CHICAGO - January 16, 2009. Lt. Governor Quinn joined with Principal Mathew Ditto and Chicago Bull Mascot Benny the Bull to present a classroom set of low-cost laptops to the Chicago Elementary School Netraiser Challenge winning team, "Jackson 300," at Andrew Jackson School.
In just three short months, team "Jackson 300" raised more than $3,000 for the United Nations Foundation's Nothing But Nets campaign, a grassroots effort to save lives by sending malaria nets to Africa.
Ms. Otero's 5th grade students teamed up with their parents, neighbors and local area businesses to help their peers in Africa. The 33 students not only hosted bake sales at their school, but collected donations of toys and books, went door-to-door passing out flyers and hosted a yard sale; engaged in a letter-writing campaign to friends and family encouraging them to donate online; posted Nothing But Nets flyers in local area businesses; and sold their own hand-made bracelets in the University of Illinois at Chicago student center on their day off from school.
Each student and teacher in team "Jackson 300" was presented with an 8.9 inch, low-cost, easy-to-use Acer Aspire one netbook. The netbook is a mini-laptop, which weighs as little as 2.2 pounds and comes equipped with Microsoft XP Home®, wireless connectivity and a built-in webcam. In addition to the netbook, the students received a classroom pizza party.
Netraiser team "AJLA 302," also from Andrew Jackson, took second place in the Chicago Elementary School Netraiser Challenge and were presented with three StudentMate low-cost laptops for their classroom. "AJLA 302" raised more than $2,000!
Every 30 seconds a child in Africa dies from malaria - a death that could have been prevented with a long-lasting, insecticide-treated bed net that can keep an entire family safe from the deadly disease. Inspired by sports columnist Rick Reilly, tens of thousands of people have joined the Nothing But Nets campaign that was created by the United Nations Foundation in 2006. To date, Nothing But Nets has raised more than $22 million dollars to purchase and distribute bed nets throughout Africa.
For more information on Nothing But Nets, please visit NothingButNets.net. For more information on Lt. Governor Quinn's initiatives, please visit StandingUpForIllinois.org/NothingButNets. |