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IRVING, Texas -- GTE Corp. today awarded grants totaling $1,050,000 to 140 math and science teachers selected from 40 states. The grants are part of GTE's Growth Initiatives for Teachers (GIFT) program to strengthen math and science education in grades 6-12.
The GIFT program awards $15,000 grants to each of 70 teams consisting of one math and one science teacher from the same school. Individual GIFT teachers receive $3,500 of the total for professional development activities, and the two-member team receives $8,000 to implement an innovative classroom project. Grants are awarded for the 2000-2001 school year.
"The GIFT initiative is important to our nation's math and science classrooms for two reasons," said Maureen V. Gorman, vice president of the GTE Foundation. "It significantly boosts teachers' enthusiasm for teaching and also increases student achievement by providing hands-on learning opportunities."
The 2000 GIFT projects will provide thousands of students across the country with a wide range of learning opportunities. For example, in Seaside, Calif., students will use image processing techniques to explore the latest applications of biotechnology, including digital analysis of DNA fingerprinting, and conduct family pedigree analysis and population surveys. A Fernandina Beach, Fla., class will design and build an aquaponics lab and perform experiments on the culturing of plants and aquatic species. In addition, students in Texas City, Texas, will organize and implement an ozone action plan.
Teachers to Visit Boston and Nation's Capital
A key component of the GIFT award is an annual seminar conducted in June in Boston and Washington, D.C. This year's program includes sessions at GTE Laboratories, Museum of Science in Boston, U.S. Department of Education and the Smithsonian Institution. Teachers will also meet with their Congressional representatives along with officials from the Annenberg/CPB Math and Science Project and the Woodrow Wilson National Foundation.
GTE established the GIFT program in 1983 to recognize excellence in the teaching of secondary-school mathematics and science. Launched as a pilot program in North Carolina, the program now includes 40 eligible states and the District of Columbia. Since its inception, the program has awarded approximately $11 million to some 1,800 teachers.
Grant recipients are chosen by a panel of mathematics and science educators under the guidance of the Educational Testing Service of Princeton, N.J., and the GTE Foundation, GTE's philanthropic arm, which administers and funds the program.
About the GTE Foundation
Ranking among the country's top corporate foundations in annual contributions, the GTE Foundation in 2000 will provide more than $32 million in financial support to educational and charitable organizations in the United States and its possessions on behalf of GTE and its subsidiaries. GTE is one of the world's largest telecommunications companies and a leading provider of integrated telecommunications services.
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