Judy L. Harris Named Chief Executive Officer of Smarterville, Inc

Business Wire, July 8, 2008

BALTIMORE -- Judy L. Harris has been named as Chief Executive Officer of Smarterville, Inc., a leading supplemental educational products company that sells Hooked on Phonics, the #1 trusted brand in teaching kids to read.

Prior to joining Smarterville, Harris served as President and CEO of the Educational Media Segment for PRIMEDIA, where she ran two leading education media companies, Channel One Network and Films Media Group.

"Judy's legacy as a pioneer of educational-based marketing, branding and business development for brand entities such as PBS, Discovery, Hallmark and Crayola is a perfect fit for this role," said Christopher Hoehn-Saric, Chairman of the Board of Smarterville. "She has a passion for education and gift for business to the benefit of children, their parents and this company."

Smarterville creates, manufactures, and sells supplemental educational products that are fun, easy to use and effective. The company's product line includes the Hooked on Phonics early reading, math and study skills programs.

"I'm pleased to join Smarterville and help lead this company to achieve its vision of empowering parents and teachers to help children succeed," Harris said. "Learning to read as early as possible is the central skill for success. We know that parents are the first and best teachers--they can make a profound difference in a child's ability to read. Smarterville's premier brand, Hooked On Phonics, has helped over 2 million families and thousands of schools with direct and systematic instruction in learning skills." Harris has more than 30 years of professional experience and has held senior positions in private, non-profit and public companies.

Before joining Channel One in 2005, Harris was Executive Vice President of Businesses at PBS and was responsible for the consumer and educational markets. From 1999 to 2001, she was Senior Vice President and General Manager of Consumer and Educational Products at Discovery Communications, where she implemented global plans for educational products, home video, publishing, license merchandise and international sales and marketing.

Prior to her work with Discovery Communications, Harris was Vice President of Corporate Development at the Binney and Smith (Crayola) division of Hallmark, Inc. where she was responsible for extending the Crayola brand and created and developed a number of educational resources for parents and children.

Harris received a BS degree from Drexel University. She has also participated in an executive training program in marketing management at Columbia University.

About Smarterville, Inc.

Smarterville Productions LLC is a leading creator of supplemental educational products and media for parents and teachers. More than two million families and thousands of schools have turned to Smarterville and its portfolio of award-winning education products and media, such as Hooked On Phonics and the PBS series, Reading Rainbow.