3.08.2007 - 07:22am ET

(CSRwire) BEAVERTON, OR- March 8, 2007 – Nike Vice President and General Manager for the USA Craig Cheek announced today a $200,000 Innovation Grant to Hillsboro Schools from the newly-created Nike School Innovation Fund (NSIF). The NSIF is a five-year, $9 million commitment to supporting innovation in public schools focused on Portland, Hillsboro, and Beaverton school districts. The Fund was announced in January of this year by Nike CEO Mark Parker.

Cheek was joined at the announcement by Hillsboro School Superintendent Jeremy Lyon, whose schools will receive two Innovation Grants of $100,000 each to help pay for additional literacy instruction and development of a Leadership Academy for principals, administrators and teacher leaders. The Hillsboro Schools Foundation will also be a key community partner with the Nike School Innovation Fund.

"Nike is committed to keeping our community a great place to live and work," said Cheek. "Our schools are the cornerstone of a strong community, and these grants will help Hillsboro Schools develop leaders and provide their youngest students with additional reading instruction and support," said Cheek. In addition to the funding, Nike leaders will lend their time and expertise to assist school and district leaders with leadership, coaching and training as requested by school leaders.

"The opportunity to be an educational partner with Nike, a global company that defines innovation and quality, is very exciting. The two starting projects, focusing on creating strong readers and developing sustained leadership, mark the beginning of a dynamic collaboration that embodies the idea of strong schools in strong communities," said Superintendent Lyon.

Specifically, the Innovation Grants will fund:

Primary Years Literacy Initiative

This initiative will create reading enrichment programs for students at seven schools identified for additional support. Programs will include: a four-week summer literacy academy for incoming kindergartners and first-graders, as well as after-school and Saturday-school enrichment programs for students needing additional support in the primary grades.

Sustainable Leadership

This initiative will create a Leadership Academy that will support ongoing efforts to provide deep and sustainable professional development for principals, aspiring administrators and key teacher leaders.

The Nike School Innovation Fund is affiliated with the Portland Business Alliance Charitable Institute.

About Nike, Inc.

Based near Beaverton, Oregon, Nike is the world's leading designer, marketer and distributor of authentic athletic footwear, apparel, equipment and accessories for a wide variety of sports and fitness activities. Wholly-owned Nike subsidiaries include Converse Inc., which designs, markets and distributes athletic footwear, apparel and accessories; NIKE Bauer Hockey Inc., a leading designer and distributor of hockey equipment; Cole Haan, which designs, markets, and distributes fine dress and casual shoes and accessories; Hurley International LLC, which designs, markets and distributes action sports and youth lifestyle footwear, apparel and accessories and Exeter Brands Group LLC, which designs and markets athletic footwear and apparel for the value retail channel.

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