SCHOLASTIC NAMES AKIMI GIBSON, VICE PRESIDENT AND GENERAL MANAGER, EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION


Heidi Gilman Appointed Director, Product Marketing,
Early Childhood to Grade 3

New York, NY (November 14, 2002) -- Scholastic, the global children's publishing and media company, announced today two key appointments in the Scholastic Education division. Akimi Gibson, a veteran in educational product development, has joined the company as Vice President and General Manager of Early Childhood Education, and will oversee the development of Scholastic's growing array of educational products for early childhood learning. Heidi Gilman has been named Director of Product Marketing, and will be responsible for marketing Scholastic's educational products, early childhood through grade 3. Both Ms. Gibson and Ms. Gilman will report to Francie Alexander, Vice President and Chief Academic Officer for Scholastic Education.
 
In making the announcement, Ms. Alexander said: "Akimi Gibson and Heidi Gilman are terrific additions to the Scholastic Education product development and marketing teams, and by sharply focusing their expertise on the critical early years of learning, we will continue to develop and deliver a broad range of research-based instructional programs that meet the needs of young children and early childhood educators."
 
Ms. Gibson has over 15 years of experience conceptualizing and managing the development of educational media for children, parents, and educators. Most recently she served as Senior Vice President and Chief Education Officer at ThinkBox Inc., overseeing the development of print and Internet-based learning products for preschool to 8th grade. She was previously Executive Vice President and Editor in Chief at SchoolSuccess.net, leading the content and design development efforts of EarlyLearner.net, an Internet start-up company for parents and educators of children ages 2 to 6, and working with content partner High/Scope Educational Research Foundation to recast its print assets as web-based content. During her tenure as Vice President at ParentPartners, LLC., which offered online child development guidance and support to expectant parents and families with children from ages 0 to 5, Ms. Gibson worked with prestigious academic teams from the Brazelton Institute, Harvard Project Zero at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, Columbia Presbyterian Hospital, and the University of Massachusetts.
 
She also spent several years holding senior product development and editorial positions with Disney Interactive, Scholastic's Instructional Publishing Group, and Simon & Schuster's Silver, Burdett & Ginn division. Ms. Gibson spent the early years of her career as a teacher and is a published writer and children's book author.
 
Heidi Gilman was most recently a Product Manager at LeapFrog's SchoolHouse division, marketing reading products for grades 2-5 and managing product releases that resulted in significant financial growth for the company. Ms. Gilman also spent several years as a Product Manager at Tenth Planet, designing, developing and distributing school literacy products that integrated multimedia and hands-on instruction. She has served as a product manager at Apple Computer, and as a Curriculum Consultant at Robert Calfee Associates, where she developed elementary reading curriculums and led staff development workshops for teachers implementing phonics curriculum. Ms. Gilman began her career as a teacher in the Boulder, CO Public Schools and a research associate at the University of Colorado, Boulder.
 
Scholastic Education publishes research-based core and supplementary instructional materials, holding a leadership position in reading improvement products as well as learning services that address the needs of the developing reader - from grades pre-K to high school.
 
About Scholastic:
Scholastic Corporation (NMS: SCHL) is the world's largest publisher and distributor of children's books. Scholastic creates quality educational and entertaining materials and products for use in school and at home, including children's books, textbooks, magazines, technology-based products, teacher materials, television programming, videos and toys. The Company distributes its products and services through a variety of channels, including proprietary school-based book clubs, school-based book fairs, school-based and direct-to-home continuity programs; retail stores, schools, libraries, and television networks; and the Company's Internet Site, www.scholastic.com.

Contacts:
Scholastic
Judy Corman
212-343-6833
 
Scholastic
Andrea Reibel
212-343-4563
 
Scholastic
Jennifer Slackman
212-343-6427