Southwest Airlines Presents Award to Fifth-Grader for Winning Artwork

VANCOUVER, Wash., March 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- More than 700 Southwest Airlines Pilots who participate in the Company's Adopt-A-Pilot community education program will be donning a very special tie as part of their uniforms this spring.

The winner of a national tie design contest is Vancouver Ogden Elementary fifth grader, Tracy Tran. She was selected as the winning designer from more than 2,500 entries received in the nationwide contest. To recognize her great achievement, Ogden Elementary Principal Marcie Ramberg and Southwest Airlines representatives celebrated with a special assembly at the Vancouver school and proclaimed today as "Tie Day."

"Congratulations to Tracy on an exceptional and creative tie design that will be proudly worn by more than 700 of our Pilots who volunteer with the Adopt-A-Pilot program," said Chuck Magill, Southwest Airlines Vice President of Flight Operations. 

Thousands of children submitted designs in a nationwide contest to design the official 2010 Adopt-A-Pilot program necktie. Each year, Southwest Pilots who volunteer in the Adopt-A-Pilot program receive a limited edition and very popular custom-designed silk tie. The Adopt-A-Pilot program is an educational mentorship program that encourages students to research careers, set personal goals, and realize the importance of achieving in school. The more than 700 Southwest Pilots volunteering in this year's Adopt-A-Pilot educational program will dedicate a combined 10,000+ hours of Volunteer service in more than 1,200 classrooms across the country.

Southwest Airlines Assistant Chief Pilot Jeff Dickinson and Captain Stub Henderson participated in the assembly, along with Principal Ramberg, parents and teachers who were presented a custom-made plaque commemorating the official tie design.

Created in 1997, Adopt-A-Pilot® started as a small community outreach program in just 50 classrooms in Southwest's destination cities, to reach more than 1,200 classrooms in large and small-town communities nationwide. Southwest Airlines developed the program in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Education and the Smithsonian Institution of National Air and Space Museum. National leaders such as Gen. Colin Powell, President Bill Clinton, and First Lady Laura Bush have recognized the excellence that the Adopt-A-Pilot program offers students.

Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV), the nation's largest carrier in terms of domestic passengers enplaned, currently serves 68 cities in 35 states. Based in Dallas, Southwest currently operates more than 3,200 flights a day and has nearly than 35,000 Employees. To learn more about Southwest's community involvement, visit www.southwest.com/cares.

SOURCE Southwest Airlines

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