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Taco Bell CEO rewards Alaska students with leadership training course

September 3, 2013

Taco Bell Corp., together with the Taco Bell Foundation for Teens; Get Schooled and Viacom's umbrella for social responsibility, Viacommunity, recently recognized students in Bethel, Alaska, who won an academic competition for their commitment to graduating.

Hosted at Bethel Regional High School, the activities included a school assembly with by hip hop artist Kendrick Lamar, MTV news correspondent Sway and NBA player James Harden, and a leadership training course hosted by Taco Bell CEO, Greg Creed.

In the spring of 2013, Get Schooled, a national non-profit, sponsored the three-month competition involving 325 high schools in 14 states aimed at improving college readiness. Bethel's student council spearheaded the effort by mobilizing their peers to participate in the competition. Bethel's students achieved a 100-percent participation rate in activities such as Twitter chats with college experts and college exploratory sessions.

Also, more than 80 percent of its graduating seniors worked with their College & Career Guide to apply to college or technical schools. Four other Alaska College & Career Advising Corps high schools placed in the top 15. The competition was supported by USA Funds.

Bethel's efforts beat out 325 other high schools and inspired Taco Bell's Creed to personally conduct a leadership course.

The high school celebration represents Taco Bell's second visit to Bethel, a remote community accessible only by plane or ship. Following a 2012 hoax that convinced Bethel's residents that a Taco Bell restaurant would open in their city and left them disappointed to find it untrue, Taco Bell airlifted a Taco Truck to the community, feeding 10,000 people and awarding a $10,000 grant to its local high school.

"At Taco Bell, we passionately serve each other and the communities around us. We made it to Bethel once, against all odds. The opportunity to return shows that feeding people's lives with 'mas' can mean much more than just giving them food," Creed said. "It can mean helping them find their purpose and giving them the tools they need to get there."

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