Officials with U-S Cellular have announced voting has started in the company-sponsored “Calling All Communities” campaign to improve education. Returning for its fourth year,the cellular phone provider will give communities the opportunity to help improve the education of students at 18 schools by challenging them to rally community support for the chance to win a share of $1 million. The school that garners the most community votes wins $150,000, while the next 17 schools with the most votes receive $50,000. Individuals can visit their local U.S. Cellular store to pick up a code to vote for their favorite school.

Calling All Communities is open to all K-12 schools — big or small, public or private. Voting concludes Oct. 21st. To vote, simply visit a local U.S. Cellular store to pick up a voting code, then enter it online at uscellular.com. You can check back to track your school ranking, see the top vote-getting schools, get ideas to rally more votes and post photos. With only one vote per person, it is important to get entire communities involved.

Since the program began in 2008, U.S. Cellular has awarded $3 million to 38 schools across the country for them to use however they see fit to impact the education of students. Past Calling All Communities champions have used their winnings in a variety of ways to strengthen the learning experience for thousands of students. Many winning schools outfitted their classrooms with new computers, improved outdated infrastructure and renovated gymnasiums, kitchens and science labs as well as provided scholarships to graduating students.

Among the school districts receiving awarded funds through the program over the past few years, is the Carroll Kuemper Catholic High School, which won $100,000 in 2009.  Getting off to a strong start in the voting has proven successful for schools in past campaigns. Previous winners got out of the gate early and rallied their community together in fun and innovative ways. Using social networking sites – such as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter – will help spread the word online, but don’t forget to engage parent teacher organizations, alumni networks, sports teams, the school band or student groups to help get the word out.

The official rules for the campaign are located at uscellular.com/callingallcommunities.