Bell Atlantic Foundation Helps Four W. Va. Schools

Bell Atlantic Foundation Helps Four W.Va. Schools

Grants to Fund Classroom Internet Projects

July 2, 1998

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Teachers at schools in the Huntington area,
Weirton and Harman will receive a total of nearly $11,000 in grants from
the Bell Atlantic® WORLD SCHOOL® Grant Program to help them use
the global resources of the Internet for education. The Bell Atlantic
Foundation expects to distribute nearly $50,000 in WORLD SCHOOL
grants in West Virginia throughout 1998.

The latest grant winners include: Jo-Ann Potter at Cabell Midland High
School and Carol Watson at Huntington High School (Cabell County);
Vera Lewis at Harman High School (Randolph County); and Karen Kuhns
at Sacred Heart of Mary School (Weirton, Hancock County).

"These teachers are to be commended. They're taking the extra step to
find creative ways to harness the power of the Internet for education," said
Dennis Bone, president and CEO of Bell Atlantic - West Virginia.

Cabell Midland High School will receive $2,500 to purchase software
that students can use to create personal portfolios for posting on a class
home page.

Huntington High School will receive $3,300 to gain access to Electric
Library, an Internet-based service that allows students to learn and refine
numerous database search strategies.

A $1,650 grant to Harman School will enable students to create a web
site that highlights local attractions, such as Seneca Rocks, Canaan Valley
and Blackwater Falls.

Sacred Heart of Mary School will use its $3,110 grant to join the
National Geographic Kids Network. Students will become part of a global
scientific research team that explores topics such as weather, water quality
and waste management.

Educators can learn more about these and other projects by accessing the
WORLD SCHOOL site on the World Wide Web. The Web address for
WORLD SCHOOL is http://www.bellatlantic.com/wschool.

The WORLD SCHOOL Grant Program complements Bell Atlantic's
WORLD SCHOOL project, through which nearly 700 public schools in the
company's service area now have high-speed digital Internet access.
Teachers in all public and private schools served by Bell Atlantic-West
Virginia are eligible to submit applications for the WORLD SCHOOL
grant program.

The company awards individual WORLD SCHOOL grants of up to
$4,000. A panel of education leaders and Bell Atlantic employees
evaluates all proposals. Grant money cannot be used to purchase tariffed
telephone services or hardware, such as computer monitors, hard disk
drives or printers.

Educators can obtain applications for the WORLD SCHOOL Grant
Program by calling Bell Atlantic-West Virginia at 1-800-642-8206.

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 -- formed through the merger of Bell Atlantic and NYNEX --
is at the forefront of the new communications and information industry.
With more than 41 million telephone access lines and 6.7 million wireless
customers worldwide, Bell Atlantic companies are premier providers of
advanced wireline voice and data services, market leaders in wireless
services and the world's largest publishers of directory information. Bell
Atlantic companies are also among the world's largest investors in high-
growth global communications markets, with operations and investments in
23 countries.