Campaign promotes education

ATHENS, Ohio (AP) -- Visitors taking Ohio 32 out of this hometown of Ohio University might do a double take. A billboard shows University of Cincinnati President Nancy Zimpher in cap and gown.
It's not a recruiting effort to lure students to her school across the state. The billboard proclaims: "I'm a Child of Appalachia."
"I owe just so much of what I've done to my early education," said Zimpher, who grew up in Gallipolis and became UC's first female president in 2003.
She said the billboard's message is an important one in southeast Ohio: "If I can do it, you can do it."
Zimpher is one of three natives of the region whose accomplishments are highlighted in a campaign meant to both show off successful Appalachian natives and emphasize the benefits of higher education in an area that has lagged well behind both national and statewide rates for college-going and degrees.
What it's about
"We're trying to change this whole culture of low expectations," said Leslie Lilly, chief executive of the Foundation for Appalachian Ohio. "It's about regional pride and a message of the importance of education to the future of the region."
The push for higher education has become crucial to the region, Lilly said, with increased economic competition from rising economies such as China's and increasing importance for college-level education and training.
The foundation also has placed ads in newspapers and visitor' guides around the region and done public service announcements for regional media.
The foundation, founded in 1998 in Nelsonville, is a charity dedicated to helping the Appalachian region through grants to community organizations and projects, scholarships and other aid.