes exists between parents and teens through text messaging. It is a first-of-its-kind grassroots effort that utilizes the spirit of competition to encourage parents to start communicating in the "language" that has become so popular with teens.

HOW IT WORKS? In a nutshell, five parent/student teams from West Orange High School, to be randomly selected the night of the event, will compete in two rounds of competition in a game show style format with the second round determining the winner. Essentially it is the Newlywed Game meets Family Feud -- with text messaging as the way to submit answers. The winning parent/student team will win a $5,000 scholarship. Cingular is also donating $5,000 to West Orange High School Project Graduation.

WHY: The TXT Bee is part of Cingular's TXT2Connect program launched last summer in conjunction with Dr. Ruth Peters, a clinical psychologist, author, and parenting expert for The Today Show and MSNBC.

Dr. Peters has advised parents for more than 30 years on ways to stay on top of their kids' lives and activities. According to Dr. Peters, text messaging is a great way for parents to connect with their kids. Some reasons she gives include:

* Kids are more apt to respond to text messages from their parents when
out with their friends
* Texting allows parents to enter their child's world, which is always
challenging in teenage years when communication often shuts down
* Texting can help strengthen parent-child bonds and let kids know parents

are thinking of them

WHEN & WHERE: Friday evening, January 19, 2007 at 8:30pm, West Orange High School, 51 Conforti Avenue, West Orange, New Jersey 07052.

MEDIA CONTACTS:
Ellen Webner Jennifer Bowcock
Cingular Wireless Cingular Wireless
201-532-7292 404-213-1204

About WOHS Project Graduation

PROJECT GRADUATION is a tradition that began over 18 years ago as our community's response to the many hazardous and harmful activities often associated with high school graduation celebrations. It is a chaperoned all night, drug, alcohol and smoke-free celebration for graduating seniors, promoting the message that celebrating without alcohol and drugs is the right choice. The location, entertainment, food and transportation are all provided! Many volunteers and sponsors work together to make graduation night safe and memorable for all the right reasons ... and we always receive an enthusiastic response from the graduates in attendance.

PRNewswire-USNewswire - Jan. 19

Source: Cingular Wireless

Web site: http://www.cingular.com/

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