Verizon Gives $34,500 Grant to Kansas State Department of Education

OVERLAND PARK, KS — The Verizon Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Verizon, is awarding a $34,500 grant to the Kansas State Department of Education on Friday, April 29 at 9:45 am at Holiday Inn Topeka Holidome. The grant, also given last year in the same amount from the Verizon Foundation, will raise awareness of and train teachers to use Verizon Thinkfinity, a free educational resource.

Verizon Thinkfinity (www.thinkfinity.org) contains thousands of free, engaging educational resources that make learning fun, including K–12 lesson plans, in-class activities and videos that can be found quickly and searched by grade level, keyword or subject. Thinkfinity resources are aligned to state and national standards and offer elementary through high school teachers resources across eight academic disciplines, from science to English to mathematics, to improve student achievement.

In addition to providing standards-based resources from the nation’s leading educational organizations, Verizon Thinkfinity.org also offers a comprehensive professional-development program that allows teachers to sign up for free online or face-to-face training to learn how to make the most of Verizon Thinkfinity tools. It also offers the Thinkfinity Community, an online spot where teachers, administrators and parents and discuss educational issues, share tips or collaborate.

The grant announced today will be used to:

• Provide teacher stipends to attend Thinkfinity Field Training.
• Provide teacher stipends to help align lesson plans to Kansas State Curricular Standards.
• Provide professional development opportunities to classroom teachers, college of education faculty/staff and students statewide through on-site and online training.
• Provide Thinkfinity.org resources aligned to state standards to educators and students through the Kansas State Department of Education’s educator resource portal—or Web site.
• Raise awareness of Verizon Thinkfinity resources and professional development opportunities to educators statewide.

“Whether it’s an English teacher looking for resources to spark a love of reading in a student, or a parent seeking a convenient and user-friendly educational activity to stimulate the mind of a young child, Thinkfinity.org will help them quickly and easily find the information needed to improve student achievement,” said Verizon Wireless President Brendan Fallis, Kansas/Missouri Region.

Content for Verizon Thinkfinity is provided through a partnership between the Verizon Foundation and 11 of the nation’s leading organizations in the fields of education and literacy: the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Council for Economic Education, International Reading Association, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, National Center for Family Literacy, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Council of Teachers of English, National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, National Geographic Society, ProLiteracy and the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History.

The Verizon Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Verizon Communications, supports the advancement of literacy and K-12 education through its free educational Web site, Verizon Thinkfinity (www.thinkfinity.org), and fosters awareness and prevention of domestic violence. In 2009, the Verizon Foundation awarded $67.9 million in grants to nonprofit agencies in the U.S. and abroad. It also matched the charitable donations of Verizon employees and retirees, resulting in $26.1 million in combined contributions to nonprofits. Through Verizon Volunteers, one of the nation’s largest employee volunteer programs, Verizon employees and retirees have volunteered more than 5 million hours of community service since 2000. For more information on the foundation, visit www.verizonfoundation.org.

About Verizon Wireless
Verizon Wireless operates the nation’s fastest, most advanced 4G network and largest, most reliable 3G network. The company serves 104 million total wireless connections, including more than 88 million retail customers. Headquartered in Basking Ridge, N.J., with 85,000 employees nationwide, Verizon Wireless is a joint venture of Verizon Communications (NYSE, NASDAQ: VZ) and Vodafone (LSE, NASDAQ: VOD). For more information, visit www.verizonwireless.com. To preview and request broadcast-quality video footage and high-resolution stills of Verizon Wireless operations, log on to the Verizon Wireless Multimedia Library at www.verizonwireless.com/multimedia.

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