Bell Atlantic Foundation Awards $500,000 For School-to-Career Programs in Technology

Bell Atlantic Foundation Awards $500,000 For School-to-Career Programs in Technology

EdLink Grants Benefit Students, Teachers In More Than 60 Massachusetts Communities

June 6, 2000

BOSTON - Students and educators throughout the state will benefit from more than
$500,000 in grants awarded by the Bell Atlantic Foundation for school-to-career
initiatives that creatively use technology in education. Some 19 grants will benefit
organizations representing more than 60 Massachusetts communities.

"As the largest private employer in the state, Bell Atlantic realizes how important it
is for schools, businesses and communities to work together to help students prepare for
the workplace," said Robert Mudge, Bell Atlantic - Massachusetts president.
"We are facing an increased need for employees who possess solid academic
knowledge, strong technical and computer skills, and effective work habits and
interpersonal skills. These grants will help address that need."

Eleven partnership projects will receive grants of up to $50,000 and eight classroom and
teacher internship projects will receive grants of up to $10,000. (A complete list of
recipients is attached.) The grants will be presented at 11 a.m. today in a ceremony at the
Museum of Science. Mudge and Dave Lussier, Massachusetts Teacher of the Year, are
hosting the ceremony.

Winners include:

• Horace Mann School for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, which was granted $35,000
  for partnering with Boston University's Department of Rehabilitation Counseling;

  * Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard & Nantucket School to Career Partnership, which
  was awarded $50,000 for a project with the Dennis-Yarmouth School District, Sandwich
  Public Schools, Cape Cod Community College and Cape Cod Technology Council; and

• Northern Essex Community College, which will receive $50,000 for a program that
  collaborates with the Amesbury Public Schools, Methuen Public Schools and Pentucket
  Regional School District.

In addition, 18 project teams that won EdLink grants in 1999 also will attend to celebrate
the completion of their projects. Results of the projects will be featured on the Bell
Atlantic Foundation web site at www.bellatlanticfoundation.com. Some of last year's
winners were the Roxbury Multi-Service Center, the Cape Cod National Seashore,
Massachusetts Consortium for Distance Learning at University of Massachusetts in
Lowell, Merrimack Valley MentorNet and the University Park Campus School in
Worcester. Three project teams will share their results and advice with the new group of
winners.

"Education for all students can be made more relevant and useful if students apply
what they learn through participation in work and community-based learning
opportunities," Mudge said.

In its fourth year, Bell Atlantic's EdLink initiative integrates technology-based learning
with a school-to-career focus. The grants target grades 7 through 12 in public and
private school districts that collaborate with institutions of higher education, community
organizations, non-profit agencies or businesses.

The Horace Mann School for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing will use its grant to
collaborate with high-tech businesses to promote links between school and work.

Using teleconferencing, participants will discuss learning strategies, integrate vocational
and academic learning, and tackle problem-solving challenges. The goal of the project is
to use technology to increase student and teacher awareness of industry and to increase
industry's understanding of the capabilities of deaf students.

The grant will enable the Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard & Nantucket School to
Career Partnership to team up with the Cape Cod Technology Partnership to offer
computer and technology professional development for teachers. Select teachers will
participate in a program called TechLink that enables them to examine the use of
computers and technology in education. TechLink connects classroom activities to the
real world by enabling teachers to study technology at area businesses. Ultimately,
teachers will develop a regional databank of technology projects they can use in the
classroom.

The Northern Essex Community College program will help area teachers and students
in grades 7 through 12 better prepare for the challenges of the Massachusetts
Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) tests in mathematics using the college's
distance learning network. Twenty teachers will participate in internships with industry
and receive multimedia training. They will use their experiences to create "real
industry" math units with a goal of improving student learning and success.

All 19 winning proposals seek to promote collaboration among schools, teachers,
businesses and communities; increase teachers' and students' technology skills;
strengthen connections between school and industry; and develop models that can be
used in other communities and schools.

In addition to EdLink, the Bell Atlantic Foundation also has announced grants of
$500,000 to technology projects for after-school programs across the Commonwealth tied
to the United Way's Keeping Kids on Track program. This year, Bell Atlantic will invest
more than $3 million in a variety of education, civic, cultural and health programs in
Massachusetts.

The Bell Atlantic Foundation supports a variety of projects domestically and
internationally, with an emphasis on new technology applications in education, health
and human services, the arts and humanities, and civic development in the
communities served by Bell Atlantic. For more information, visit
www.bellatlanticfoundation.com on the Internet.

Bell Atlantic EdLink 2000 Winners

Partnership Grants (up to $50,000):

Assabet Valley Education Foundation

Boys and Girls Club of Greater Holyoke

Bristol Tech Prep Consortium, Fall River

Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket School to Career

Greenfield Community College

Horace Mann School, Boston

Lowell High School

MetroWest School to Career, Framingham

Northern Essex Community College, Haverhill

Tech Boston, Roxbury

Valley Tech Education Foundation, Upton

Classroom/Teacher Internship Grants (approximately $10,000):

Danvers Public Schools

East Bridgewater High School

Ipswich Public Schools

Leominster Public Schools

Massachusetts Telecom Council

New Mission High School, Boston

Newton Public Schools

South Shore Education Collaborative, Hingham

For complete EdLink project descriptions, refer to our Web site at
www.bellatlanticfoundation.com.