Communities In Schools Founder Bill Milliken to Be Honored With a 2009 National Jefferson Award for Public Service

ALEXANDRIA, Va., March 18 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Communities In Schools, the nation’s largest dropout prevention organization, is proud to announce that its founder, Bill Milliken, will be a recipient of the 2009 National Jefferson Award for Public Service from the American Institute for Public Service. Milliken will be honored in the category of Greatest Public Service Benefiting the Disadvantaged for his forty years of work helping young people graduate and prepare for life. “I am touched and honored to receive this award. Caring about young people is not just a job, it’s a calling, and it is the foundation of all that we do at Communities In Schools,” said Milliken. “Each year, one out of three young people in America doesn’t gradate high school. This is a fundamental moral justice and civil rights issue that affects all of us, and it’s an issue that we cannot ignore,” Milliken continued. Milliken, one of the country’s leading youth advocates, began his work on the streets of Harlem before launching Communities In Schools in Atlanta in 1977. He has received numerous awards, and has authored several books, the most recent being The Last Dropout: Stop the Epidemic! Regarded as the “Nobel Prize” for outstanding community and public service, the Jefferson Awards were founded in 1972 by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, U.S. Senator Robert Taft, Jr. and Sam Beard. The awards are based on the simple but powerful premise that one person can make a difference in the lives of others. Past national winners include former president Jimmy Carter, former secretary of state Colin Powell and advocate Marion Wright Edelman. Milliken will be honored at the Jefferson Awards annual Gala Dinner and National Ceremony in Washington, D.C., on June 16, 2009. Communities In Schools is the nation’s largest dropout prevention organization, working in more than 3,200 K-12 public schools. Founded in 1977, Communities In Schools is headquartered in Alexandria, Va. Today, 1.2 million young people annually receive direct services through more than 200 Communities In Schools local affiliates in 27 states and the District of Columbia. Between 80-90 percent of Communities In Schools’ tracked students show improvement in academic achievement, attendance, behavior and promotion to the next grade level. Visit our website at www.communitiesinschools.org. Website: http://www.cisnet.org/ Website: http://www.thelastdropout.com/