Video: Phoenix Suns' Amare Stoudemire Kicks Off Program to Encourage Teens to 'Wake Up' and Go...( Ad Council and U.S. Army launch prog...),Health

Ad Council and U.S. Army launch program to extend the reach of their High

School Dropout Prevention 'Boost' Campaign

NEW YORK, April 16 /PRNewswire/ -- The Ad Council and the U.S. Army joined today to launch a Wake-Up Call program as part of their "Boost" national public service advertising campaign designed to encourage students to graduate from high school. Featuring the voice of Amare Stoudemire, NBA All-Star and Captain of the Phoenix Suns, the program features a series of wake-up calls and alarm ringtones that teens can share with their friends to provide the motivation to get up and go to school.

To view the Multimedia News Release, go to: http://www.prnewswire.com/mnr/adcouncil/32663/

Approximately 7,000 high school students drop out every school day, which translates to one in three students in our country, according to a report released earlier this month by the America's Promise Alliance (Cities in Crisis: A Special Analytic Report on High School Graduation). Research shows that the decision to drop out doesn't happen overnight. Another recent study by Civic Enterprises, The Silent Epidemic, Perspectives of High School Dropouts, found that two-thirds of students who drop out frequently missed class during the year after developing a pattern of sleeping late in the mornings and taking long lunches.

The wake-up call program, featuring Stoudemire's voice, encourages teens to share fun pre-recorded wake-up calls and alarm ringtones with those who need extra motivation in the morning. Created pro bono by ad agency JWT New York, the messages can be shared through the "Boost" PSA campaign's website, http://www.BoostUp.org. Additional celebrities and athletes are expected to lend their voices in the coming months.

Stoudemire volunteered to get involved with the campaign as pa
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