Seventh Annual Oce Future Authors Project Writing Workshop to Begin June 11 at Don Estridge Middle School in Boca Raton

Robert Forbes and Mary Monroe are featured authors

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May 11, 2012, 09:15 ET

TRUMBULL, Conn., May 11, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Oce, a Canon Group Company and an international leader in digital document management, today announced that Robert Forbes, children's book author and president of ForbesLife magazine; and Mary Monroe, a high school teacher and young adult book author, will be the featured speakers at the 2012 Oce Future Authors Project writing workshop. In its seventh year, the program begins on June 11 with an intense eight-day writing workshop held at Don Estridge High Tech Middle School, 1798 NW Spanish River Boulevard, Boca Raton 33431. Forty middle and high school students will be selected to participate from 85 applicants. The names of the students will be announced by May 18.

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The program is a partnership between the School District of Palm Beach County and Oce North America and is made possible with generous grants from the Lawrence Sanders Foundation; Maroone, an AutoNation Company; and Xplor International, a not-for-profit educational and networking association serving users and suppliers of document technologies.

The authors will be donating their time to provide insight and advice to the budding artists and complement the curriculum offered by the staff of three certified Palm Beach County language arts teachers.

Nicole Adamo, who teachers at Don Estridge Middle School; Katrina Sapp Holder, a playwright and short story author who also teaches at Don Estridge Middle School; and Cartheda T. Mann, the chair of the English department and writing coach at Glades Central Community High School. Secondary Literacy Program Planner Dianna Fedderman supervises the program for the District.

Forbes, who lives in Palm Beach with his wife, has authored two published collections of imaginative poetry, Let's Have a Bite! and Beastly Feasts! (www.robertforbes.com). When he is not writing poetry or running the magazine, he enjoys reading his works to school children. Monroe, who has been a national board certified language arts teacher in Palm Beach County for 13 years, has authored the popular trilogy, Miracle at Monty Middle School, Krazy White Girl and Tagger, her newest book written for teen boys interested in graffiti tagging.

The Oce Future Authors Project writing workshop is designed to help students become published authors. Students improve their writing and critical thinking skills, develop an understanding of how authors are published, and learn about today's digital print and publishing opportunities.

Students gain insight into the process of writing, editing, and digitally publishing books through interactions with Oce executives, the published authors, and the teachers. Writings from each student are then compiled, professionally published and digitally printed in final book form by the Boca Raton-based Oce North America Production Printing Systems division. The finished book is then unveiled at a book signing hosted by the City of Boca Raton at the Spanish River Public Library. Since the program's inception in 2006, nearly 300 students have participated in the Oce Future Authors Project writing workshops.

"Without support from companies like Oce North America and the other sponsors of the program, partnerships like this would not exist," said Mary Kay Murray, the executive director of the Palm Beach Education Foundation. "Creative public-private partnerships, like the Future Authors program, give our students extraordinary experiences they otherwise would not have."

Francis McMahon, vice president of marketing, Production Printing Systems at Oce North America, says his company remains committed to this program, which enriches the educational experience for so many budding authors.

"We continued to be impressed by the students who choose to spend their summer vacations as Oce Future Authors because of their passion for writing," he said. "Our hope is that this experience will result in a group of young adults with lifelong commitments to writing, reading and learning."

McMahon added that the age of digital publishing has opened up more opportunities for these aspiring authors. "Digital printing technologies are revolutionizing the business of book publishing," he said. "Publishers can now cost-effectively print books in run lengths anywhere from 1 to 10,000, creating exciting opportunities for new talent—like these future authors—who now can get their works published. As a leader in providing digital printing solutions for the book industry, we are delighted to support the Oce Future Authors Project and to help make the students' dreams to become published authors a reality."

For more information on how to donate to the program, contact the Executive Director of the Education Foundation of Palm Beach County Mary Kay Murray at [email protected].

For more information about the Oce Future Authors Project, visit www.oceusa.com/futureauthors.

For more information, please visit www.oceusa.com.

About Oce
Oce is one of the leading providers of document management and printing for professionals. The Oce offering includes office printing and copying systems, high speed digital production printers and wide format printing systems for both technical documentation and color display graphics. Oce is also a foremost supplier of document management outsourcing. Many of the Fortune Global 500 companies and leading commercial printers are Oce customers. The company was founded in 1877. With headquarters in Venlo, The Netherlands, Oce is active in over 100 countries and employs more than 20,000 people worldwide. Total revenues in financial 2010 amounted to approximately euro 2.7 billion. Oce is listed on Euronext in Amsterdam. For more information visit www.oce.com.

Oce North America is headquartered in Trumbull, CT, with additional business units in Chicago, IL and Boca Raton, FL. North America represents 34% of Oce's worldwide revenues, and employment is over 8,000. For more information about Oce North America, visit www.oceusa.com. Outside the U.S., consult http://global.oce.com.

Oce and Canon: Stronger together
In 2010 Oce joined the Canon Group of companies with headquarters in Tokyo, Japan, to create the global leader in the printing industry. Canon develops, manufactures and markets a growing line up of copying machines, printers, cameras, optical and other products that meet a diverse range of customer needs. The Canon Group comprises over 197,000 people worldwide. Global net sales in 2010 were more than US $45 billion. For more information visit www.canon.com.

About Canon U.S.A., Inc.
Canon U.S.A., Inc., is a leading provider of consumer, business-to-business, and industrial digital imaging solutions. Its parent company, Canon Inc. (NYSE:CAJ), a top patent holder of technology, ranked fourth overall in the U.S. in 2010*, with global revenues of more than US $45 billion and is listed as number five in the computer industry on Fortune Magazine's World's Most Admired Companies 2011 list. Canon U.S.A. is committed to the highest levels of customer satisfaction and loyalty, providing 100 percent U.S.-based consumer service and support for all of the products it distributes. At Canon, we care because caring is essential to living together in harmony. Founded upon a corporate philosophy of Kyosei – "all people, regardless of race, religion or culture, harmoniously living and working together into the future" – Canon U.S.A. supports a number of social, youth, educational and other programs, including environmental and recycling initiatives. Additional information about these programs can be found at www.usa.canon.com/kyosei. To keep apprised of the latest news from Canon U.S.A., sign up for the Company's RSS news feed by visiting www.usa.canon.com/rss.