CHICAGO, IL(October 27, 2005) - Paul Grieg, Charter One President and CEO of Illinois, will revisit his elementary roots today as he participates in Chicago Public Schools' annual “Principal for a Day” program. Greig will join current principal, Graciano Ortega, at Josephine Locke elementary school (located at 2845 North Newcastle Avenue) to see his alma mater from a different perspective.
Following a meeting with Ortega, Greig will tour the school and visit classrooms so he can meet the students.
“I'm honored to be a part of such an important program for the city and Chicago Public Schools, which made this public/private partnership experience rewarding for all of us,” said Greig. “Charter One Bank is always looking for creative ways to support our local communities, so I am especially honored that the mayor has invited me to share my time and resources with students from my own elementary school as part of such a unique program.”
The “Principal for a Day” program was started by Mayor Daley in 1998 when 677 principals participated. With its increasing popularity, the program has since become popular among principals and executives alike, with more than 1700 participants last year. The goal of the program is to facilitate partnerships between schools and the Chicago business community.
In the past, the year-long partnerships have involved financial contributions, including volunteer activities by employees of the business, CEO involvement, and various resources donated by businesses. Partnership volunteers have donated their time and resources to help make the schools better places to learn through field trips, career days, tutoring and mentoring. Generous donations have provided state-of-the art science labs, additional books for the school and classroom libraries as well as computers and software.
About Charter One Bank, N.A.
Charter One Bank, N.A., is a $41 billion bank operating in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio. It has more than 132 branches and 392 ATMs in Illinois. Charter One is a subsidiary of Citizens Financial Group, Inc., a $148 billion commercial bank holding company headquartered in Providence, R.I. Citizens has more than 1,600 branches, approximately 3,100 ATMs and more than 27,000 employees in a 13-state retail branch network and non-branch offices in more than 30 states. Citizens is the eighth-largest commercial banking company in the United States ranked by deposits. Citizens is owned by RBS (The Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc).