4 R.I. Schools Put on Their Thinkfinity Caps

EAST PROVIDENCE, R.I., July 14 /PRNewswire/ -- Teachers and administrators who use Verizon Thinkfinity's unique online education program to improve student performance at four Rhode Island schools received a total of $50,000 in grants Wednesday (July 14) from the Verizon Foundation.  The grants are part of the 2010 Think Ahead with Verizon Thinkfinity Awards program.  

In a ceremony at the East Providence Career and Technical Academy, Verizon Region President Donna Cupelo and Carolyn Dias, chief of fiscal integrity and efficiencies of the Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE), announced awards totaling $25,000 to four Rhode Island school districts.

In addition, Verizon awarded a $25,000 grant to RIDE and the Rhode Island Network for Educational Technology, for the second straight year.

The two organizations, which have been designated as the Verizon Foundation's Thinkfinity state education partner, will collaborate to provide professional-development opportunities to classroom teachers statewide through onsite and online training, and create a statewide network of Thinkfinity trainers.  

The four school recipients will incorporate Verizon Thinkfinity resources in classroom projects that are designed to improve student performance.

Caroline Caswell, assistant superintendent of the East Providence School Department, hosted the awards ceremony.

Verizon Thinkfinity (www.thinkfinity.org) is a free educational website that contains thousands of engaging educational resources that make learning fun. Lesson plans, in-class activities and homework help can be found quickly and searched by grade level, keyword or subject.

This is the second year Verizon has operated the Thinkfinity grant program.

"We are impressed with the creative ideas that focus on the critical need to improve certain skills among students," said Cupelo.  "Verizon is dedicated to helping students strengthen their skills so that they are prepared to succeed in higher-education programs and careers."

The grants were awarded to the Scituate school department ($5,000), East Providence High School ($5,000), the Met School ($10,000) and Johnston High School ($5,000).  (A description of the grant recipients' projects can be found at www.verizon.com/ri.)

"Thinkfinity.org is an innovative tool that provides educators with creative, interactive resources to enhance the curriculum and improve student learning," said Dias.  

Content for Verizon Thinkfinity is provided through a partnership between the Verizon Foundation and 11 of the nation's leading organizations in the fields of education and literacy: the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Council for Economic Education, International Reading Association, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, National Center for Family Literacy, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Council of Teachers of English, National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, National Geographic Society, ProLiteracy and the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History.

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SOURCE Verizon