WASHINGTON STATE MAP Program Receives Grant from M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust and Hires Executive Director and Assistant Executive Director
Marcia and Bill Fromhold to lead Mentoring Advanced Placement*

VANCOUVER, WA – October 22, 2007 – Mentoring Advanced Placement (MAP), a non-profit organization headquartered in Vancouver, WA, has been awarded $134,000 from the M. J. Murdock Charitable Trust to hire staff to expand its mentoring and teacher training programs across the state.  The funding has allowed MAP to hire Marcia Fromhold as Executive Director and Bill Fromhold as Assistant Executive Director effective immediately. 

“We are honored to have Marcia and Bill join the MAP team.  They bring a remarkable set of strengths and deep passion to the MAP organization,” said Scott Keeney, President/CEO of nLight and MAP Chair.  “Their depth and breadth of experience and relationships in education, along with a keen focus on academic rigor and outcomes, is exactly what we need to expand our programs across the state.”

Marcia has been serving as interim Executive Director of MAP since August 2007. Marcia has been a teacher, principal, chief financial officer and superintendent in Washington school districts.  In addition, she has served as Washington State Senate staff and legislative liaison for the Office of the State Superintendent of Public Instruction.  Bill Fromhold currently serves as a state legislator in the 49th Legislative District in Vancouver, WA, and has held a variety of executive leadership positions in education and business including positions with the Vancouver Chamber of Commerce, Evergreen School District, Seafirst Bank, Educational Service District 112, and Weyerhaeuser.

MAP first launched its Mentoring Program in the Spring of 2005, matching Clark County business professionals with high school students in advanced placement courses.  Bolstered by funds from local school districts and private donors, MAP’s mentoring program currently has 30 mentors working in 10 Clark County schools and serving 165 students.  In September, MAP was one of seven organizations nationally awarded a six year $13.2 million grant from the National Math and Science Initiative (NMSI) to fund training and incentive programs for AP® and Pre-AP® courses. The funding will enable a select number of Washington high schools to participate in an intensive, structured teacher training program aimed at increasing the number of students taking advanced placement courses and achieving qualifying scores on the AP®  exam.  MAP anticipates funding seven schools in the first year with additional schools invited to apply each subsequent year. 
About Mentoring Advanced Placement (MAP)

Launched in 2005, MAP is a unique, business-education non-profit organization that works with school districts, teachers, high school students, and professionals from the business world to bring real-world relevance, rigor, and relationships to the classroom.  Its mission is to challenge high school students to succeed in more rigorous academic subjects to prepare them to become future leaders and innovators in the global economy.  MAP does this through a combination of student mentoring, teacher training, and incentives.  For more information about MAP, please visit their website at www.apmentoring.org.

About M. J. Murdock Charitable Trust
The M. J. Murdock Trust was created by the will of the late Melvin J. (Jack) Murdock, co-founder of Tektronix, Inc., in Beaverton, Oregon, and a resident of Vancouver, Washington.  Since its establishment in 1975, the Trust has focused its grant making efforts in the five states of the Pacific Northwest: Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington.  The Trust’s mission is to enrich the quality of life in the Pacific Northwest by providing grants and enrichment programs to organizations seeking to strengthen the region’s educational, spiritual, and cultural base in creative and sustainable ways.  For more information on the Trust, please visit the Trust website at www.murdock-trust.org.

* Advanced Placement and AP are registered trademarks of the College Board