Sewickley, PA, September 28, 2006 - Printing Industries of America/Graphic Arts Technical Foundation (PIA/GATF) has named R. Paul Foster and Ara Izquierdo as recipients of the Education Awards of Excellence. The awards are presented annually to one academic representative and one industry representative in recognition of outstanding contributions to education and training in the graphic arts. The selection committee of noted industry and education leaders looks for candidates whose efforts or leadership have directly resulted in a distinguished education or training service, program, project, or accomplishment. Leadership on both a community and national level should be evident. Candidates need not be PIA/GATF members. Academic Representative—Paul Foster Paul Foster is currently in his seventh year of teaching Graphic Communications at Sollers Point Technical High School in Baltimore, Maryland. Before teaching he spent 16 years in the printing industry. Mr. Foster has helped Maryland teachers move forward with PrintED, a national accreditation for graphic communications programs. He is developing the first electronic method of documenting PrintED certification standards and is working with the Graphic Arts Education and Research Foundation (GAERF) to offer it to schools nationwide. Mr. Foster is nearing PrintED certification at Sollers Point Tech and continues to update the electronic PrintED standards as GAERF transitions to new streamlined standards. He has served as a lead teacher in planning, hosting, and presenting at statewide PrintED meetings sponsored by the Maryland State Department of Education. He also moderates a web forum for Maryland teachers to facilitate the exchange of ideas and collaborate in developing a dynamic open-source online curriculum centered around PrintED competencies. In order to simulate a real-world production environment, Mr. Foster runs the Graphic Communications program at Sollers Point like a small commercial print shop. Students receive live jobs from community organizations and are responsible for seeing them through from start to finish under Mr. Foster’s guidance. In 2005, Mr. Foster was named the Dundalk Chamber of Commerce High School Teacher of the Year. Industry Representative—Ara Izquierdo Ara Izquierdo is vice president of Industry Relations for Printing Industries Association, Inc. of Southern California (PIASC) and has been with PIASC for over 35 years. While serving in the Public Relations department, Ms. Izquierdo began to develop RAISE, PIASC’s educational program. Activities have come to include a Surplus Drive to encourage local printers to donate printing supplies to graphic arts school programs; technical and academic competitions for students; arrangement of guest speakers and plant tours; and scholarships and grants for both students and instructors. Ms. Izquierdo initiated a literacy campaign throughout southern California by distributing bookmarks, posters, and labels to all public libraries in the region, and she participates as a sponsor for The Los Angeles Times’Holiday Book Drive, which collects over 600,000 books to distribute to elementary schools. These activities continue on an annual basis. Award Ceremony Both candidates will receive engraved plaques in an award ceremony at 11:30 a.m. on Sunday, October 15, 2006, during the 2006 GASC/PIA/GATF Teacher’s Conference, room S103A at McCormick Place in Chicago, Illinois. For more information about the Education Awards of Excellence or to learn how to submit a 2007 nomination, please visit www.gain.net or contact the PIA/GATF marketing department at 800-910-4283, ext. 702.