Kidsville News, Inc. is a fun, educational resource for children grades K-6th grade, parents and teachers. With nationwide circulation nearing one million, Kidsville News is sweeping the country. For more information, contact us at 910-222-6200 or 877-4KVNEWS, or e-mail kvnews@kidsvillenews.com. Keep reading to learn more about who we are and what we do here at Kidsville News, inc. or click on the name of a person below to email them directly.

Bill Bowman, President (bbowman@kidsvillenews.com)

Bill Bowman is President, Founder and CEO of Kidsville News!

Bill is a forty year resident of Fayetteville, North Carolina and former marketing representative for Pitney Corp. Bill's education, background and experience is in business, sales and marketing. In 1996, and without any prior experience or training in journalism or publishing he created his community's first weekly community newspaper Up & Coming Weekly. Two years later he created the Kidsville News! literacy and educational initiative. Today, both publications are dependable, respected voices of the community. Up & Coming Weekly is enjoying its fifteenth year and Kidsville News! is in its thirteenth year.

Bill took Kidsville News! National in 2005 with the creation of Kidsville News! Incorporated. This allowed other newspaper publishers and businesses the opportunity of bringing it to their communities. Since then Kidsville News! has expanded into nineteen states boasting of a audited monthly readership of 1.4 million children, teachers and parents nation-wide. It is his vision and mission to provide quality literacy and educational resources to young children locally and nationwide that impact, enhance and promote a community's "quality of life." Kidsville News! believes in reading and education and that building better and stronger communities for future generations should be everyone's top priority.

Bill is very active in his community and currently serves on several local, state and national boards. He is a past Chairman of Cumberland County United Way and has served on the boards of the North Carolina Press Association, Independent Free Papers of America, and Southeastern Advertising Publishers Association. He is also a member of the faculty of the Association of Free Community Papers Leadership Institute.

Personal:

Bill and his wife Merrilyn of thirty one years have a 29 year-old son, Grady McLeod Bowman. Grady, a graduate of North Carolina School of the Arts and now lives and works on Broadway in New York City. A lifelong singer, dancer and actor, Grady recently performed in the musical Billy Elliott and will open the new Broadway show "Wonderland" in the Spring 2011.

Bill's hobby is riding his Harley Davidson motorcycle across country (longer the trip, the better). He is also a nationally ranked billiard player. Obviously, two traits reflecting an ill spent childhood!

Philosophy:

Children are the future of our nation. A child that cannot read does not have a chance to succeed. Anything that encourages young children to read and learn is worth the investment.

Merrilyn Bowman, CFO

Merrilyn Bowman was born in Kyoto, Japan and wound up in Fayetteville married to Bill Bowman. As CFO for Kidsville News, Incorporated, Merrilyn is responsible for financial planning and implementation, and the monumental task of keeping up with Bill's expenses as he travels the country promoting Kidsville News! (and riding his Harley).

Merrilyn recently retired from a 30 year career with the Cumberland County Cooperative Extension Service. She is excited about joining Kidsville News, Inc. — now it really is a "family" publication — and watching the publication grow. She is also extremely proud of her two sons, Leonard and Grady. She has one grandson, Nicholas, who is one of her favorite people!

Merrilyn's favorite color is green and her favorite thing to do on a sunny Saturday afternoon is to read a good mystery novel!

Joy Kirkpatrick, VP, General Manager, National Editor (joy@kidsvillenews.com)

A native of Fayetteville, NC, Joy is the National Editor of Kidsville News! As editor, she is the one that creates the newspaper that you read and enjoy each month. She works with educators, children and parents all over the country to decide what to write about for each issue. She researches all the subjects, organizes the profiles, creates the puzzles — all to come up with a monthly fun, educational, learning resource for teachers, parents and children in grades K through 6th.

At the young age of 23, Joy was the very first editor and general manager of what is now Fayetteville, NC's only weekly community newspaper, Up & Coming Weekly. She was responsible for its design, success and development. In 1998, she and publisher Bill Bowman launched Cumberland County's first issue of Kidsville News! Now, after over a decade of publishing and a staple in Cumberland County classrooms, Joy's Kidsville News! publication is the model and standard followed by newspaper publishers nationwide as Kidsville News! In Education spreads across the country.

Joy has also worked for two award-winning southeastern advertising agencies providing production management and copy writing. Locally, she is very active in her hometown community and has served on various boards, organizations and committees. In 2005 she was President of the region's largest and most successful outdoor event, The Fayetteville Dogwood Festival.

Joy often gets ideas for articles from her 10 year-old son, who is always asking questions. When she is not working on Kidsville News!, Joy likes to spend time with her family and pets and take boat rides with her husband Patrick.

Jack Stultz, National Market Development (jack@kidsvillenews.com)

Jack Stultz joined Kidsville News! in November 2005 as an independent market development representative for Western North Carolina and the state of South Carolina. On February 1, 2006, he accepted the position of National Market Development Manager for Kidsville News, Inc. and now serves as the Vice President of National Development. Jack attended Appalachian State University where he studied business administration. He worked in sales and marketing for the industrial packaging industry for 15 years and spent 12 years in the furniture industry.

Jack met Bill Bowman in Southern Pines at Sandhills Community College in June 1971. Bill moved to Jack's hometown of Fayetteville, NC during the '70s, and although Jack moved to the western part of the state, the two managed to stay in touch through family and friends for the next 30 years. Kidsville News! brought Bill and Jack back together in November, 2005 and the rest is history. Jack has had a lifetime passion for supporting literacy and education, especially for children and says that Kidsville News! has been an incredible experience. Working with newspaper publishers from around the country who support this significant educational and literacy initiative has been a pleasant, rewarding and unique experience, says Jack.

Originally from Terra Haute, Indiana, Jack has a twin sister Jeannie. He is married to Pam Stultz, who works with the Register of Deeds Office in Cumberland County. They have one son Terry and two daughters, Rosalie and Hannah. Jack's hobbies include golf, boating, Kidsville News! and enjoying the beach with his family.

Deborah Baughn, Bookkeeper (deborah@kidsvillenews.com)

Deborah Baughn is the Bookkeeper at Kidsville News Inc. Deborah is a native of Upstate New York, but has called Fayetteville NC home for the past 17 years. Deborah is a graduate from Methodist College with a BS in Accounting and Business Administration. She has an 11-year old daughter who loves Kidsville News! Deborah has a passion for financial planning, and likes to help others get their finances in shape through the dreaded "Budget." When she is not working, Deborah likes to read books and spend time with family.

Dan Nelson, Artist and Creator of Truman

Dan Nelson is a gifted artist and the creator of Truman, the friendly mascot of Kidsville News!, and the covers you see each month. Interested in art from a very early age, Dan earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from a small college in the Midwest. His real education, however, took place during the 15 or 20 years when he sat at his desk drawing whatever the telephone (ad agencies, mostly) told him to draw. Most Americans would have stumbled upon Dan’s work at sometime during the 80s or 90s — in restaurants and sporting goods stores, at summer camps and public libraries, from IBM to hospitals and book covers to billboards. “I’m really famous,” he used to tell his kids, “just nobody knows it.” Dan now divides his time between illustration and fine art. He loves painting large and he loves an audience, so doing 8 x 10 foot murals in public is one of his favorite activities. You may see some of his wide ranging work at DanNelsonArt.com.

Please call us at 910-222-6200 or send a message to kvnews@kidsvillenews.com for more information on Kidsville News, Inc.