Audio: The Advertising Council, The New York City Department of Education and Appleseed Launch New PSAs to Recruit Teachers

NEW YORK, Feb. 23 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Advertising Council, in partnership with the New York City Department of Education (DOE) and Appleseed announced today the launch of new public service advertisements (PSAs) designed to encourage the recruitment of teacher candidates to the current teaching force.

To view the Multimedia News Release, go to: http://www.prnewswire.com/mnr/adcouncil/27031/

According to the DOE, 6,000 new teachers will be needed in schools in 2007. The campaign objective is to help the City attract the highest quality teacher candidates, increasing teacher quality and improving retention. Created by volunteer ad agency Della Femina, the campaign consists of radio, print and internet advertising. Pulitzer Prize winner Frank McCourt, award winning actress Cynthia Nixon and former president of Poetry Slam Incorporated, Taylor Mali, all lent their voices to the PSAs. Potential teachers are encouraged to visit http://www.teachnyc.net/ to find out how they can become teachers.

The campaign was initially launched in 2004 by Agent 16, Appleseed and the NYC Department of Education as part of an overall strategy to raise the quality and quantity of applicants for teaching positions in New York City public schools. It marked the first time in Ad Council's history that the organization coordinated a local New York initiative. In addition to reaching out to the teachers of tomorrow, the campaign seeks to recognize and pay homage to New York City's unsung heroes -- its existing public school teachers.

"The New York City Department of Education is thrilled to once again have the support of Appleseed and the Ad Council. Since the launch of the initial campaign, we are proud to say that applications from certified and highly qualified teachers have increased significantly. We look forward to our partnership to continue to bring outstanding teachers to our schools and our children," said Peter Ianniello, Deputy Executive Director of the NYC Department of Education.

According to Interim Co-Executive Director of Appleseed, Michael Tune, "Appleseed is honored to once again be a participant with DOE and the Ad Council in a campaign to bring the best and the brightest teacher applicants to New York City public schools."

"We are proud to continue our partnership with the New York City Department of Education on this critical campaign that can benefit many of our children," said Peggy Conlon, President and CEO of the Ad Council. "With the huge success of the last campaign, I'm confident that these new PSAs will continue to be generously supported by the local media and more teachers will be recruited for our city's schools."

"Everyone remembers a great teacher," said Mac McLaurin, Associate Creative Director from Della Femina. "I grew up in Tampa, Florida, but I'm a New Yorker now and I'm very proud of our city and our schools. Anything we can do to bring great teachers to New York City is good for all of us."

New York City Department of Education

The New York City Department of Education is the largest public school system in the world. Currently there are more than 1,500 schools serving over 1.2 million children with 121,000 employees. Our mission is to make our more than 1,500 schools great schools.

Appleseed

Appleseed is a national, nonprofit organization that tackles difficult social justice problems at their root causes. We create local solutions that are nationally relevant. We are very proud of our work, commencing in 2002, to assist the NYC Department of Education improve various internal processes, including teacher recruitment. To learn more about Appleseed, visit http://www.appleseeds.net/.

DFRJ

Located in the Flatiron district of Manhattan, Della Femina/Rothschild/Jeary&Partners (DFRJ) is a full service communications company that specializes in building brands by working with its clients to create informative, persuasive, entertaining advertising that crosses all disciplines. The current agency was founded by advertising icon Jerry Della Femina in 1990 and has grown to 55 employees and more than $170 million in billings. Current clients include: The Advertising Council, Inc. (NYC Department of Education), American Home Mortgage (AHM), Baruch College, CB Richard Ellis, CJ Foundation for SIDS, Duff & Phelps, Financial Security Assurance, Hackensack University Medical Center (HUMC), Juno, Maimonides Medical Center, Marsh & McLennan Companies, Mercer Human Resource Services, Marsh Inc., New York/Long Island Honda Dealers, Saint Francis Hospital, Standard & Poor's, Purdue Pharma, Toshiba America Consumer Products. Visit DFRJ's Web site at http://www.dfjp.com/.

The Advertising Council

The Ad Council is a private, non-profit organization with a rich history of marshalling volunteer talent from the advertising and media industries to deliver critical messages to the American public. Having produced literally thousands of PSA campaigns addressing the most pressing social issues of the day, the Ad Council has effected, and continues to effect, tremendous positive change by raising awareness, inspiring action, and saving lives. To learn more about the Ad Council and its campaigns, visit http://www.adcouncil.org/.