Johannesburg race to benefit
LEAP Science and Maths School

LEAP's learners are 99.5 percent black South Africans, with two-thirds girls.

JOHANNESBURG, December 6, 2010 – LEAP Science and Maths School has been named the beneficiary for the 2011 J.P. Morgan Corporate Challenge® in Johannesburg.

The eighth annual Corporate Challenge – expected to attract a sell-out crowd of more than 12,000 runners and walkers from over 400 Gauteng companies – will be held on Thursday, 3 March 2011 on the grounds of the historic Wanderers Club.

LEAP is a collection of three independent high schools in Cape Town and Johannesburg serving the specific communities of Langa, Gugulethu and Alexandra with a fourth school opening in 2011 to serve the community of Diepsloot.

The JPMorgan Chase Foundation will make a donation to LEAP on behalf of the Corporate Challenge. More than $600,000US in total was donated in 2010 to not-for-profit organizations in each of the JPMorgan Chase Corporate Challenge Series cities.

LEAP schools are English language, senior secondary schools (Grade 9 through 12) and focus on whole learner development and rigorous academic training through:

• A values-focussed life orientation programme as the cornerstone of educational advancement
• A family-structure method of interaction within the school community
• Small class and school sizes (170 learners per school)
• Increased overall contact time between teachers and learners through an extended school day (8.15 a.m. to 5.15 p.m.), extended week (Saturday school) and extended year (holiday programmes)
• Double contact time in key subject focus areas (science, maths and English)
• Partnering with established successful schools
• A community specific focus with all learners coming from a designated community and a strong community development programme in that community

LEAP's learners come from specific communities served by each school and 99.5% of LEAP's 451 learners are black South Africans from economically disadvantaged households. More than two-thirds of the learners are girls with many living in non-permanent houses.

"LEAP seeks to enable the learners to transform their lives," said John Gilmour, Founder and Executive Director of LEAP Science and Maths School. "Our partnership with the J.P. Morgan Corporate Challenge will help these young South Africans break the cycle of poverty in their families. Together we are empowering them to become role models in their communities and equipping them to become positive agents of change and future leaders.

"Quality education is a global challenge that cannot fail to benefit from worldwide collaboration and partnerships such as this one," Gilmour continued. "We thank J.P. Morgan for putting their trust in us and our work."

Online registration has opened for the J.P. Morgan Corporate Challenge in Johannesburg, a 5.6-km (3.5 mile) road race that encourages company teamwork and camaraderie. The event has reached its full capacity of entries the past six years and promises to do so again in 2011. Plan your company entry today, with the knowledge that your participation not only benefits you and your colleagues, but also the learners at the LEAP Science and Maths School.