High School Internet Network Wins South Dakota School Association Endorsement; Association Joins Others Across the U.S. in Getting Into the Internet Game

Business Wire, June 21, 2000

Business Editors & High-Tech/Education Writers

PIERRE, S.D.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 21, 2000

The South Dakota High School Activities Association (SDHSAA) announced today that is has entered an exclusive arrangement with iHigh.com to provide the Association with an Internet site that provides high school news, sports statistics, schedules and student feature stories.

High schools in South Dakota now can work with iHigh.com to design and maintain their school Web page, which will be linked to other high schools across the country. iHigh.com is the only web site exclusively approved by and partnered with the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS). South Dakota is the 23rd state to connect with iHigh.com.

"In partnership with the National Federation and the South Dakota High School Activities Association, iHigh.com will give schools and the SDHSAA a unique opportunity to expand its internet presence and give wider access to information about both athletic and fine arts activities to fans, parents, media and alumni all over the state and nation," SDHSAA Executive Director Marlyn Goldhammer said.

The iHigh.com network gives the nation's high school students a school-approved Internet connection through which they can learn about each other, their schools and voice their opinions. More important, students gain technological skills, which are in great demand by employers nationwide. The agreement also allows schools to advertise local businesses on their page and use those advertising dollars for school programs.

The arrangement allows South Dakota high schools to produce world-class Web sites through iHigh.com's SchoolToolz(C) system. The service is free to high schools and allows them to augment their current Web sites with sophisticated and easy-to-use publishing tools through which all stories, schedules and stats tie into a network of sites across the country. Students create and maintain their sites under the direction of a teacher or coach to key in information.

"At iHigh.com, we are focused on enriching the high school sports and activities experience. This site is about high schools students, for high school students, by high school students," said Rick Ford, iHigh.com's CEO. "iHigh.com is the only site to include all the features important to students, including on-line surveys, music reviews and opportunities to email questions to celebrities. In addition, we offer schools a new fundraising opportunity--selling banner ads on their sites to local businesses."

Introduced last August in partnership with the NFHS, some individual state association members of the iHigh.com network include Florida, New York, Massachusetts, Maine, California, Colorado, Illinois, Tennessee, Wyoming, Texas, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Kentucky, Georgia and North Carolina. iHigh.com has an office in each member state, with its national headquarters located in Lexington, Kentucky. The company employs 70 people, plus 11 high school interns who design Web sites, develop content and serve as a sounding board to ensure that the site appeals to high school students.

For more information or a media kit, log onto www.iHigh.com or call Henry Bebrowsky, iHigh.com Marketing, 800/648-7211. For additional information on the SDHSAA and the iHigh.com partnership, please contact Randy Allen at 715/342-0062 or randy@ihigh.com.