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Two Minnesota Schools Receive $15,000 Best Buy Te@Ch Awards

Posted on: Tuesday, 17 January 2006, 09:00 CST

Best Buy Co., Inc. has presented two Minnesota schools - Arlington High School, St. Paul, and Cloquet Middle School, Cloquet - with 2006 Best Buy te@ch awards, worth $15,000 each, for demonstrating innovative use of technology to improve students' classroom experience. The districts for each school have been invited to apply for a $250,000 te@ch award that will be announced in late summer 2006.

Additionally, 54 classrooms in the state of Minnesota have received $2,500 te@ch awards for demonstrating how technology is used to make learning fun for students. Each winning school may use the te@ch award to purchase additional consumer electronics technology at Best Buy to extend, expand, or enhance current and future classroom curricula. A list of all $15,000 and $2,500 te@ch award schools can be found at www.BestBuy.com/teach.

"Schools in the state of Minnesota are creating exciting and valuable educational experiences through the use of interactive technology in classrooms - the applications we received this year for te@ch demonstrate that," said Paula Prahl, vice president, public affairs, Best Buy. "Te@ch is designed to engage students in the learning process by using interactive technology to make learning fun. We firmly believe that technology can excite and engage students in the learning process, creating more valuable education experiences over time."

The 2006 te@ch award winners were selected from a pool of more than 7,000 applications. Applications were accepted from July through September 2005; all accredited, public and private nonprofit elementary, middle and secondary schools located within 50 miles of a U.S. Best Buy store were eligible. For details about the 2007 te@ch awards, please visit www.BestBuy.com/teach in summer 2006.

About the Best Buy Community Commitment

As a community partner, Best Buy works to encourage ideas and to confront challenges. Through its many philanthropic activities, Best Buy extends its support in times of celebration and in times of need. In fiscal 2005, Best Buy and the Best Buy Children's Foundation donated $19 million to its communities, approximately 1.5 percent of its prior fiscal year's pretax earnings. The company encourages local volunteerism by providing charitable gifts to organizations where employees volunteer, awards annual scholarships to graduating high-school seniors, and supports schools using technology to enhance learning through the Best Buy te@ch program. Best Buy works with the Red Cross to provide support in times of disaster, including a donation of more than $2 million in fiscal 2006 for its Disaster Relief Fund. Additionally, Best Buy earmarked $8 million to help "reboot and rebuild" schools damaged, destroyed, or overcapacity after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The company also connects with the United Way to meet local community needs, and supports national organizations innovatively using technology in youth education. In addition, Best Buy is committed to environmental responsibility. Last year, the company collected and recycled nearly 1 million pounds of used and obsolete electronic items though special mass collection events and everyday collection of cellular phones, ink jet cartridges and rechargeable batteries. For more information about Best Buy's community relations efforts, visit www.BestBuy.com/CommunityRelations.

About Best Buy Co., Inc.

Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE:BBY) is an innovative Fortune 100 growth company that continually strives to create superior customer experiences. Through more than 930 retail stores across the United States and in Canada, our employees connect customers with technology and entertainment products and services that make life easier and more fun. We sell consumer electronics, home-office products, entertainment software, appliances and related services. A Minneapolis-based company, our operations include: Best Buy (BestBuy.com and BestBuy.ca), Future Shop (FutureShop.ca), Geek Squad (GeekSquad.com and GeekSquad.ca) and Magnolia Audio Video (Magnoliaav.com). We support our communities through employee volunteerism and grants from The Best Buy Children's Foundation.

Source: Business Wire

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