CPS Initiative is Another Example of the Continuing Oce Commitment to
Education in America
CHICAGO, Aug. 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Oce (Nasdaq: OCENY), a global
leader in digital document management and delivery solutions whose
$1.2 billion North American operation is based in Chicago, teamed with the
Chicago Public School's (CPS) Office of Education-to-Careers in a four-year
mentoring program aimed at grade school students. Designed around specific
occupational categories, this initiative matches 13 Chicago eighth-grade
school students with local company mentors until they graduate from high
school in June of 2008.
The purpose of the CPS program is to foster the growth and development of
students as they go through high school. It will give each of them exposure
to real world business experiences, thereby providing a broader perspective on
the importance and value of education. As a mentoring organization, Oce is
working one-on-one with Jasmin Lamb, 13, who just graduated from eighth-grade
at Gale Academy in Chicago and will be entering Sullivan High School this
fall.
The CPS partnership is a natural extension of the company's newly launched
Oce Education Program. This initiative is designed to deliver comprehensive
solutions that help educators reduce document management costs and increase
productivity through improved process and workflow solutions. The program,
through its graphic communications curriculum, also focuses on helping
educators retain students and train them for careers in digital document
management and production so they are better prepared for employment following
graduation.
"Improving education opportunities and creating technology tracks for
students -- particularly those at risk for dropping out -- are critical to the
competitiveness of the U.S. economy," said Ronald E. Daly, Chairman and CEO of
Oce North America, Inc.
Oce is a leading provider of digital document management technology and
services to schools and universities across the world. The company's
solutions and services help schools run more efficiently and cost-effectively
by providing the technology to generate digital student and human resource
records, establish e-print centers and address network and wide format
printing needs.
Jasmin Lamb "Makes the Grade" with Oce
Miss Lamb, a resident of Rogers Park, was chosen to participate in the
summer 2004 CPS training program based on her completion of a Web-based career
interest inventory which matched her to an identified national occupational
cluster. As students were being selected, one from each cluster, every attempt
was made to reflect the diversity of the Chicago Public School population. A
few of the national clusters include Arts and Communication Technology,
Information Technology, Marketing, Sales and Services, and Manufacturing. In
addition to Oce, other volunteering mentor organizations include Bank One,
Smart Technology Services, Inc., A-1 Maintenance Supplies and Slidematic
Products.
According to Dennis Ptak of the CPS Office of Education-To-Careers,
organizer of the program, "We are thrilled to be working with a world-class
manufacturing organization such as Oce. Our joint mentoring initiatives are
designed to strengthen the potential of our students throughout their high
school years. This requires a strong, hands-on commitment to a select
individual, which Oce has clearly demonstrated in its dedication of resources,
time and talent to help shape Miss Lamb's career path."
First Day a Success
Unlike other mentoring programs where students are taken through a variety
of tasks with different individuals, students will be working with one
identified employee through monthly communication over four years. Miss
Lamb's interest is in the Arts & Communication Technology cluster, so the
Corporate Communications department of Oce was a good fit for her interests.
Miss Lamb kicked off her first day at the office by "job-shadowing" Oce
mentor, Emily Giesy, Marketing Coordinator, Corporate Communications. She
observed how the Corporate Communications department delivers Oce's corporate
messaging through various media. She also received a demonstration of Oce
equipment in the showroom and some typical applications.
The highlight of Miss Lamb's day was when she was presented with her own
laptop computer. Companies in the mentoring program were asked to provide each
student a "tool of the trade" that they could take with them and use to
further develop their skills. The generous donation of the laptop was made
possible by John Williams, Oce National Account Manager, and the company's
Information Services Department. "This means so much to me, thank you, thank
you, thank you! I will take my computer everywhere, and I especially can't
wait to show my mom! She won't believe it. I just can't stop saying thank
you!" said Jasmin through tears of happiness as the computer was presented to
her.
"We want to make this a highly enriching and personalized experience for
Miss Lamb to help her understand the value of her education and what it takes
to achieve her career goals," added Daly. "The CPS Education-to-Careers
program is a unique opportunity for both Chicago's young people and for
companies like us to develop local talent right within our own business
community. It's a logical complement to the Oce Education Program, where we
strive to improve the education levels of students and better serve a market
whose current needs for digital document management solutions are enormous."
About Oce
Oce is a leading provider of digital document management technology and
services. The company's solutions are based on Oce's advanced software
applications that deliver documents and data over internal networks and the
Internet to printing devices and archives -- locally and around the world.
Supporting the workflow solutions are Oce digital printers and scanners,
considered the most reliable and productive in the world. Oce also offers a
wide range of display graphics, consulting and outsourcing solutions.
Netherlands-based Oce N.V. (Nasdaq: OCENY), with a workforce of more than
22,000 people and 2003 revenues of $3.0 billion, maintains research and
manufacturing centers in the Netherlands, the United States, Germany, France,
Belgium, the Czech Republic, and Japan. Oce's North American headquarters is
located in Chicago with major business units in Chicago; New York City; Boca
Raton, FL; San Jose, CA; Salt Lake City; and Coventry, RI. North American
revenues were $1.2 billion for fiscal 2003, and employment is currently 9,100.
For more information about Oce, visit http://www.oceusa.com . Outside the
U.S., consult http://www.oce.com .
SOURCE Oce
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Related links:
http://www.oceusa.com
http://www.oce.com
CONTACT:
Jim Calabrese or Kristin Fayer,
kristinf@outlookmarketingsrv.com , both of Outlook Marketing
Services, +1-847-509-3099, or Karen Fitt of Oce North America,
Inc., +1-773-714-4664, corpcomm@oceusa.com
NOTE TO EDITORS: For interviews with Oce executives, CPS
officials or students, contact Jim Calabrese at 773/334-5040 or
Kristin Fayer at 847/509-3099, ext. 205.
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