Verizon Foundation Announces Availability of $150,000 in Education Grants

BOSTON, Feb. 26, 2009 — The Verizon Foundation is helping Massachusetts public schools better prepare students to succeed in the 21st century. Amid the increased focus on student achievement, public schools across Massachusetts are invited to apply for grants that use the Verizon Foundation's Thinkfinity.org, an online education resource, to improve student learning.

The foundation will award grants of $10,000 each — a total of $150,000 — to 15 public schools across Massachusetts to integrate Thinkfinity.org into the classroom. Thinkfinity.org is the Verizon Foundation's comprehensive online portal that offers more than 55,000 educational and literacy resources for teachers, parents and students.

Resources include standards-based, grade-specific, K-12 lesson plans and engaging interactive activities provided in partnership with many of the nation's leading educational and literacy organizations.

"Thinkfinity.org is a great educational tool that helps educators prepare students for the 21st century and helps the students reach their full potential," said Donna Cupelo, Verizon region president of New England. "We want to encourage public school educators to use Thinkfinity.org in the classroom so that children gain the skills needed to be successful in a global economy."

More information on the grant process is available at www.verizon.com/ma. Interested public schools should apply by April 6.

The Verizon Foundation recently awarded $130,000 to support a partnership with Lesley University and the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to train teachers to use Thinkfinity.org in the classroom. The partnership is providing professional development opportunities to classroom and teachers statewide through on-site and online training; resources to create a Massachusetts network of Thinkfinity trainers; and a mechanism to ensure that Thinkfinity resources are aligned with the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks.

The Web site offers teachers resources across eight academic disciplines, from science to English to mathematics, to improve student achievement. Thinkfinity.org is designed to help teachers gain access to lesson plans, interactive activities, primary sources, references and other authoritative resources that can be searched by grade level, keyword, subject or resource type.