Gold Medalist Shaun White Teams Up With "California Grown" to Encourage Kids to "Go for the Gold"

During Ag Day at the State Capitol, "California Grown" Launches Its First Elementary Education Initiative and Announces Winners of Statewide Art Contest

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (March 20, 2007) As part of todays annual
California Ag Day in Sacramento, Gold Medalist snowboarder Shaun White launched the "California Grown" statewide education initiative, as well as announced winners of the organizations Go for the Gold art contest.

Earlier this month, a comprehensive school activity program, developed in collaboration between "California Grown¨ and the California Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom, was distributed to nearly 675 participating elementary schools throughout California.
As part of the program, teachers receive a poster that features White for display in their classrooms, along with fun, interactive and educational lessons and activities. The materials help educate students about the importance of Californias agricultural industry, the wide variety of products grown in the state ranging from cut flowers, fish and forest products to poultry and produce as well as the nutritional benefits of eating healthy and being active.

In addition to reaching 350,000 students with these in-classroom activities, parents at participating schools will also receive an eight-page Go for the Gold parents guide. The newsletter informs parents about the economic benefits of buying locally grown products and provides tips on how to easily identify California products when they are shopping, as well as offers fun ideas on activities they can do at home with their kids.

"Our goal is to inspire Californians of all ages to take pride in and support the states thriving agricultural industry, said Sande Monagan, chief executive officer of the
Buy California Marketing Agreement. Look for the "California Grown" logo and buy California grown products first, whether you are at the grocery store, farmers market, restaurant or home improvement store. These simple purchasing decisions make a big difference to our states economy."

Teachers who are not already participating in the Go for the Gold program can download all of the materials and classroom activities from the "California Grown¨ website (www.californiagrown.org) and easily incorporate the lessons into their teaching plans.
As part of the educational initiative, White also announced the winners of the Go for the Gold art competition where students statewide were challenged to design a "California Grown" -themed skateboard. The winning art contest entries were submitted by:

Steve Wright, 6th grade, Presentation School, Sacramento
Lexie Orr, 3rd grade, Joe Mitchell Elementary, Livermore
Ellen Inouye, 2nd grade, Fort Washington Elementary, Clovis
Robert Paz, 4th grade, La Colima Elementary, Whittier
Holly Lucero, 5th grade, Pachappa Elementary, Riverside

Winning entries are featured on the "California Grown¨ website. Each winning entry was converted to a signed skateboard that will be personally awarded by White to the winning students.
"As a Californian, I think its great to support our states agriculture and all that it has to offer,¨ said Gold Medalist snowboarder and professional skateboarder, Shaun White.
"I encourage everyone to do the same whenever and wherever they can."