NEWS RELEASE: THE MIRACLE OF TECHNOLOGY: TODD WAGNER FOUNDATION'S MIRACLES® PROGRAM TO ENHANCE BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF AMERICA TECHNOLOGY PROGRAM

ATLANTA, June 14 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Through a milestone gift with the potential to empower millions of youth to succeed, the Todd Wagner Foundation has made a substantial grant that unites its innovative MIRACLES(R) technology program with Boys & Girls Clubs of America's (BGCA) exceptional Club Tech technology program. As a result of this collaboration, MIRACLES -- which currently operates programs in seven cities across the country -- can reach more children through expansion to BGCA's network of more than 4,000 Clubs serving some 4.8 million young people. In return, the Club Tech program will be strengthened by incorporating elements of the proven MIRACLES curriculum that Club Tech does not currently offer, as well as the creation of new MIRACLES Technology Academies at select Clubs.

Created by entrepreneur Todd Wagner, MIRACLES is a comprehensive after- school program that equips youth with important technological, educational and life skills that will help prepare them for the 21st Century workforce. Club Tech, which is a partnership between BGCA, founding partner Microsoft and Best Buy Children's Foundation, provides Clubs with the latest software and programming to equip young people in underserved areas with basic and advanced technological skills needed to excel in school and the job market. "We are grateful to Todd Wagner and the Todd Wagner Foundation for this generous gift, which will allow us to expand our technology offerings for our young people," said Roxanne Spillett, president of BGCA. "This grant will help provide our Clubs with effective tools, programs and best practices for engaging and opening new worlds through technology for the youth we serve."

Over the next four years, BGCA will roll out five components of MIRACLES - - robotics, claymation, game design and computer skills -- through Club Tech.

In addition, BGCA will adapt the MIRACLES program curriculum into a special, intensive two-year program called the MIRACLES Technology Academies. Offered to middle-school Club Tech members who have completed certain Club programs and demonstrated a strong aptitude for technology, the new Academies will continue the MIRACLES program's legacy of building in-depth technology skills to increase long-term employability, enhancing educational skills to build reading and math ability, and augmenting life skills to create better citizens.

"Through this partnership between MIRACLES and Boys & Girls Clubs of America, we have a remarkable opportunity to take this very effective technology curriculum -- which has delivered outstanding results and made a difference in young people's lives -- to an even larger scale," Wagner said. "Boys & Girls Clubs of America is a national powerhouse, and we are fortunate to be collaborating with them to potentially reach hundreds of thousands of kids across the country."

About Boys & Girls Clubs of America

Boys & Girls Clubs of America (www.bgca.org) comprises a national network of more than 4,000 neighborhood-based facilities annually serving some 4.8 million young people, in all 50 states and on U.S. military bases worldwide. Known as "The Positive Place for Kids," the Clubs provide guidance-oriented character development programs on a daily basis for children 6-18 years old, conducted by a full-time professional staff. Key Boys & Girls Club programs emphasize leadership development, education and career exploration, financial literacy, health and life skills, the arts, sports, fitness and recreation, and family outreach. National headquarters are located in Atlanta.

About MIRACLES

Founded in 2001, MIRACLES is a comprehensive, multi-year program designed to have a sustained impact on the young people it serves. The program, which follows a structured curriculum beginning in 6th grade and continuing through high school, is instructor-led and outcome-based and currently operates more than 20 programs in seven cities across the country. MIRACLES goes beyond simply providing kids with access to the Internet, hardware and software. Rather, the program builds technology skills to increase employability, enhances educational skills to build reading and math ability, and augments life skills to create better citizens. The program's goals are for students to graduate from high school at or above grade level in reading and math, have the skills to enter college or the work force, and possess the training to pass a professional technology certification exam. Critical to the program's success is the personal, hands-on attention provided by three rigorously trained instructors who work closely with the 20 students in each lab. For more information, please visit www.miracles.org