/24-7PressRelease/ - LOS ANGELES, CA, March 27, 2008 - Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza ("BHCP") officials proudly announce that fifth grader Jessica Robinson of the 54th Street Elementary School is the 2008 BHCP Kids' Spelling Bee champ.
Robinson beat second-place finisher Winston Ludlow of St. Bernadette Elementary School by spelling the word "usurp" in the bonus round of the champion finals that were held March 22, 2003in BHCP's Sears Court. Chauntel Browden of Tom Bradley Elementary School finished third.
Also competing in Saturday's finals were Ralston Galvez (Angeles Mesa), Destiny Thomas (Transfiguration) and Kayla Walls (Hillcrest).
The six finalists survived three rounds of eliminations that began at the beginning of March with about 250 fifth graders at six local elementary schools.
Adding to the championship excitement was teen singer/actress Keke Palmer, who served as one of the judges. In addition to being a judge, Palmer, who won the 2007 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a motion picture for her role in the critically acclaimed movie "Akeelah and the Bee", also performed a mini-concert to honor the finalists.
For her victory, Miss Robinson received $50 in cash, plus a trophy and brand new bike. The second place prize was $25 in cash and a trophy. The third place finisher received a trophy, plus all of the finalists were given an autographed copy of Keke's last CD entitled "So Uncool".
The competition was sponsored by BHCP Kids, which is the mall's education and health initiative. Angeles Mesa, Coliseum, Hillcrest Drive, St. Bernadette's, Tom Bradley, 42nd Street' 54th Street; Sixth Avenue and Transfiguration are participating schools in the BHCP Kids' program.
Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza, located at the corner of Martin Luther King Jr. and Crenshaw Boulevards is home of Macy's, Wal-Mart, Sears, Magic Johnson Theaters, Creole Chef, and over 115 stores and restaurants.
About Blitz Group LLC
Blitz Group is a Chicago-based boutique media company specializing in media strategy, event planning and television production.
About Keke Palmer
Born Lauren Keyana Palmer, in Robbins, Illinois, (a small town 20 miles south of Chicago). Palmer
showed vocal promise as a five-year-old when she belted out, "Jesus Loves Me" in her church choir.
Although music was her passion, Palmer's first big break came via her acting skills, making her big
screen debut in the 2004 "Barbershop 2: Back in Business", as Queen Latifah's niece.
Immediately recognizing her star potential, the film's producers encouraged Palmer's parents to
take their daughter to California to explore other acting opportunities. Once settled on the West
Coast, Palmer did not waste any time. Within six weeks she had booked an episode of the critically
acclaimed CBS Show, "Cold Case", booked a national K-Mart commercial, and was chosen from a
nationwide search to play opposite William H. Macy in a TNT movie. Palmer's performance in,
Wool Cap, was so amazing that it earned her a Screen Actors Guild Nomination, to date, she is the youngest actress,
(then at age ten), ever to receive a nomination in a Lead Actress Category. In 2006, Palmer
appeared as the lead character, Akeelah Anderson in the critically acclaimed award-winning film
"Akeelah and the Bee". The film, about young South Los Angeles girl who attempts to win a national
spelling bee, won the hearts of audiences everywhere. Keke held her own, in scenes with acting
veteran co-stars Angela Bassett and Laurence Fishburne. That very same year, Palmer appeared in
Tyler Perry's, Medea's Family Reunion, which was number #1 at the box office for two consecutive weeks!
Palmer went on to win a 2007 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Motion
Picture for her breakout role in, Akeelah and the Bee. She also received a ShoWest Award for,
"Rising Star of the Year". Shortly after, Palmer lit up the small screen starring in the Disney Channel
#1 hit movie "Jump In". This one-two punch of big screen success coupled with small screen ratings
power made Keke Palmer a househould name in Hollywood. Palmer contributed her first recording
to the "Akeelah and the Bee" soundtrack entitled "All My Girlz" and followed it up with the ever
popular "My Turn Now" on the Jump In Disney Channel Movie soundtrack. As if two soundtracks
were not enough, she was also asked to sing "Tonight", an end title song from the smash hit Ben Stiller
movie "Night at the Museum". Her Atlantic Records debut album, entitled "So Uncool", is jammed
with uptempo R&B tracks, inspirational moments, and love songs.
About Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza
The Festival Companies is a full-service commercial real estate firm and a leading shopping center developer based in Los Angeles, California. Festival has an extensive track record in redevelopment that has spurred revitalization and economic development in many communities. It has developed retail projects in 14 states comprising of over 20 million square feet. For more information on The Festival Companies, please call (310) 665-9600 or visit the company's Web site at http://www.festivalcos.com.
Capri Capital Partners, LLC, on behalf of an institutional client, owns Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza. Headquartered in Chicago, Capri Capital Partners is a real estate investment advisory firm, investing in and managing commercial real estate properties and portfolios since 1992. Capri offers a broad spectrum of equity and debt investment products and services to its clients - through separate account and commingled fund vehicles. Diversified assets managed on behalf of its pension fund and other institutional clients as of September 2007 total approximately $4 billion. For more information, please call 312-573-5275.
This announcement does not constitute an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities relating to Capri Capital Partners, LLC or any of its funds.
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