Eight Arizona Schools Receive Over $100,000 in Prizes

CHANDLER, Ariz., May 6 /PRNewswire/ -- Able Information Technologies (www.ableinc.com), a provider of complete technology solutions for the past 16 years and the #1 E-Rate provider in the Southwest, announced today that in a ceremony held on May 2, 2009 it awarded eight schools in Arizona over $100,000 in technology products and services.

The purpose of the annual "IT In Schools Achievement Awards" (www.Awards4it.com), program is to celebrate and publicize achievements and accomplishments in Arizona schools, and to reward schools for excellence stemming from IT implementations. Partnering with Able in this initiative are The Arizona Technology in Education Alliance (AzTEA www.aztea.org); The Arizona Technology Council (www.aztechcouncil.org); and The Greater Arizona eLearning Association (GAZeL http://gazel.org/).

First prize went to L.W. Cross Middle School of Tucson and included a fully-equipped and portable 30-notebook computer lab, and scholarships for classes in the American Graduate School of Education's (AGSE) masters program. Second place winner, Emily Gray Jr. High School of Tucson, received a fully-equipped and portable 15-notebook computer lab, and scholarships for classes in the American Graduate School of Education's (AGSE) masters program. And Maricopa Wells Middle School of Maricopa received a fully-equipped computer lab with 8 computers, and scholarships for classes in the American Graduate School of Education's (AGSE) masters program for winning third place.

Five additional schools won Honorable Mentions, and each received a fully-installed audio-visual set-up with a projector and speakers, plus a scholarship for a class in the American Graduate School of Education's (AGSE) masters program. The schools that qualified for the Honorable Mentions were: Cienega High School of Vail, Pope John XXIII Catholic School of Scottsdale, River Valley High School of Mohave Valley, St. Louis the King Catholic School of Glendale, and Topock Elementary School of Topock.

"Based on the incredible feedback we have received from schools, and the thanks to the generous help from industry leaders and partners such as Enterasys, Cisco, Fat Pipe, HP ProCurve, The American Graduate School of Education, and several others, we are thinking of expanding the program for next year," said Duke Merhavy, Director of Marketing at Able Information Technologies, the company who initiated the program. Mr. Merhavy added that "information about this year's winners, as well as instructions on how to submit entries for next year's contest, can be found on the Awards program website at www.awards4it.com."

About The IT In Schools Achievement Awards

The IT In Schools Achievement Awards program was designed to celebrate and publicize achievements and accomplishments in Arizona schools. It was also designed to encourage school officials (K-12) to think of ways in which information technology has benefited the school, and share it with others. The program rewards schools for accomplishments and achievements stemming from IT implementations. For more information go to www.awards4it.com or send an e-mail to questions@awards4it.com

Source: Able Information Technologies