Verizon Supports Budding Technologists with Elite Webmaster Training Program

NEW YORK -- In a gymnasium jammed with the brightest of high-school-aged electronics, computer and

mechanical engineering innovators, Verizon today announced that it will support their technology learning curriculum

with a special summer training program in Internet communications.

"Young people like those assembled here today represent the future of our society and will help determine

where technology takes us," said Gregory Smith, director of consumer markets for Verizon. Smith spoke during

the New York City FIRST Robotics Regional Competition at Columbia University.

"This training program will help these youngsters augment their current technology know-how with the kind of

Internet and telecommunications skills they can use to become even more effective technologists," Smith said.

The new Verizon Webmaster course will be presented this summer at the Verizon Education & Technology Center,

located at 148 West 125th Street, New York, NY, (866) 882-0125. Students will be selected from among

those participating in the robotics competition by NYC FIRST and a team of academic advisors. The Webmaster

course will provide two levels of training: a basic web course which will teach students how to plan, design and build a

site, and an intermediate/advanced course which will teach students how to incorporate multi media into their sites.

This year, Verizon Foundation supported four of the participating teams: George Westinghouse High School from

Brooklyn; a joint team from the High School of Art and Design and the LaGuardia High School for the Performing

Arts, both from Manhattan; Staten Island Technical High School from Staten Island, and Bay Shore High School from

Bay Shore, Long Island. Verizon Foundation contributed a total of $77,000 to these four teams. In addition for the

past two months, the teams have worked shoulder-to-shoulder with Verizon engineers, who have volunteered their

time to help plan, design and build each team's robot.

"Our goal is to demonstrate to young people that technology-based companies like ours depend on innovation

to bring to market products and services that support the quality of life for consumers and powerful tools for

information exchange in the business world," said Jody Bilney, president of consumer markets for Verizon.

"Our training will give young people skills they can use as they continue to learn about technology and also will

show them technology at work in a network as powerful as Verizon's," Bilney said.

The Webmaster course will start the week of July 9 and will run through the week of Aug. 17.

New York City FIRST is based at Polytechnic University in Brooklyn. The goal of FIRST is to inspire young

people to pursue further studies leading to careers in science and technology. The signature program of FIRST is its

nationwide robotics competition, in which teams of high school students, working with their teachers and engineering

mentors, design, build, and compete with their robotic creations at high energy, athletic-like events around the country.

Verizon Foundation supports programs that create innovative e-solutions, help bridge the digital divide, foster basic

and computer literacy, help enrich communities, and create a skilled workforce. Verizon Foundation promotes

partnerships in technology with organizations serving the needs of diverse communities, people with disabilities, and the

economically and socially disadvantaged. The foundation also supports a Volunteer Incentive Program and matching

gifts programs for Verizon employees. For more information on the foundation, visit www.verizon.com/foundation on the Internet.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) is one of the world's leading providers of communications services. Verizon

companies are the largest providers of wireline and wireless communications in the United States, with nearly 109

million access line equivalents and more than 27.5 million wireless customers. Verizon is also the world's largest

provider of print and online directory information. A Fortune 10 company with approximately 260,000 employees

and more than $63 billion in annual revenues, Verizon's global presence extends to 40 countries in the Americas,

Europe, Asia and the Pacific. For more information on Verizon, visit www.verizon.com.

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