Box Tops for Education® And NCLR Join Forces To Encourage More Parental Engagement In Education Among Latinos

MINNEAPOLIS, April 26, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- General Mills Inc.'s Box Tops for Education® program, which offers families easy, everyday ways to earn cash for their school, and NCLR (National Council of La Raza), the nation's largest-affiliate-based, Hispanic civil rights organization, have joined forces to help Latino families increase awareness about the benefits of parental involvement in their children's education.

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Called, "Padres Comprometidos (Committed Parents): Supporting Your Child's Success," this partnership is anchored in the philosophy that all parents love their children, want the best for them, and are able to be active partners with schools to improve the learning process. It is also based on the belief that teachers and administrators can provide parents with valuable information about ways to help their children succeed in school.

"We are extremely proud to partner with the NCLR on this very important initiative, which we hope will make a significant difference in the lives of thousands of Latino families, looking to help their children achieve educational success from grade school on to high school and college," said  Box Tops spokesperson Claudia Fierro-Poppen.  "The earlier Hispanic families have the proper tools to navigate the school system, the better they can get involved in their children's education, which is believed by many experts to generate better results at school."

A major part of this joint effort is a Spanish and English-language, online and offline educational tool kit that Box Tops and the NCLR have created to serve as a sustainable resource for Hispanic families throughout the children's educational journey, while aiding schools dealing with budget cuts through the use of Box Tops funds. The toolkit leverages the NCLR's existing "Padres Comprometidos" (Committed Parents) program, which trains affiliate-based personnel to teach parents how to become engaged in their child's education. Parents are being encouraged to visit www.btfe.com/espanol to download the tool kit in English or Spanish. Twenty-one thousand printed copies of the toolkit have also been distributed to schools and NCLR affiliates for distribution to parents.

"Our vision is that parents and their children will use this toolkit often to better understand how active parental involvement benefits the child, their school, and their community," said Delia Pompa, Senior Vice President of Programs at NCLR.  "Parents will learn simple activities to create an environment that fosters good study habits at home and that promote positive communication with their child and school."

Another key role of the BTFE/NCLR partnership is a series of 28 parental training workshops that Box Tops will conduct throughout the months of May and June at L.A., Houston and Chicago-area schools with large Hispanic populations. The series kicked off Thursday, April 25 in Los Angeles, with a major Box Tops-sponsored workshop event, attended by some 150 Hispanic parents.  The event was held at the community-based Centro del Pueblo in L.A.'s Echo Park-Silver Lake area, and included a Spanish-language seminar by NCLR Regional Education Director for Texas and the Southwest, Choco Leandro, on the importance of parental engagement in schools.

To learn more about the parental training workshops, the general public can access http://www.facebook.com/CuponesBoxTops.

About Box Tops for Education®
The Box Tops for Education® program offers families easy, everyday ways to earn cash for their school.  Since the program began in 1996, America's schools have earned more than $525 million through Box Tops for Education®, including more than $74 million last school year, alone. More than 90,000 K-8 schools are enrolled in the program, which is supported by more than 240 brands, including Cheerios, Betty Crocker, Pillsbury, Kleenex, Ziploc, Hefty, Avery, Land'O Lakes, and Hanes.

Each year enrolled schools receive a program kit to help them build their own comprehensive fundraising campaign. Most schools designate a program coordinator to develop ways to encourage students, parents, school staff and community members to clip Box Tops from participating products and bring them to school. After the collected Box Tops are sent in to General Mills, the school receives a check, equivalent to 10 cents for every Box Top redeemed, up to $20,000 per year under the Clip Program. Thousands of schools have used the cash from the Box Tops for Education® program to purchase items such as computers and computer software, library books, art supplies and playground equipment. For more information, visit www.btfe.com/espanol.

About the National Council of La Raza
The National Council of La Raza (NCLR)—the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States—works to improve opportunities for Hispanic Americans.  Through its network of nearly 300 affiliated community-based organizations, NCLR reaches millions of Hispanics each year in 41 states, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia.  To achieve its mission, NCLR conducts applied research, policy analysis, and advocacy, providing a Latino perspective in five key areas—assets/investments, civil rights/immigration, education, employment and economic status, and health. In addition, it provides capacity-building assistance to its Affiliates who work at the state and local level to advance opportunities for individuals and families.

Founded in 1968, NCLR is a private, nonprofit, nonpartisan, tax-exempt organization headquartered in Washington, DC, serving all Hispanic subgroups in all regions of the country. It has regional offices in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Phoenix, and San Antonio and state operations throughout the nation.

SOURCE Box Tops for Education