“Each year, the Hot Line program gets a little bigger,” said Steve Whisenhunt, Safe and Drug Free Schools Coordinator for Miamisburg City Schools. “This year, we are raising awareness of the Hot Line by handing out 5,000 magnets with the phone number on them to our students and their families. Already this year, we’ve had reports called in about some problems on specific school buses. Thanks to the callers, the appropriate adults were notified and actions were taken to stop the problem behavior.”

Cricket’s participation in the program is a result of the Cricket Cares program. The Hot Line is powered by three Cricket wireless phones and Cricket wireless phone service donated to Miamisburg City Schools by the Dayton branch of Cricket. One phone serves as the actual Hot Line phone, with all calls answered by a voicemail system. The other two phones are used by Joel Mitchell, School Resource Officer, and Cathy Gilkison, Attendance Officer. The phones used by Mitchell and Gilkison allow them to stay in touch with all schools at all times without being tied down to a desk.

“Without Cricket, we wouldn’t have the Safe and Drug Free Schools Hot Line” said Whisenhunt. “Basically, they supply the hardware and we do the legwork. As an example, let’s take a truancy situation. Someone calls in a tip to the Hot Line that they have seen some students who should be in school but aren’t. I get the message off the Hot Line voicemail, and report it to Cathy Gilkison, our Attendance Officer. She would then take immediate action to track the kids down and contact the parents.”  

The number for the Miamisburg City Schools Safe and Drug Free Schools Hot Line is 937-520-0070. Anyone may report any type of safety, truancy or drug-related problem connected to any Miamisburg school student(s), from Kindergarten through Grade 12.              

About Cricket^®

Cricket is a simple and affordable mobile phone service providing customers and local businesses with flat-rate, unlimited service over a high-quality, all-digital wireless network. Designed for customers under-served by traditional communications companies, Cricket is the pioneer of unlimited anytime minutes with no long-term contract or credit check required. Plus, Cricket offers customers access to a variety of feature-rich mobile applications such as unlimited text messaging, picture messaging and more.  For more information, please visit www.mycricket.com. Cricket is a business of Leap Wireless International, Inc. [NASDAQ: LEAP], headquartered in San Diego, Calif. For more information on Leap, visit www.leapwireless.com.

About Cricket Cares

Cricket Cares is an expression of Cricket’s commitment to giving back to the communities in which it operates. “Cricket employees are empowered to make decisions about getting involved in local charitable, educational and wellness-oriented activities,” said Garth Brandwein, Area General Manager for Cricket.  “We feel strongly about our corporate responsibility to make a difference in our community.” Through the Cricket Cares program, Cricket is helping local charities and nonprofit organizations achieve their goals. Cricket welcomes inquiries from charities and other organizations regarding the possibility of a Cricket Cares partnership.

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