| Press Release |
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For Immediate Release CONTACT: Audrey Mann Cronin |
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THINKRONIZE’S netTrekker home EARNS THE NATIONAL PARENTING CENTER’S SEAL OF APPROVAL
America’s #1 Educational Search Engine for Children Wins Over Parents, Students and Educators
Cincinnati, OH, September 18, 2006 – Developed by Thinkronize, netTrekker home, the educational search engine specifically designed to keep children safe online, has been honored with the National Parenting Center’s Seal of Approval. This seal is awarded to products of superb design and quality that are evaluated through an independent testing procedure. netTrekker home is unlike broad search engines including Google™ and Yahoo®, which can generate links to inappropriate websites for even innocent search terms, and reams of results that have no relevance to schoolwork. netTrekker home marries a hundreds-strong team of educators, proprietary technology and some 180,000 websites to produce text and image search results that are pornography-free, safe and relevant only for schoolwork. There are no sponsored links or direct links to pages offering products for sale, keeping students focused on the educational task at hand.
“Children and online safety is a growing concern for parents worldwide. As the Internet becomes a ‘must-have’ tool in every home for schoolwork and academic success, children and parents need a worry-free way to search. That’s why we developed netTrekker home,” said Randy Wilhelm, CEO of Thinkronize. “We are honored to receive this seal of approval by parents, children and educators alike. This award signifies our company’s dedication and ongoing commitment to children and their safety online.”
The National Parenting Center stated, “When children are using netTrekker home, parents can rest assure that their kids are protected from all the harm that is lurking ‘out there’ on the Internet. The people behind this product really did their homework.”
Methodology
The National Parenting Center’s Seal of Approval program involves an independent testing procedure including a multi-step process conducted over an eight-week period. Staffed by volunteers, the testing facility gives parents, children, and educators the opportunity to examine a variety of submitted products. The testers are encouraged to play with, build, read about, and judge by the reactions of the children, each product's quality. The products are evaluated on level of desirability, sturdiness, interactive stimulation and other ingredients essential in the make-up of a quality product. Test results are based on both statistical averaging and comments received from the parent/testers.
About TNPC
The Seal of Approval program is designed to continue the efforts of The National Parenting Center, which was chartered in 1989 to help create better informed parents as they tackle the challenges of parenting in the new millennium. This award signifies to other parents that their peers have acknowledged a product's quality and desirability based on a wide variety of determining factors. It is the sole intention of The National Parenting Center to advise, support and guide parents with sound, responsible advice.
About the netTrekker Product Suite
The netTrekker product line includes award-winning educational search products for both the education (netTrekker classic and netTrekker d.i.) and consumer (netTrekker home) markets. Unlike ordinary search engines, products from the netTrekker suite provide fast and easy access to only the best, pornography-free, educational resources from the entire Internet in a safe, organized, standards-aligned format. Using netTrekker search engines, educators, school librarians, students and parents save valuable time because they are directed to relevant, reliable, educator-selected websites every time – meaning less time spent on searching and more time focused on teaching, learning and achieving. For more information about the netTrekker suite, visit www.nettrekker.com.
About Thinkronize
Thinkronize, an Internet developer of K-12 educational products, was founded in 1999 and grew out of a passion for and commitment to enhancing teaching and learning with the Internet and standards-based online resources. The company launched its flagship product, netTrekker classic, in October 2000 and has since expanded the product line to include netTrekker d.i., designed for use in schools to help educators meet individual students' learning needs, and netTrekker home, available for purchase by parents whose district or school has not yet purchased a netTrekker subscription. Peers, educators and parents have honored Thinkronize and the netTrekker product suite 16 times for their contribution to education. Thinkronize currently serves nearly 8.3 million students in 48 states, including adoptions by key districts and states nationwide and is one of the fastest growing companies in the education industry. In August, 2006, Thinkronize was named to the Inc. 500 list, with over 400% growth in three years. For more information visit www.thinkronize.com or phone 877-517-1125.
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