Maryland State Superintendent of Schools Nancy S. Grasmick and Comcast today announced a call for nominations for the first of its kind Comcast Parent Involvement Matters Award at Cromwell Valley Elementary School in Towson, Maryland. The award, a joint partnership of the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) and Comcast, is for parents and others with legal responsibility for a child whose exemplary contributions to public education have led to improvements for Maryland's public school children, teachers, schools, programs, and/or policies. The purpose of the award is to highlight the positive impact parents have on public schools and to encourage all parents to get involved in whatever they can.

"I am thrilled to join in another partnership with Comcast to recognize the significance of parent involvement in Maryland public schools," said Dr. Grasmick. "This unique award will showcase the incredible impact parents and guardians have in the success of our schools and student's education."

This award, themed Choose Your Seat. Get Involved., allows parents the opportunity to be nominated in five areas of parent involvement:

• Communication - Fostering communication that impacts the school community.
  
• Volunteering - Recruiting or organizing volunteers, or supporting school activities, both internal and external.
  
• Learning - Organizing or coordinating learning activities that reinforce homework or classroom skills.
  
• Decision Making - Participating on decision-making committees, or in programs that advocate system or policy changes, or serving as a representative for the school or education community.
  
• Community Collaboration - Coordinating resources and services for the school community, which could include fundraisers that would enhance a school's services or environment, or coordinating resources or services from the school community that may serve an external community.

"Comcast is committed to our local communities and to supporting growth and development opportunities for our youth," said Barbara A. Gehrig, Regional Senior Vice President for Comcast. "The Comcast Parent Involvement Matters Award is designed to honor those parents across Maryland whose efforts are truly making a difference and to recognize their contributions to our students and schools."

To be considered for the Comcast Parent Involvement Matters Award, nominees must be a parent, or legal guardian, of a child who attends a Maryland public school and not an employee of Comcast, MSDE, or the Maryland public school system. There will be 24 local award winners - one parent from each of the 23 counties and Baltimore City - and of those, one state-level award winner. Comcast will host an award celebration in April 2008.

The applications can be downloaded at http://marylandpublicschools.org/MSDE/audiences/parents/pima
and must be postmarked January 23, 2008.

About Comcast Cable

Headquartered in Philadelphia, Comcast Cable is a division of Comcast Corporation, the nation's leading provider of cable, entertainment and communications products and services. With 24.2 million cable customers, 11.5 million high-speed Internet customers and 2.5 million digital voice customers, Comcast is principally involved in the development, management and operation of broadband cable networks and in the delivery of programming content.

Comcast's Eastern Division currently serves more than 5.4 million customers along the New York to DC corridor, including New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Washington, DC, Virginia and North Carolina. The Eastern Division also founded and manages CN8, The Comcast Network, one of the nation's largest and most honored regional 24-hour diversified television networks, seen by more than nine million homes on the East Coast. The Eastern Division is based in Oaks, Pennsylvania.