Award-winning Arts School and Leading Technology Distributor Encourage Students to Use Both
Their Left and Right Brains by Bringing Together Arts and Technology
SANTA ANA, Calif., August 22, 2006 - Ingram Micro Inc. (NYSE: IM), the world's largest technology distributor, and the award-winning Orange County High School of the Arts (OCHSA), today announced the official unveiling of the school's newly developed Ingram Micro Media Resource Center to commemorate the school's 20th anniversary.
The media resource center is the school's new classroom with computers providing students hands-on experience by helping them combine theory with practice as they learn. The center includes 30 state-of-the-art work stations configured to meet the creativity and computing requirements of more than 1,300 arts students who will use it each year for research, word processing, math remediation, as well as the creation of film and television and visual arts projects.
"The students and staff of the Orange County High School of the Arts are grateful to Ingram Micro for its generous gift of this valuable asset to our campus," said Ralph S. Opacic, Ed.D., president and executive director of the Orange County High School of the Arts. "With the Ingram Micro Media Resource Center inauguration and the school's receipt of the 2006 Exemplary School Award, we're off to fantastic start for our 20th anniversary celebration."
A recipient of the 2006 Exemplary School Award from the International NETWORK of Schools for the Advancement of Arts Education Awards Committee, Dr. Opacic will be presented the award at the NETWORK's 24th annual conference in October at Miami Beach, Fla. The Ingram Micro Media Resource Center ribbon-cutting ceremony is the first in a series of events that will mark the school's 20th anniversary milestone.
Along with Opacic, Mayor Miguel Pulido from the City of Santa Ana, Jane Russo, deputy superintendent of the Santa Ana Unified School District, William Habermehl, superintendent of the Orange County Department of Education, Councilman Carlos Bustamante of the City of Santa Ana and Ingram Micro executives Kevin Murai, president and COO, and Bill Humes, executive vice president and CFO, presided over the event. More than 80 people including OCHSA's Foundation board members, art directors, teachers, staff, parents and members of the media attended the event.
"We are very happy to be a part of the Orange County High School of the Arts 20th anniversary celebration and to support its efforts to provide a technologically sound atmosphere for its arts students," said Kevin Murai, president and chief operating officer, Ingram Micro Inc. "In today's world where colleges and business schools train leaders to focus on left-brain thinking, it is highly essential to have schools such as OCHSA that help students realize the fullest potential of their right-brain thinking to enable them to contribute in a creative, intuitive and holistic manner." Ingram Micro donated space planning service, furniture for all of the 30 work stations, computer hard drives, monitors, color printer and select software packages that cater to the specific needs of arts students. Additionally, the company helped the school with the installation of the work stations.
As one of the premier arts schools in the nation, the Orange County High School of the Arts helps prepare students for higher education and a profession in the arts through its innovative approach with focus on individual growth, opportunity and diversity.
About Orange County High School of the Arts
The nationally recognized Orange County High School of the Arts (OCHSA) provides a creative, challenging and nurturing environment that offers bright and talented students unparalleled preparation for higher education and a profession in the arts. Now in its 20th year, the school has an enrollment of more than 1,300 students, grades 7-12, and offers students the opportunity to focus on one of 11 arts conservatories offered, including ballet folklorico, classical/contemporary dance, commercial dance, creative writing, film and television, instrumental music, integrated arts, music and theatre, opera, production and design and visual arts.
OCHSA is one of the top scoring academic schools in the state of California. The school's recent API score exceeded the Governor's target goal for all schools in California, and the school ranks in the 90th percentile compared to all other schools in California and is one of the five highest ranking high schools in Orange County.
It is the only specialized arts program of its kind in the region to offer tuition-free academic and arts instruction to students from Orange, Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino and San Diego counties. The non-profit school relies solely on private and corporate donations, totaling $4 million annually, to fund the 11 arts conservatories offered. For additional information, visit www.ocsarts.net.
About Ingram Micro Inc.
As a vital link in the technology value chain, Ingram Micro creates sales and profitability opportunities for vendors and resellers through unique marketing programs, outsourced logistics services, technical support, financial services, and product aggregation and distribution. The company serves more than 140 countries and is the only global broadline IT distributor with operations in Asia. Visit www.ingrammicro.com.
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Press contact:
Rekha Parthasarathy
Ingram Micro Inc.
(714) 382-1319
rekha@ingrammicro.com