On 126th anniversary of Bells teaching at Boston deaf school, $43,000 NYNEX grant helps prepare students for careers

March 31, 1997

Contact: Betsy Bottino (617) 743-3677 or your local NYNEX media
representative

On 126th anniversary of Bells teaching at Boston
deaf school, $43,000 NYNEX grant helps prepare students for careers

Award is part of $500,000 NYNEX education program lauded by Mayor
Menino

BOSTON -- Nearly 126 years to the day after Alexander Graham Bell
taught at Bostons Horace Mann School for the Deaf, his legacy lives on
through a NYNEX grant that is helping todays students learn career skills
in computer imaging.

Today NYNEX Senior Vice President Wayne Budd announced the 18 winners
of a $500,000 NYNEX statewide technology-in-education program, including
a $43,000 school-to-career grant to the Horace Mann School. Bell began
teaching at the school April 1, 1871.

The $43,000 award will help fund the needed equipment, teacher training
and student internships at area businesses. Instruction will focus on scanning,
imaging, CD-ROM and new storage technologies.

Throughout our efforts to upgrade technology in the Boston Public
Schools, NYNEX has been there, said Boston Mayor Thomas Menino. It has
launched a tremendous partnership with Dorchester High School and has been
instrumental in wiring our schools to the Internet. Now, NYNEX is helping
to prepare more young people -- in Boston and across Massachusetts -- for
the jobs of the future.

Nine classroom projects and nine school/district/partnership projects
will receive EdLink grants ranging from $4,000 to $50,000 in 1997. A list
of the winners is attached. -- more --

EdLink builds on NYNEXs efforts for Massachusetts NetDay, which
includes about $150,000 in grants in 1996 and 1997, as well as employee
volunteers who helped wire schools statewide for Internet access. NYNEX
will provide a total of $1.5 million to support Massachusetts education
initiatives and programs in 1997.

A team of 20 NYNEX and outside experts in education, technology
and school-to-career programs evaluated 115 proposals from Massachusetts
K-12 schools and partnerships across the state before selecting 18 winning
projects. The theme for the 1997 program year was Linking Massachusetts
Students to the Future: School-to-Career Initiatives, an approach designed
to help students appreciate the practical applications of what they learn
and to discover links between school, higher education and the workplace.

These winning programs promote collaboration among schools, teachers
and communities, said NYNEX Senior Vice President Wayne Budd. Along with
increasing teachers and students technology skills, these innovative
projects develop models that can be used in other communities or schools,
he said.

School/Partnership Projects

Blackstone Valley School-to-Career Partnership $50,000

(Blackstone-Milville, Douglas, Grafton, Hopedale, Mendon-Upton,
Milford, Millbury, Northbridge, Sutton, Uxbridge, Blackstone Valley Regional
Vocational School District)

This partnership will develop a technology course to train "tech
teams" of students at 12 schools sites in the Blackstone Valley. Students
will be trained to provide tech support for computers in their schools,
at town offices and at community-based organizations. Each school will
be paired with a local business whose employees will assist the tech team
with training and provide students and teachers with exposure to the workplace.

Computer Museum $50,000

(Boston)

The Computer Museum will develop a variety of career-related activities
for students (ages 10 to 18) who participate in the museum's Computer Clubhouse
program. Included will be visits to local technology-based companies and
area colleges and universities, job shadow days at local businesses, visiting
"technologist" days, summer jobs and internships, and workshops
in goal-setting, resume-writing and interviewing techniques. In addition
to being available at the Museum's downtown Boston site, the activities
will be shared with satellite computer clubhouses at the Roxbury Boys and
Girls Club, United South End Settlements and the Patriots' Trail Girl Scout
Council.

Cranberry School-to-Career Partnership $50,000

(Carver, Cohasset, Hingham, Marshfield, Middleborough, Holbrook,
Quincy, Randolph, Rockland and Weymouth)

This partnership will further develop and expand its Internet School-to-Career
Exploration project that links high school students with business mentors
through the Internet. Mentors provide students with information about the
skills and education needed to compete in business and industry and teachers
use this information to develop curriculum that is more relevant to today's
workplace. The high school students in the program experience the direct
connection between the learning that takes place in their classroom and
the skills needed in business today.

Greater Brockton School-to-Career Local Partnership $50,000

(Brockton, Abington, Avon, Easton, Bridgewater-Raynham, East Bridgewater,
Stoughton, West Bridgewater and Whitman-Hanson)

This local school partnership will develop a model Health Care/Biosciences
pathway program, using technology as the cornerstone, to be piloted in
11 school systems. Using facilities at the Moakley Center at Bridgewater
State College, the project will include professional development sessions
for teachers, electronic sharing of student projects and experiences, and
will provide students with work-based learning opportunities such as job
shadowing, internships and summer jobs.

Greater Lawrence Educational Collaborative $43,000

(Revelry, Boxford, Lawrence, Middleton and Topsfield)

The Real Connections project will develop critical thinking, collaboration
and communications skills among fourth grade students in five North Shore/Merrimack
Valley towns. Students will work together via the Internet to design simple
machines using the Logo programming language. Classrooms will have mentors
from local businesses to assist and advise the students on issues such
as product development, market research and group process. As a final activity,
students involved in the project will come together at an Inventors' Conference
to present their work to members of Merrimack Valley and North Shore businesses.

The Horace Mann School for the Deaf $43,000

(Boston)

The project at the Horace Mann School for the Deaf -- part of the
Boston Public Schools -- will train middle and high school students to
compete for jobs in the field of image and information management. In addition
to student training, activities will include placing students in internships
at area businesses and familiarizing teachers with workplace objectives
in this emerging industry. Instruction will focus on scanning, imaging,
CD-ROM and new hybrid storage technologies.

Hudson Public Schools $50,000

(Hudson, Marlborough)

Hudson Public Schools -- in collaboration with the Assabet Valley
School- to-Career Partnership, the New England Science Center, the Marlborough
School District and local businesses -- will train high school students
to set up, troubleshoot and maintain both local area and wide area networks
(LANs and WANs). Included in the project will be teacher externships at
local businesses, training and ongoing technical assistance for students
by industry experts, and professional development for teachers. The project
will emphasize curriculum links between mathematics, science and technology.

Metropolitan School to Work Partnership $50,000

(Cambridge, Chelsea, Everett, Revere, Somerville, Watertown, Winthrop,
Northeast Regional Vocational High School)

This project will integrate Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
technology into the partnership's existing career pathways in Health and
Hospitals, Public and Human Resources and Financial Services. Teachers
will be trained in use of the technology and will develop associated curriculum
packages. Student internships will be part of the project.

Springfield School-to-Work Local Partnership $16,000

(Putnam Vocational Technical High School)

The Springfield School-to-Work Local Partnership will establish
an electronic Career Development Center at Putnam Vocational Technical
High School. The project will integrate existing technology resources at
Putnam and train 30 teachers in using the technology to help high school
students learn about careers and job opportunities. Use of the Internet
and connectivity to Futureworks, the one-stop career center, will establish
a career development curriculum to complement Springfield's school-to-work
activities.

NYNEX EdLink Awards: Connecting Students to the
Future Classroom Projects

Bridgewater/Raynham Regional High School $10,000

Students will create and maintain a CityLab Web Page to expand career
awareness opportunities in the fields of health, bioscience, telecommunication
and information systems. This project will be developed in collaboration
with the City Lab biotechnology facility at the Moakley Center for Technological
Applications.

Brighton High School $10,000

Teachers and staff will introduce the Teach Boston program, an education
pathway, as a new school to career program at the school. Focusing on the
integration of technology into the math curriculum, students will learn
teaching strategies to assist themselves and others as tutors for high
school and elementary school students.

Chelsea Public Schools $10,000

Middle school teachers and business partners will create a financialservices
pathway to improve quantitative, technological and analytical skills through
exposure to a broad-based career field. Students will devise basic budgets
using spreadsheets, analyze tax distribution across the state using Geographic
Information Systems (GIS) and chart the progress of stocks and mutual funds
on the Internet.

Ipswich High School $9,000

Seniors will explore career choices and develop employment skills
through internship opportunities and the development of portfolios and
presentations to chronicle and evaluate their experiences. The students
will learn and use technology in their documentation efforts.

Leverett Elementary School $10,000

Students will discover and explore career possibilities through
the use of interviews, online research, and field trips to local businesses
to establish connections between people's current careers and their childhood
interests. The students then will consider their own interests and play
activities and relate the potential learning impact of those activities
to their future careers.

McCann Technical School/North Adams $12,000

A comprehensive Information Literacy curriculum will be developed
for ninth grade students to develop an improved awareness of career information,
resources and opportunities. Students will use their electronic research
to create a career portfolio and work with advisors to select the most
appropriate vocational major.

Norwell High School $4,000

Students will develop knowledge of business issues and career opportunities
through their efforts to build web sites for local businesses at no charge.
The students will make site visits to consult with the business clients
and the community members will bring their career knowledge into the classroom.
The project will develop community awareness and support of the value and
capability of the school's computer lab.

Provincetown Public Schools $10,000

Staff members will create a Network Training Class for high school
students who will work toward professional certification as network engineers.
Class members will participate in the design, building and maintenance
of a network for the elementary school and will involve sixth-grade students
as apprentices.

Sutton Jr./Sr. High School $7,000

The school plans to establish a Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
lab and develop an interdisciplinary course that incorporates math, geography
and physical science with the exploration of careers in surveying, real
estate marketing and construction. The students will apply their skills
through an examination of the impact on the Mass. Pike Connector on the
economic development of the Blackstone Valley.

NYNEX is a global communications and media corporation that provides
a full range of services in the northeastern United States and high-growth
markets around the world, including the United Kingdom, Thailand, Gibraltar,
Greece, Indonesia, the Philippines, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic.
The corporation is a leader in telecommunications, wireless communications,
directory publishing and video entertainment and information services.