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Finalists announced for Royals as part of MLB, Target and Time Inc.'s 'PEOPLE' "All-Star Teachers" program to honor teachers

Vote now to honor a teacher at AllStarTeachers.com through June 29th; Royals winner to be recognized at the pregame ceremony of the 2014 MLB All-Star Game on July 15th on FOX

Major League Baseball, Target Corp (NYSE: TGT) and PEOPLE today announced the 90 finalists in the "Target Presents PEOPLE All-Star Teachers" campaign, which celebrates remarkable current and retired teachers who make an impact on the lives of their students and communities. The three finalists for the Kansas City Royals include Elizabeth Rogers, Megan Coone and Lindi Todd. Fans are encouraged to visit AllStarTeachers.com to vote on their favorite stories through June 29th

One winner from each of the 30 MLB Clubs will be included in All-Star Week activities and recognized during the pre-game ceremony of the 2014 MLB All-Star Game on FOX. An "All-Star Teacher" winner will be featured in 'PEOPLE' during the week of the MLB All-Star Game.

Elizabeth Rogers is a native Kansas Citian now teaching hearing impaired students at Northern Voices in Roseville, Minn. She teaches students with hearing aids and cochlear implants how to listen and talk without sign language and was selected to lead an initiative at Northern Voices, in collaboration with the St. Louis-based Moog Center for Deaf Education, that expands access to high-quality spoken language instruction via tele-intervention with the goal of helping children with hearing loss listen and talk. Elizabeth also recently started counseling families who have learned their baby has a hearing loss as they work through their grief and work through the next steps of the diagnosis.

Megan Coone started her teaching career in the early 2000s at Thomas Hart Benton Elementary in Independence, Mo., a low-income school where she teaches kindergarten. Coone is active in the district, participating in programs such as the Sunshine Committee, which collects gifts and flowers for families and staff who may be experiencing difficult times, and the Social Studies Committee, which seeks new and fun ways to help kids learn. She has received district awards for her classroom accomplishments but is also known for the love and support she shows her students, many of whom live in shelters and face other hardships, outside of the classroom. 

Lindi Todd teaches English to both English and Spanish speakers at Carthage (Mo.) Junior High. As a first-year teacher, this Royals fan helped implement a program to help Spanish-speaking students learn English by helping them with all of their courses and established the benchmarks now being used for the ESL program at the junior high and high schools. She has been acting as the unofficial department head, as well as volunteering for a variety of extracurricular activities at the school, despite being paid nothing beyond her base salary. Todd has seen the English-speaking skills of countless students from Guatemala, Mexico, Honduras and El Salvador improve, as she has developed relationships with her students, their parents and her co-workers. Todd has passed up the opportunity to move to larger school districts because she loves her students and her school in Carthage.

Target presents "PEOPLE All-Star Teachers" is just one part of Target, MLB and PEOPLE's effort to celebrate teachers and raise awareness about the importance of education this baseball season. MLB Legends have attended Target-hosted School Library Makeover events in MLB communities throughout the first half of the season including Hall of Famer Ernie Banks, Vinny Castilla, Ron Cey, Cliff Floyd, Luis Gonzalez, Tim Laudner, Gary Matthews, Tony Oliva, Harold Reynolds and Michael Young. Guests and fans can visit ABullsEyeView.com/Baseball for regular updates and behind-the-scenes access to campaign activities leading up to the All-Star Game.

About Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball (MLB) is the longest running professional sports league in the United States and consists of 30 member Clubs in the U.S. and Canada, representing the highest level of professional baseball. Under the guidance of its ninth Commissioner, Allan H. (Bud) Selig, MLB has experienced dramatic changes including Interleague Play, the introduction of the Wild Cards, the new expanded Postseason format, the most comprehensive drug testing program in U.S. professional sports, an unprecedented era of labor peace, significant revenue sharing among the Clubs and growth in revenue from $1.2 billion in 1992 to more than $8 billion in 2013. The last ten years have produced the ten best-attended individual seasons in MLB history, including more than 74 million fans in 2013. With the continued success of MLB Network, MLB Advanced Media and the MLB Fan Cave, the National Pastime is consumed more often and in more ways than ever before. For more information on Major League Baseball, visit mlb.mlb.com.

About Target

Minneapolis-based Target Corporation (NYSE: TGT) serves guests at 1,916 stores - 1,789 in the United States and 127 in Canada - and at Target.com. Since 1946, Target has given 5 percent of its profit through community grants and programs; today, that giving equals more than $4 million a week. For more information about Target's commitment to corporate responsibility, visit target.com/corporateresponsibility.

About PEOPLE

PEOPLE revolutionized personality journalism when it launched in 1974, and is now celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2014. Each week PEOPLE brings more than 53 million consumers the latest news, exclusive interviews, and in-depth reporting on the most compelling people of our time. In addition to unparalleled access to the entertainment community, the stories of real-life "Heroes Among Us" remain an essential component of PEOPLE's editorial approach. PEOPLE.com is the premier web destination for celebrity news, photos, style, and entertainment coverage. With reporters across the globe, PEOPLE is headquartered in New York City and is published by Time Inc. For more information visit www.PEOPLE.com.

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