Corvallis, MT. – On the final day of the 2008 school year, House District 87 candidate and Media Arts in the Public Schools (MAPS) President, Peter Rosten, was honored with the “Exemplary Service Award” by the Corvallis School District.

The presentation was made at the traditional year’s end teacher’s luncheon; Corvallis Superintendent, Daniel Sybrant, awarded the honor acknowledging Rosten’s four years with the high school and for Rosten’s “…vision, loyal dedication, perseverance and unwavering commitment to the students of the Corvallis School District.”

Says Sybrant: “Peter’s dream became a reality and we appreciate all the effort that he’s put in on a voluntary basis with our kids. Peter’s been a great asset to our school and our community.”

Over the last four years, the MAPS program has received local, state and national recognition. Recently honored with the 2008 “Award of Excellence in Education” from the San Francisco based, Society of New Communications Research, MAPS has evolved into a profitable business run by high school students.

“This year we had TV spots running in 38 states and the Center for Disease Control (CDC in Atlanta, GA) is broadcasting our tobacco-prevention PSA’s nationwide,” says Rosten. “Our clients pay us, we pay the kids - it’s the real world.”

Rosten sees similarities between MAPS and the opportunity to create quality jobs by serving in the Montana State Legislature.

“In 2003, we started MAPS with nothing but an idea and then we went to work -raising money, training the kids, securing clients etc. MAPS proves that we can build businesses that pay good wages and that’s one of our major priorities of our campaign.”

The impact of the MAPS program is also a key factor in Rosten’s run for office. “We’ve changed a lot of young peoples’ lives in a very positive way and I think we can do the same for Montana citizens.”

Rosten ran unopposed in the recent primary election and will face incumbent, Ron Stoker in November. “Ron and I both have track records and hopefully that is what the voters care about most – what we’ve accomplished in the past and what we can do for them in the future.”