Brandon, Miss., August 14th, 2007 — The Rankin County School District is proud to announce they have selected AnComm, the nation’s first and only anonymous online and text based reporting and emergency notification service, for use in thirteen of their schools. AnComm’s ‘Talk About It®’ anonymous online and text based reporting service is designed to reduce the likelihood of student and school crises by improving the flow of communications between teachers, counselors, school officials and students.

The introduction of the new anonymous online and text based reporting service reflects the Rankin County School District’s ongoing commitment to providing students with a quality educational experience and to enable each child with the opportunity to succeed personally.

“The Rankin County School District is committed to fostering a safer, more comfortable learning environment for all of our students,” said Rankin County School District Superintendent Dr. Lynn Weathersby. “With AnComm’s ‘Talk About It®’ anonymous online and text based reporting service, we are placing communications at the heart of our school safety efforts.  This new technology will help us facilitate an online dialogue between school officials and students.”

Currently in use by more than 100 school systems across the country, AnComm’s ‘Talk About It’ anonymous online and text based reporting service gives students a web-based portal to reach out and communicate various issues, breaking the ‘code of silence’ through anonymous communication.
Through the simple, intuitively designed ‘Talk About It®’ online reporting center, students log in — with their own confidential access code — to their school's personalized ‘Talk About It®’ home page where they can select a topic from a pull-down menu and send an anonymous message to a designated faculty member anytime from any web-connected computer, PDA or wireless device. Once the message is sent, the designated faculty member receives a real-time notification prompting them to log into ‘Talk About It®’ to retrieve the student’s message and provide immediate help to the student. Because the online messages sent through AnComm’s ‘Talk About It®’ service are sent anonymously, students feel more comfortable communicating to school administrators, counselors and faculty about problems and issues without fear of retribution or embarrassment.

“For school administrators, ‘Talk About It®’ empowers faculty with an ‘early warning system’ so that they may proactively communicate, intervene and resolve crisis situations before they can occur,” said Carter Myers, President of AnComm. “To date, ‘Talk About it’ has been integral in preventing hundreds of incidents of school violence, ranging from bullying, gangs, threats of violence and cheating to drug and alcohol abuse, pregnancy, depression, stress, physical abuse, self-mutilation, sexual harassment and date rape.”

‘Talk About It’ will be made available at the beginning of the 2007-2008 school year to students in the following schools: Brandon Middle School, Brandon High School, Florence Middle School, Florence High School, McLaurin Attendance Center, Northwest Middle School, Northwest High School, Pelahatchie Attendance Center, Pisgah Attendance Center, Puckett Attendance Center, Richland Upper Elementary, Richland High School and The Learning Center.

Funding for the service is provided for under Title IV, the Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act which provides financial assistance for state and local drug and violence prevention activities in elementary, secondary schools and institutions of higher education.

About AnComm’s ‘Talk About It®’
Developed by AnComm, ‘Talk About It’ is the nation’s first and only anonymous online reporting and emergency notification service for schools. Easy-to-use and implement, ‘Talk About It®’ is a preventative solution focused on bridging the communication gap between students and faculty to foster a safer, more comfortable learning environment. To learn how your educational institution can benefit from AnComm’s ‘Talk About It®’ anonymous online and text based reporting service, call 1 (866) 926-2666 or visit their web site at http://www.ancomm.com.

Contacts
Marisa Oliveri
Rankin County School District
601-825-5590
marisa.oliveri@rcsd.ms

Lou Hughes
Moving Minds, LLC
386-864-8403
lou.hughes@movingmindsllc.com