New York, NY (June 19, 2007) -- Scholastic Media is bringing its popular animated series, Maya & Miguel™, to life as never before.  A national sponsorship with US Youth Soccer for Maya & Miguel branded soccer events, and promotions with Casa Fiesta and ConAgra will help extend the brand to consumers as the property heads into its 4th season on television.  These initiatives supplement Scholastic Media’s traditional merchandising efforts and will serve as a primary focus at Licensing 2007 International. 
 
“Maya & Miguel is a distinct voice in children’s programming today, and we’ve been integrating this unique brand into innovative sponsorship opportunities and promotions,” said Leslye Schaefer, Senior Vice President of Consumer Products and Marketing at Scholastic Media, a division of Scholastic, the global children’s publishing, education and media company.  “Our initiatives, particularly with US Youth Soccer, and our other grassroots efforts truly allow us to get on the ground with the show’s fans and broaden its message that learning about culture and language can be fun and rewarding.  These collaborations bring the brand to life and make the type of connections that can’t be made otherwise.”
 
Scholastic’s collaboration with US Youth Soccer kicked off this spring and will continue through September with 12 Kohl’s American Cup Tournaments across the country offering Maya & Miguel branded events. At each event, youth soccer players will have an opportunity to play an inflatable Maya & Miguel soccer game, get their photo taken with the Maya and Miguel costume characters and receive special Maya & Miguel prizes, including DVDs and trading cards. 
 
To complement this effort, Scholastic Media is creating an online content distribution plan designed specifically for mothers with blogs.  This campaign encourages bloggers to initiate conversations on their sites prior to, during and following the US Youth Soccer events.  The goal is to build upon the virtual community created during this time so that Maya & Miguel becomes an anchor of future correspondence among mothers who blog.  Scholastic has already reached out to over 200 mothers and will continue this strategy throughout the fall as a new season of the series premieres on PBS.
 
Maya & Miguel’s presence on the grassroots level will be extended with greater involvement in some of the nation’s biggest Hispanic celebrations including festivals, community gatherings and parades throughout the year.  During Hispanic Heritage Month, September 15th through October 15th, Scholastic will work with Junta Hispana to orchestrate costume character appearances, games and giveaways.
 
Scholastic Media is also pursuing more traditional promotional opportunities marked by its current association with Casa Fiesta for a national sweepstakes in support of its brand of all-natural authentic Mexican and Tex-Mex foods and snacks.  The sweepstakes, running through September 30, 2007, is entitled "Casa Fiesta 'Cinco De Maya' Sweepstakes” and offers Maya & Miguel DVDs as prizes. The promotion is featured on packages of Casa Fiesta taco dinners, taco shells, salsa and refried beans in top markets nationwide. 
 
In addition, ConAgra will be launching a private label line of Maya & Miguel branded fruit snacks later this summer.  Children will be able to enjoy the snacks in the shapes of their pals Maya, Miguel and Paco the parrot, as well as a soccer ball, in four different fruity flavors.  The snacks will be available in several retailers nationwide, including Spartan, Myer and FoodClub.

Maya & Miguel, now heading into its fourth season, continues to be a top-rated show on PBS KIDS GO! and has established a powerful connection with its audience.  The series is designed to present culture and language learning as fun, relevant, and rewarding for all children, with a special emphasis on the Latino population. The goals of the series are to promote the value of a culturally diverse society, and to support English language learners through the presentation of language in a natural context with a special emphasis on vocabulary.  Maya & Miguel is a broad-based Scholastic initiative comprised of television, print media, school and community outreach, dynamic Web sites at pbskidsgo.org/mayaandmiguel as well as scholastic.com, and a host of ancillary products including books and DVDs.  The TV series is underwritten by Chuck E. Cheese’s and funding is provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and a Ready To Learn Cooperative Agreement from the U.S. Department of Education through the Public Broadcasting Service.

About Scholastic Media
Scholastic Media (SM), the entertainment and media division of Scholastic, is a leading producer of quality, family-oriented content across multiple platforms, including feature films, television programming, videos, interactive products and web sites, and is a major developer and marketer of children's brands worldwide. Among SM's award-winning and top-rated productions are the animated series Clifford The Big Red Dog® (PBS KIDS®); the Emmy award-winning spin-off series Clifford's Puppy Days™ (PBS KIDS); I SPY (HBO Family); The Magic School Bus® (TLC); Goosebumps®; Animorphs®; and Maya & Miguel™ (PBS KIDS GO!). SM's critically-acclaimed feature films include Clifford's Really Big Movie, The Indian in the Cupboard, The Babysitters Club Movie, and The Mighty. SM is also producing the forthcoming film The Golden Compass, based on the award-winning Philip Pullman trilogy His Dark Materials, for New Line Cinema. Scholastic is a co-creator of the new multi-platform qubo network for children, which promotes literacy and positive values through entertainment.  Provided by Scholastic, Dragon is the new pre-school series airing on qubo.
 
About Scholastic
Scholastic Corporation (NASDAQ: SCHL) is the world's largest publisher and distributor of children's books and a leader in educational technology.  Scholastic creates quality educational and entertaining materials and products for use in school and at home, including children's books, magazines, technology-based products, teacher materials, television programming, film, 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, and 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: