The Kennedy Center and Daimler Financial Services Announce Ten Schools Selected For Innovative Arts Education Program

The Kennedy Center and Daimler Financial Services Announce Ten Schools Selected For Innovative Arts Education Program

Interactive Media Bus to Visit Schools in Washington, D.C., West Virginia, Florida, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Tennessee, Alabama, Missouri and Texas January 7 - May 29, 2009

WASHINGTON, Dec. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, in partnership with Daimler Financial Services, selected ten schools across the country for On Location: Spotlight On Your Community. The program is designed to allow students the opportunity to tell the story of the arts in their community, which will be shared worldwide on the Internet. Each of the ten schools selected will receive a media equipment package, and both students and teachers will be trained in storytelling, filmmaking, editing, and producing video stories.

A customized Thomas Built Bus, a leading provider of school buses, manufactured by Daimler Trucks North America in High Point, N.C., was converted to a media studio on wheels, and will visit each school for two weeks. A drama artist and media artist will work with the classes in storytelling techniques and media skills. The teachers and students will work together to create a short video about an artist or arts group in the community. The completed video projects will be uploaded to the onlocationproject.org web site maintained by the Kennedy Center and shared around the world.

"We were impressed by the large number of outstanding applicants for the inaugural year of this program," said Darrell Ayers, Vice President for Education. "The students at these ten schools will have a unique opportunity to learn new skills in storytelling and media development. We hope this program will also help students to appreciate the art happening in their own backyards, and bring the arts from their community to the nation."

"We are delighted to partner with the Kennedy Center to bring this educational program to students, teachers and communities that otherwise may not get this opportunity," said Richard Howard, Vice President of Daimler Truck Financial, a business unit of Daimler Financial Services.

Schools Selected for the 2008-2009 School Year:

-- Arts and Technology Academy Public Charter School, Washington, D.C.
-- Hometown Elementary, Hometown, West Virginia
-- Samuel S. Gaines Academy, Fort Pierce, Florida
-- Beaufort Middle School, Beaufort, South Carolina
-- Antonia Pantoja Charter School, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
-- Anderson Middle School, Berkley, Michigan
-- Normal Park Museum Magnet, Chattanooga, Tennessee
-- Foley Middle School, Foley, Alabama
-- Thomas Jefferson Independent Day School, Joplin, Missouri
-- W.A. Meachum Middle School, Forth Worth, Texas

Each school will receive:

-- A two-week visit by the "On Location" Bus

-- Installed Media Lab consisting of a computer, digital editing software, camera(s), sound recording equipment, and accessories valued at approximately $5,000

-- $1,000 for the school to support the project

-- Curriculum materials and support to develop media projects about the arts in the community

-- Training for teacher(s) and students on how to use the media equipment and development of storytelling skills by professional teaching artists in drama and media

-- Ongoing relationship with the Kennedy Center's Education Department and the opportunity to work on additional projects with the Kennedy Center through its online program, ArtsEdge (www.artsedge.kennedy-center.org)

About The Kennedy Center Education Department

For more than 35 years, the Kennedy Center Education Department has provided quality arts experiences through performances, residencies, workshops, conferences, career development programs, symposia, and on-line and print resources. In the past year, the Center's education programs have directly impacted more than 11 million people across the nation. The mission of the Education Department is to foster understanding of and participation in the performing arts through exemplary programs and performances for diverse populations of all ages that represent the unique cultural life and heritage of the United States. For more information, visit the Center's web site at www.kennedy-center.org/education

About Daimler Financial Services Americas (DCFS USA LLC)

Daimler Financial Services Americas (DCFS USA LLC), headquartered in Farmington Hills, Mich., provides brand-specific financing for Mercedes-Benz automotive dealers' inventories and their retail customers, and conducts business in the United States luxury car market as Mercedes-Benz Financial. In the U.S. trucking industry, Daimler Financial Services Americas conducts business as Daimler Truck Financial and finances Daimler commercial vehicles branded Freightliner, Sterling and Western Star for dealers and their customers in the fleet, vocational, municipal and owner/operator segments. Daimler Financial Services Americas serves as the headquarters for operations in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Argentina and Brazil, and has approximately 1,600 employees. Daimler Financial Services Americas is a company of the Daimler Financial Services Group, headquartered in Berlin, Germany, which operates in 40 countries with an employee base of close to 6,800. Daimler Financial Services is one of the leading financial services organizations worldwide. For more information visit www.daimlerfinancialservices.com/na

About Thomas Built Buses

Thomas Built Buses (www.thomasbus.com) is the leading manufacturer of school buses in North America, with more than one-third of the market. Since the first Thomas Built bus rolled off the assembly line in 1936, the company has focused on delivering the smartest and most innovative buses in North America. Thomas Built Buses, Inc. is a subsidiary of Daimler Trucks North America LLC, the largest heavy-duty truck manufacturer on the continent and a leading manufacturer of class 3-8 vehicles. Daimler Trucks North America produces and markets commercial vehicles under the Freightliner, Sterling, Western Star and Thomas Built Buses nameplates. Daimler Trucks North America is a Daimler company.

For more information on this project, please visit www.onlocationproject.org

For more information about the Kennedy Center please visit www.kennedy-center.org

Source: Kennedy Center Education Department

CONTACT: Amanda Hunter of Kennedy Center Education Department,
+1-202-416-8441, Aehunter@kennedy-center.org; or Jack Ferry of Daimler,
+1-248-991-6610, john.r.ferry@daimler.com

Web site: http://www.kennedy-center.org/
http://www.daimlerfinancialservices.com/na
http://www.onlocationproject.org/
http://www.thomasbus.com/
http://www.artsedge.kennedy-center.org/

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