Newly Released 2005-06 Museum Tour Catalog
Takes Position on Increasing U.S. Educational Output

Milwaukie , Oregon – September 15, 2005 . Museum Tour Catalog releases 2005-06 issue dedicated to the future of our nation's children. The focus of this new catalog is to reinforce continuing education as part of the American family lifestyle.

Addressing Today's Educational Concerns

The National Science Board's 2004 report indicates the number of people receiving science degrees over the past 30 years has dropped in the U.S. from third to 17 th in the world . This decrease is happening at a time when the U.S. job market for science and engineering skills is growing almost 5% a year with our labor force only increasing by 1%. Recent technological developments have put the U.S. in major competition with developing countries. People from other nations are studying for advanced degrees in greater numbers while our own educational output has decreased.

The 2005-06 Museum Tour Catalog dedicated the opening spread to this subject and specifically selected products addressing these concerns. This catalog sourced tools to help understand rising water tables, climate change, solar energy, social responsibility (see pages 44-45), the global economy and multiple learning theories (page. 3), archaeological discoveries (page. 5), and space exploration (pages 26-27). Prep help for the new SAT 2005 (page 93) is also available in this issue. Core subjects for use at home and in the classroom continue to be the catalog's mainstay.

“ Continuing the education process in the home has never been more critical ,” said Eichinger. “If we do not make education a daily part of the family lifestyle, the educational output in the U.S. will continue to decrease. Our goal as a company is to help stimulate higher levels of learning and link learning with fun ,” concluded Eichinger.

Museum Affiliations and Donations

In 1995, Marilynne Eichinger, company president and former museum director, joined with 22 museums nationwide and d eveloped the catalog as an educational aid for parents and a way of extending the museum experience into homes across America . As a member, museums share in the company's year-end profits and, to date, Museum Tour has donated $170,000 to its museum members. Four products in this issue directly benefit the recently damaged Louisiana Children's Museum - Water Wizardry (p. 29), Chaos Tower (p. 31) and Fun With Your Dog, Fun With Your Cat (both p.42).

Industry recognition

Marilynne Eichinger, recently earned 2005 Cataloger of the Year Award from Catalog Success and the Museum Tour Catalog just received the Silver Award from the Direct Marketing Association. This is the first award for Eichinger and the third for Museum Tour -- previously winning the Gold and Silver awards in the Children's Category.

Museum Tour is located at 2517 SE Mailwell Drive , Milwaukie , Oregon , 97222 . For further information, artwork or samples, please contact Barbara Lund at 503-496-1 256, barbl@museumtour.com .
To request a catalog, consumers may visit www.museumtour.com or call 800-360-9116.