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Toyota Announces School Reform Programs in West Virginia

1 November 1999

Toyota Announces One of the Nation's First School Reform Programs Launched in West Virginia

    CHARLESTON, W.Va., Nov. 1 -- Governor Cecil H. Underwood was
joined by representatives from Kanawha County Schools, Toyota and the National
Center for Family Literacy (NCFL) to commemorate the official opening of the
Toyota Families in School (TFS) program in West Virginia. The ceremony took
place at the Malden Elementary School in Malden.
    Kanawha County Schools was chosen as one of the five expansion sites of
the TFS program in 1999. Malden, Pratt and Midland Trail Elementary Schools
will be the beneficiaries of the program through a three-year grant, in the
amount of $225,000, made possible by Toyota.
    The TFS program is one of the first school reform efforts in the country
to focus on the role of parent as learner as well as teacher and provider,
while also working with school-age children to increase their academic
success. The program recognizes the importance of parental involvement in
improving student achievement.
    The opening was part of a celebration of National Literacy Day(R).
Participants included Takeshi Nagaya, President, Toyota Motor Corporate
Services of North America; Sharon Darling, President & Founder, National
Center for Family Literacy; Dr. Henry Marockie, State Superintendent of
Schools; Nancy Pauley, Principal, Malden Elementary; Joyce Embrey, Midland
Trail Elementary; and Nancy Villers, Pratt Elementary.
    The program is the result of a long-standing eight year partnership
between NCFL and Toyota. The TFS program was introduced in 1998, at the
Seventh Annual National Conference on Family Literacy, with an initial grant
of $2.7 million from Toyota. This latest expansion was made possible by a
$2.1 million grant from Toyota. It will bring the total number of TFS program
sites to 30, located in 10 cities across the country, including Charleston,
West Virginia.
    In 1991, Toyota first partnered with NCFL to create the Toyota Families
for Learning Program (TFLP). This program advances literacy skills of pre-K
children and their parents. Currently there are 111 family literacy sites that
have grown out of TFLP.
    Over the last eight years, Toyota has provided more than $109 million to
support education, health and human services, community development,
humanitarian aid and the arts.
    As a member of the American business community since 1957, Toyota has made
a substantial investment in its U.S. operations. This investment reached more
than $9 billion by the end of 1998. Toyota is the fourth largest manufacturer
of vehicles in America and has more than 25,000 U.S. employees engaged in
design, research and development, manufacturing, sales and service operations;
an additional 89,000 people at Toyota and Lexus dealers; and 50,000 people at
Toyota suppliers.