Office Depot Has the Tools to Help Students Achieve School-Life Balance

Childhood today is more demanding than ever and parents are paying increased attention to how they can help balance their children’s lives. With the start of a new school year fast approaching, Office Depot (NYSE:ODP), a leading global provider of office products and services, is offering parents a variety of tips and advice in a new online resource called Balanced for Success: Tools for Surviving and Thriving in School Today. The guide features organizational and time management solutions to help children succeed in both the classroom and after-school activities. A new Back to School survey conducted by TNS NFO for Office Depot reinforces that parents are seeking advice on how to reduce their children’s stress. Findings include: Approximately half (49 percent) of all parents believe their child’s life would be balanced if it was more organized; More than 60 percent of parents feel their child would be less stressed if they had home schedules or time management coaching and tips; and 57 percent believe children between the ages of eight and 12 are ready to learn about managing their own activities. "Children’s lives would be more in control if they were more organized,” said parenting expert Stacy DeBroff, founder of MomCentral.com and author of The Mom Book Goes to School: Insider Tips to Ensure Your Child Thrives in Elementary and Middle School. "Many kids lag behind because basic self-management and organizational skills are lacking. You might see your child struggle with planning ahead, prioritizing or managing time effectively, but the good news is all of these concepts can be taught.” For students today, balancing after-school life has become almost as hard as juggling the demands of school work. According to the Office Depot survey, approximately 60 percent of students spend an average of four hours a week on homework and studying and between five to 10 hours a week on extracurricular activities. "Success depends on staying organized and keeping all activities on track while managing competing demands,” noted DeBroff. "To keep everything balanced, it is important to maintain a strong handle on what needs to be accomplished and to make key decisions together about what activities children should and shouldn’t undertake.” According to the Office Depot survey, parents reported that having the following three products at home would help their children stay organized and on top of school work and other commitments: 1. Erasable calendar with weekly schedules of activities 2. Colored folders marked by subject and task to help identify needed materials quickly 3. A single "To Do” notebook that details tasks and activities Balanced for Success Highlights Balanced for Success: Tools for Surviving and Thriving in School Today is available for free download at www.school.com. Highlights include: Create a Family Calendar Central to a family’s organizational success is a large master calendar. Help your children learn to anticipate and prepare for school and extracurricular activities by creating a well-organized family calendar. Start with a dry-erase organizer like the Mead Family Matters color-coded calendar ($15.49 to 38.99) and create a weekly ritual out of updating the calendar with your child to track the major events of the week. Lighten Your Little One’s Load Nearly a third of parents surveyed (28 percent) believe that a good backpack is their child’s most important organizational aid for school. DeBroff suggests selecting a kid-friendly backpack like the TUG by Foray line of backpacks ($9.99-39.99). Available exclusively at Office Depot, these stylish backpacks fit a child’s frame and are more comfortable to carry because of their ergonomic design. Color Coded for Success To avoid ending up at a music lesson without the instrument or at soccer practice without the cleats, encourage your child to keep a separate tote and notebook for each activity he/she is involved in. Assign each activity a particular color or pattern and follow through with that same pattern on tote bags, book covers, notebooks and accessories. To help kids become fully coordinated, Office Depot has a variety of new patterns available on a wide range of products ($1.99-9.99), including notebooks, folders and totes. About Office Depot’s 5% Back to Schools Program During the back-to-school season, Office Depot will help parents find all the right school supplies to prepare their children for class while giving back to communities through its "5% Back to Schools” program. The community program gives Office Depot customers an opportunity to help local schools receive credits for free supplies when they shop at Office Depot. Visit www.school.com or a local Office Depot store for information on Office Depot’s programs that benefit children, teachers and schools. About the Office Depot Survey An online omnibus study was conducted May 1st through the 14th. Twenty five hundred completes (representative of the U.S. household population 18+ on age, gender, geographic division, income, household size; household designation and market size) were received. In order to qualify for this study, respondents must have stated that they have children between the ages of five and 18. About Stacy DeBroff A dynamic national speaker and writer, Stacy DeBroff is President and Founder of Mom Central, Inc., a company devoted to providing pragmatic tips and advice to strengthen busy families and enhance the home environment. With her research and insight into the evolving state of American moms and families, DeBroff has also written several best-selling books on household and family organization including "The Mom Book Goes to School.” She has also appeared on network and regional television programs, including being a regular on NBC’s "Today Show.” She offers advice to parents on http://www.momcentral.com/. About Office Depot Office Depot provides more office products and services to more customers in more countries than any other company. Incorporated in 1986 and headquartered in Delray Beach, Fla., Office Depot has annual sales of over $15 billion, and employs approximately 52,000 associates around the world. Currently, the Company sells to customers directly or through affiliates in 42 countries. Office Depot is a leader in every distribution channel – from retail stores and contract delivery to catalogs and e-commerce. As of March 31, 2007, Office Depot had 1,174 retail stores in North America and another 360 stores, either company-owned, licensed or franchised, in other parts of the world. Office Depot serves a wide range of customers through a dedicated sales force, telephone account managers, direct mail offerings, and multiple web sites. With $4.5 billion in online sales during the last twelve months, the Company is also one of the world’s largest e-commerce retailers. Office Depot’s common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol ODP and is included in the S&P 500 Index. Additional press information can be found at: http://mediarelations.officedepot.com.