ST. LOUIS, Mo., Oct. 2, 2012…Today marks the halfway point for voting in U.S. Cellular’s (NYSE: USM) Calling All Communities campaign, and the carrier has announced the list of the Top 100 schools receiving votes. Almost three weeks remain to rally community support and add to the 33,579 votes that have been cast so far to win a share of $1 million in the company’s fourth annual campaign to support education. With more than 16,000 votes cast in the last week, there’s plenty of time to rally votes to make a difference for your school.

“It’s been great to see the excitement and community support throughout the first half of the Calling All Communities campaign,” said Nathan Waddell, director of sales for U.S. Cellular in Missouri. “There was a great deal of movement on the Top 100 list in the first few weeks and there’s plenty of time left for schools to rally their community in the final half of the campaign. We’re excited to help our communities gather together to support education and we look forward to contributing to many of our local communities’ schools.”

The top 18 schools that receive the most votes will win a share of $1 million to spend any way they see fit. The school that garners the most votes will receive $150,000, and the next 17 schools will each receive $50,000. The voting period ends Oct. 21.

As of Oct. 2, the Top 100 schools lead a total of 881 schools throughout the country that have received votes. This week there are three new schools in the Top 20 and 13 new schools in the Top 100. In just one week, St.MichaelSchoolin Orland Park, Ill.jumped 34 spots into 16^th place, Big Pasture Elementary in Randlett, Okla. moved up 22 spots to 13^th place and St. Gerard Majella School in St. Louis, Mo. made a massive jump up 45 places to 51^st place. Marlatt Elementary School in Manhattan, Kan. also made an impressive debut on the Top 100 list in week three, gathering enough votes through a community Ice Cream Social event to come in at 36^th place.

In the St. Louis area, Kirkwood-based St. Gerard Majella is currently joined on the top 100 list by 3 other schools in the Metro area including:  Yeatman Middle School in St. Louis at spot 85, St. Patrick School in Wentzville at spot 57 and Niedringhaus Elementary School in Granite City at spot 73. An additional 6 schools the state of Missouri have also rallied enough votes to make it into the top 100.

There is plenty of time for communities to rally and vote for their local schools and the standings can change quickly. The full Top 100 school list for this week can be seen at uscellular.com/callingallcommunities.

Anyone 18 years or older can visit any U.S. Cellular store and receive a code to vote for their favorite school at uscellular.com – along with information on the latest mobile devices and services.[i] Enter the code online at uscellular.com to cast your vote. You can then check back to track your school ranking, see the top schools, get ideas to rally more votes and post photos. With only one vote per person, it is imperative to get entire communities involved.

Public and private schools, kindergarten through high school, are eligible to win. No purchase is necessary and you don’t have to be a U.S. Cellular customer to vote. The winning schools will be announced in November. The official rules for the campaign are located at uscellular.com/callingallcommunities. For more information about U.S. Cellular and Calling All Communities, visit uscellular.com or facebook.com/uscellular.

For more information, contact:

Sara Randolph, The Hauser Group, (314) 436-9090

Kelly Harfoot, U.S. Cellular, (773) 355-3697

Tags: CAC, U.S. Cellular

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