POSTED: Sunday May 24th 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ORLANDO MAGIC UNVEIL FOURTH READING AND LEARNING CENTER

**Hi-Tech Tutoring in Parramore latest recipient**

WHO:             Orlando Magic COO Alex Martins; Orlando Magic Community Ambassadors Nick Anderson and Bo Outlaw; Kia Motors America, Orlando District Sales Manager Brett Myers and 25 Hi-Tech youth

 

WHAT:           Hi-Tech Tutoring (HTT) Reading and Learning Center Presented by Kia Motors

As proud partner of the Orlando Magic, Kia Motors America and the Orlando Magic teamed up to renovate HTT, as part of the Magic’s commitment to assisting local community centers with reading and learning programs. 

Magic staff members, spent more than two weeks renovating the HTT facility with new floors, paint, furniture, computers, TVs and a host of school supplies, educational games and books.  The Magic along with Martins, Outlaw, Anderson and Kia Motors will present the newly remodeled center to the community. 

Back in April, HTT received $15,000 from the Magic and Kia Motors to purchase new computer software, furniture, TVs, school supplies, educational games and books. 

This project is part of the Magic’s commitment to assisting local community centers with reading and learning programs.  The Magic previously assisted the Pine Hills Reading and Learning Center presented by Kia Motors, Dr. James R. Smith Neighborhood Center and the New Image Youth Center in Parramore presented by Kia Motors.

WHEN:           Tuesday, May 26, 2009

                        4:30 p.m.

WHERE:         Hi-Tech Tutoring

                        750 Orange Blossom Trail, Orlando, 32855

 

Media is invited to attend and film the event.  EVENT IS NOT OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

With the building of the new Events Center, the Orlando Magic has made a social and financial commitment to the revitalization of the Parramore area. 

Orlando Magic efforts in the city’s west-side community have included:

• Aiding West Church Street     businesses impacted by construction on the new Events Center.     Retroactive to coincide with the commencement of construction, the Magic     will provide West Church Street Businesses nearly $50,000 ($49,259.44, 25     percent of the $197,037.76 total rent due during the 24 month period) to     help pay the 11 tenants’ rent from July 2008-June 2010. The shops     are located across the street from the future main entrance of the Events Center on a roadway that will be     closed to traffic for portions of construction over the next 20 months.     “We want to help set the tenants up for success so that at the end     of the two years, they are ready to take advantage of the million people each     year that will be coming across their front door from the Events Center,” Orlando Magic Chief     Operating Officer Alex Martins said. “From the very beginning, we     have set out to create the framework for a facility that will be the     catalyst for economic revitalization on downtown’s West side, while     establishing a flexible design that will serve as a great home and attract     the nation’s premier events.”
• Pledging $250,000 to     the Parramore Kidz Zone and After School All-Stars to provide positive     programs for local youth vulnerable to drugs, gangs and violence.
• Refurbishing     Parramore’s New     Image Youth     Center. Once moldy     and rat-infested, the new education center now features flat-screen     televisions, freshly painted walls, desktop computers, new carpeting, a     Nintendo Wii and central air conditioning.
• Building a new     playground at the John     H. Jackson     Community Center in     Parramore.
• Renovating the     Downtown Boys and Girls Club.
• Providing school     supplies to the Bridge To Independence School and sponsoring a trip for     kids from the Parramore Kidz Zone to New     York City.
• Partnering with the Orange County     Arts Education     Center to provide Parramore youth     exposure to the arts via a series of ongoing arts-enriching endeavors,     including sponsoring educational field trips for children at the Grand Avenue Primary     Learning Center     to the Orlando Shakespeare Theater.
• When Magic forward     Hedo Turkoglu received the NBA’s Most Improved Player Award     presented by Kia Motors, he donated a brand-new 2009 Kia Borrego seven-passenger     SUV to Parramore Kidz Zone.  When Dwight Howard received the     NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year Award, he donated a Kia to the     Parramore’s Orlando Day Nursery.
• Dwight Howard     presented 300 pairs of adidas shoes to the students at Orange Center     Elementary for their hard work towards improving their FCATs. Howard also     donated $25,000 to help renovate the Parramore Kidz Zone Teen Shack, a     facility which gives teens a place to hang out and is now complete with a     new photography lab, laptops and videogames.  Howard’s donation     was a portion of the grant he earned by winning the DeVos Community     Enrichment Award which is annually given by the Richard and Helen DeVos     Foundation to the Orlando Magic player who has dedicated his effort off     the court for the purpose of enhancing others’ lives. 
• Orlando Magic center     Adonal Foyle delivered healthy snacks, Magic backpacks and a meaningful     message on making healthy lifestyle choices to the elementary students at     Nap Ford Community School in Parramore. The visit coincided with the     school’s commencement of the “Junk Free Zone,” which     focuses on eliminating bad language, unhealthy foods and unproductive     habits, while encouraging a healthy lifestyle.
• Equipped with paint     brushes, drills, hammers, gloves and garbage bags, the Orlando     Magic’s staff volunteer program (MVP) helped renovate a Parramore     area home. Last year the Magic employees totaled 5,858 hours of community     service.

