[October 15, 2008] U.S. Olympic Gold Medalist Kerri Walsh to Honor Hazlet Teacher Katey Patrizio; Essay Won $24,000 in Lenovo PC Technologies for Holy Family School Tweet HAZLET, N.J. --(Business Wire)-- Two-time Olympic gold medalist Kerri Walsh will visit the Holy Family School on Thursday, Oct. 16 to honor teacher Katey Patrizio, whose essay won the Lenovo "Racing Toward Innovation" competition, developed in support of United States Olympic Committee educational programs. Walsh, who won gold medals for beach volleyball in the Beijing 2008 and Athens 2004 Olympic Games along with partner Misty May-Treanor, will participate in a program with the 150 students of the school, their teachers and families. Along with Lenovo public sector executive Neil Estevez, Walsh will present the school with 21 Lenovo ThinkPad notebook PCs and a portable classroom projector, as well as a Lenovo IdeaPad U110 notebook PC for Ms. Patrizio. The PC company Lenovo is a Worldwide Partner of the Olympic Games and the Olympic Torch Relay. The innovation competition supported the U.S. Olympic Committee's educational program "Olympians in Life," which created lesson plans around Olympic content for K-12 students. In the competition, more than 350 teachers from across the United States wrote about how the most significant technological achievement of the last 25 years had affected global society. Ms. Patrizio described the Internet, writing that "past generations were often lectured to about what to expect in 'the real world.' Through the Internet, today's students have already become active participants in 'the real world.' Based on the ideas being created now by this Internet savvy generation, I can only imagine what wonders our future reality will hold." Ms. Patrizio teaches students in grades 5-8. Lenovo supported Walsh, May-Treanor and 13 other worldwide athletes as Lenovo Champions in the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. "One of the most valuable qualities of the Olympic movement is in the way it educates and inspires young people," Walsh says. "Lenovo and Misty and I are extremely proud to help Katey Patrizio and the Holy Family School build on that Olympic tradition." About Lenovo Since 1993, Lenovo has helped schools in all 50 states and 23 countries foster 21st century skills in their students, including creativity, problem-solving, communication and analytical thinking. At the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, a multi-layered computing solution consisting of more than 30,000 pieces of Lenovo equipment and nearly 600 engineers provided smooth, error-free performance at the largest sporting event in human history. Formed by Lenovo Group's acquisition of the former IBM Personal Computing Division, Lenovo (992) (ADR: LNVGY) develops, manufactures and markets reliable high-quality, secure and easy-to-use technology products and services worldwide. For more information, see www.lenovo.com. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]