SAN DIEGO, CA – September 5, 2003 – Old Town restaurants including Café Coyote, Casa de Bandini, Casa Guadalajara, Casa de Pico, Coldstone Creamery, Lino’s, Old Town Mexican Café, and Rancho El Nopal are working together in support of the Old Town School Program.

The Old Town School Program provides students with a positive learning experience against the unique backdrop of San Diego’s Historic Old Town community. The program enhances students' awareness, acceptance, and appreciation of cultural, ethnic and individual contributions and differences through a focus on five race/human relation’s key concepts-identity, diversity, culture, conflict resolution, and prejudice/discrimination.

Various learning experiences are available to teachers in San Diego Unified and County Schools. They provide students with the opportunity to work as part of a team, while enhancing their physical fitness, health, aesthetic awareness, and familiarization with the cultural resources of the community. The program also enables students to develop a sense of responsibility for public parks and facilities.

Old Town restaurants have worked in partnership with the Old Town School Program and the Old Town San Diego State Historic Park over the past four years to raise funds and awareness for this educational program that benefits over 15,000 fourth grade students, and 20,000 additional students throughout the county. The restaurants and other retailers in Old Town have also joined teachers and parents in lobbying San Diego Unified Schools Board to protect this and the other core programs of the Off-Campus Integrated Learning Experiences Programs located at Old Town, Balboa Park, and Palomar.

“It is our belief that educational experiences such as the Old Town School Program need to be protected and supported by the community, they are a rare opportunity for students to learn about history, team work and diversity, promote health and nutrition outside the confines of the classroom”, says Lehn Goetz, owner of Café Coyote, and a key supporter of the Old Town School Program. Old Town restaurants have recently made a donation of new books on history, diversity, and culture, “these books will provide the program with vital reading materials that are current and appealing to youth participants,” says Jeanie Ferrell, owner of Coldstone Creamery, also a key supporter of the school program, and Old Town educational outreach.

Old Town restaurants and retailers have formed the Historic Old Town Community Foundation, which is dedicated to raising funds and awareness for educational programs that serve more than 30,000 youth in Old Town San Diego, including Old Town School Program participants. The foundation’s primary awareness and fundraising tool is the annual Old Town Fiesta Cinco de Mayo, now the third largest celebration of Latino arts and culture in the US. Wells Fargo, Title Sponsor of the event, is currently funding a “History of Banking & Finance” Math curriculum through Old Town with another Fiesta partner the San Diego Union-Tribune. For more information call 619-255-8989 or visit the fiesta web site at www.fiestacincodemayo.com.

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