About High-Tech Tutoring

Hi-Tech Tutoring (HTT) was established in 1991 by Ms. Ernestine Mosley, a retired assistant principal from Winter   Park High School.  After retiring from Winter Park she saw the educational disparities between urban and suburban schools and the impact it was having on the youth. 

 

In an effort to make a positive difference in the lives of these children, Mosley created HTT to assist inner city youth through tutoring programs and homework assistants.  She is the First African-American women to begin an after-school tutoring center which began with only six students.

To date, HTT has tutored and mentored more than 4,500 students in the local community.

HTT is led by Mosley along with her daughter, Holly Mosley and three college students who serve as mentors.

About the Orlando Magic

Orlando’s NBA franchise since 1989, the Magic’s mission is to be world champions on and off the court, delivering legendary moments every step of the way. On the court, Orlando has won four division championships (1995, 1996, 2008, 2009), had five 50-plus win seasons, and won the Eastern Conference title in 1995. Off the court, on an annual basis the Orlando Magic gives more than $2 million to the local community by way of sponsorships of events, donated tickets, autographed merchandise, scholarships and grants. Orlando Magic community relations programs impact an estimated 75,000 kids each year, while a Magic staff-wide initiative provides more than 5,000 volunteer hours annually. In addition, over the last 19 years nearly $15 million has been distributed to local non-profit community organizations via the Orlando Magic Youth Fund (OMYF), a fund of the McCormick Foundation since 1994, which serves at risk and disadvantaged youth. Season ticket highlights include: 7,569 seats priced $25 or under per game; a $27 lower bowl ticket; and tickets priced at $10 per game. For ticket information log on to orlandomagic.com or call 407-89-MAGIC.

Through the National Basketball Association’s NBA CARES program, the league, players and teams will raise and contribute $100 million for charity, donate more than 1 million hours of hands-on volunteer service to communities worldwide, and build more than 100 places where kids can learn and play over the next five years.  

The Orlando Magic is also the developer of the new downtown Events Center which will compete to host major national events, concerts and family shows. Opening in the fall of 2010, the facility will be operated by the City of Orlando and owned by the Central Florida Community.

Follow the Orlando Magic on Twitter at http://twitter.com/Orlando_Magic  

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Keywords · Nick Anderson · Bo Outlaw · Orlando Magic · Alex Martins · Hedo Turkoglu · NBA's Most Improved Player Award · The Orlando Magic Youth Fund · McCormick Foundation

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Name: Trish Wingerson
Organization: Orlando Magic
Email:
Phone: +1.407- 916-2635 Direct
URL: http://www.nba.com/magic/Papa_Johns_VIP_Experience_Spl-302153-1664.html

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