Bell Atlantic Taps Seven West Virginia Schools for WORLD SCHOOL Grants

Bell Atlantic Taps Seven West Virginia Schools
for WORLD SCHOOL Grants

Monies to Help Teachers Use Internet for Education

December 20, 1999

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- West Virginia teachers at five elementary
schools and one high school will receive Bell Atlantic WORLD
SCHOOL® grants to help them use the global resources of the Internet in
the classroom. The grants, totaling over $14,000, are provided by the Bell
Atlantic Foundation.

The latest grant winners are: Adamston Elementary School, Clarksburg;
Huff Consolidated School in Wyoming County; Third Ward Elementary
School, Elkins; Opequon Elementary School, Martinsburg; Our Lady of
Fatima School, Huntington; Notre Dame High School, Clarksburg, and St.
Mary's Elementary School, also in Clarksburg.

"Today's classroom is no longer limited to four walls and a
blackboard," said Dennis Bone, president and CEO of Bell Atlantic -
West Virginia. "The world is now the classroom, and schools must
be able to communicate globally. No one knows this better than the
teachers who applied for these grants. We at Bell Atlantic applaud them
for their innovative spirit."

Adamston Elementary School and Opequon Elementary School will
share a WORLD SCHOOL grant of $1,535 to implement Web-based
communications for fifth graders at the two schools. The funds also will
be used to build a book review database from Internet sources for use by
the general public. The teachers responsible for the project are Donna
Eakle at Adamston and Joseph Eakle at Opequon.

Huff Consolidated School is awarded $4,000 to work with a statewide
network of schools in researching West Virginia's history. Their studies
will focus on various eras in the state's history, including the early pioneer
period and the Civil War years. All grades at the school will participate in
the project, which is being coordinated by Jima Dunigan.

Third Ward Elementary School will receive $1,550 to fund an Internet-
based program for second graders. The students will use the Internet to
research dinosaurs and will visit an on-line dinosaur dig. They also will
participate in a virtual dig created at their school. Barbara Tyre is heading
the program.

Our Lady of Fatima School will use a grant of $1,345 to allow students
to use the Internet to research their own individual ethnic backgrounds.
They also will use the Internet to research the difficulties that America's
immigrants have faced and will share that information with a New Jersey
school. The teacher on the project is Sheila Leach.

Notre Dame High School will use a grant of $2,986 to compile
information from the Internet on school violence. Using the information
they gather, they will develop a Web site that will address school violence
issues. The teacher is Gina Lacaria.

St. Mary's Elementary School will receive $4,000 in grants to allow
students to use the Internet to study weather patterns and their effects on
various regions in the world. The students will also study how the weather
impacts human life and regional cultures, as well as insect and animal
migration. The teacher is Nicole Folio.

The Bell Atlantic Foundation has awarded $ 35,000 in WORLD
SCHOOL grants in 1999.

Educators can learn more about these and other projects by visiting the
WORLD SCHOOL site on the World Wide Web at
http://www.wvaworldschool.org.

In addition to providing financial support for schools through the WORLD
SCHOOL Grant Program, Bell Atlantic's WORLD SCHOOL project has
helped nearly 700 public and private schools in West Virginia get 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.

Educators can obtain applications for the WORLD SCHOOL grants
program by calling the Bell Atlantic public relations office 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 is at the forefront of the new communications and
information industry. With more than 43 million telephone access lines
and more than 10 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.