David Neeleman, JetBlue CEO Joins Smart Kids With LD as Honorary Chairman.

Business Editors

WESTPORT, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 30, 2002

Smart Kids with Learning Disabilities, Inc. (Smart Kids), the Westport-based nonprofit organization serving parents of children with learning disabilities and ADHD, announced today that David Neeleman, CEO of JetBlue Airways has joined Smart Kids as Honorary Chairman.

Smart Kids provides parents with authoritative information from leading experts, as well as encouragement and support from other parents to help them become effective advocates for their children. The organization produces a highly regarded national newsletter, Smart Kids with Learning Disabilities (Smart Kids with LD), as well as regional outreach programs and a website emphasizing these children's strengths as well as their difficulties. Learning disabilities - neurologically-based problems causing children to have difficulty learning in school -- affect substantial numbers of children: According to studies sponsored by the National Institute of Children's Health and Human Development (NICHD), as many as one child in five has a reading disability. Many of these otherwise bright and capable children also have attention deficit disorders (ADHD).

"It's a great honor to join the Smart Kids team," said David Neeleman, CEO of JetBlue Airways. "When I was growing up in the `60s, not a lot was known about ADHD. But thanks to the support of my parents and teachers, I'm proof that it doesn't have to hold you back. Sometimes I even think it's an advantage."

JetBlue Airways is Neeleman's third successful airline business. Since its launch in February 2000 with two planes and two destinations, JetBlue has grown to serve 19 cities and now operates more than 130 flights a day with a fleet of 31 new Airbus A320 aircraft. A relentless innovator, Neeleman was in his twenties when he helped found his first airline, Morris Air, which he later sold to Southwest Airlines. He then went on to develop Open Skies, the first e-ticketing system and to help launch WestJet, a successful Canadian low-fare carrier.

The source of his fearless innovation, Neeleman says, is his ability to think differently: Like other prominent CEOs with dyslexia, he reports doing things "from Z to A."

The Smart Kids team of parents and professionals created its newsletter "to throw a lifeline to parents struggling to understand their children's difficulties and to help them succeed," says Executive Director Jane Ross. "We knew from our own experience and from focus-group research that there was an urgent need for information and practical help."

Supported by the expertise of a distinguished Professional Advisory Board, the team developed a newsletter unique in providing accessible, upbeat and action-oriented editorial content while also offering a sense of community to parents who frequently feel isolated and alone. The newsletter is described by Judith Birsh, Ed.D, Graduate School of Education, Fordham University in New York as "wonderful... just right for parents and very helpful for the professional as well." Dr. Birsh adds: "You are providing a real service that I don't believe anyone else is doing."

The first issue of Smart Kids with LD was featured on LD OnLine in May 2000. Within six months, it attracted members from 49 states and six countries abroad. Both the Smart Kids members' newsletter and its website at www.SmartKidswithLD.org encourage parents to become effective advocates for their children and convey a clear message: These kids are smart. They have significant strengths. If they get the help they need, they can succeed--and will often excel.

In accepting the position of Honorary Chairman of Smart Kids, Neeleman affirms his commitment to helping children with learning disabilities and ADHD, and in particular to Smart Kids' mission to provide accessible information and support, at modest cost, to parents throughout the country.

"Learning disabilities are a very important issue for me," he says - along with his family, his faith, and his commitment to the customers and crew members of JetBlue Airways. Smart Kids is extremely pleased to have the support of the virtuoso of start-ups during this still-early period in its development.

To receive the Smart Kids with LD newsletter, send $25 for a one-year membership to Smart Kids with Learning Disabilities, P.O. Box 2726, Westport, CT 06880; or join via the website at www.SmartKidswithLD.org. Smart Kids can be contacted at [e-mail] or at [phone].