Rent-to-own News - Carrico honored by Illinois State Board of Education

The Illinois State Board of Education honors Larry Carrico Tuesday: (L to R) Murray Beck, Larry Carrico, Mark Williams and Kevin Settle, superintendent Mt. Vernon Schools.

Rent One Tuesday, kicked off it's 2011 annual managers meeting in O'Fallon, Illinois, with a special surprise presentation from the Illinois State Board of Education to Rent One CEO Larry Carrico.

Carrico was honored with a special resolution in his honor by the board for his help in initiating a health and fitness program -- Fitnessgram -- in Mt. Vernon City Schools District 80. He is only the fourth person to be recognized in such a way by the ISBE.

"Larry has been supporter of the schools in Mt. Vernon for years, but the past two years his level of involvement and support has risen to a level worthy of recognition," said Mt. Vernon Schools Superintendent Kevin Settle, who nominated Carrico for the honor. "After last year’s first full year of implementation (of Fitnessgram), our students showed an increase in their knowledge about fitness and nutrition and we are implementing it again this year."

Carrico and Rent One provided district wide software and a monitoring grant for each school to be used by instructors for training and materials to implement the program that promotes the awareness and importance of physical activity and its relationship to health and academics. Read more here.

"Children, and adults as well, perform substantially better when they are physically fit," Carrico said. "If we can get our youth smarter and healthier, the better they will be able to lead us into the future. When we go back and think of all the things we've achieved over the years, it's always fun to give back."

Some 1,200 K-8 students are participating in Fitnessgram in District 80.

Another reason Carrico was nominated to receive ISBE’s special recognition was for his work with United Way of Jefferson County.  This year he is campaign chair and has worked to raise $340,000.  Most of the agencies that are funded serve District 80 students and their families, Settle said.

This year he also started a special program to provide mini grants for teachers to do innovative projects in their classrooms that would not be funded by local education dollars.

The ISBE consists of nine members who are appointed by the Governor with the consent of the Senate. Board members serve four-year terms, with State Board membership limited to two consecutive terms.

Carrico was also recently recognized by the Illinois Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance, (IAHPERD) for his work to implement Fitnessgram for the Mount Vernon City Schools. Read full story.

"We're all hoping this is the direction we will begin to head as a nation and Larry's recognition at the state level is a great first step," Settle said.

Some 150 Rent One managers, corporate staff, family and guests are here for Rentastic! 2011, which continues through Wednesday. The meeting this year has also drawn a record 29 participating vendor companies who will get the opportunity to meet managers one-on-one Tuesday.

After the company updates Tuesday, managers will participate in a full-on power training Wednesday morning with renown speaker Jeremiah Wilson of Contact Point Solutions. Wilson has led a number of successful personal and leadership development trainings for rent to own companies over the past two years and has become a highly sought after speaker in the industry.

Breakout educational sessions follow and meeting wraps with Rent One's Annual Dinner and Awards Banquet where the company's outstanding performers and partners are recognized.

Rod Krueger is manager of the Rent One store in Pocahontas, Arkansas.

Though he's new to the RTO industry and has only been with Rent One for five months, he said the company's emphasis on personal development and leadership training was a good fit.

"They just have this top notch focus on training and are really interested in your development and growth not only as an employee but as a person," Krueger said. "I know I'm in the right place."

See photos of Rentastic! 2011 here.