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Louisiana Department of Education Partners With the Verizon Foundation to Provide Training for Teachers to Use Innovative, Free Online Resources at Thinkfinity.orgBATON ROUGE, La., Dec. 3 /PRNewswire/ -- The Louisiana Department of Education announced Thursday (Dec. 3) that it will partner with the Verizon Foundation to raise teachers' awareness of the free educational resources available on Verizon Thinkfinity and to train teachers to use those resources. Verizon Thinkfinity (http://www.thinkfinity.org/) contains thousands of free, engaging educational resources that make learning fun, including K-12 lesson plans, in-class activities and videos that can be found quickly and searched by grade level, keyword or subject. Verizon Thinkfinity resources are aligned to state and national standards and offer elementary through high school teachers resources across eight academic disciplines, from science to English to mathematics, to improve student achievement. In addition to providing standards-based resources from the nation's leading educational organizations, Verizon Thinkfinity also offers a comprehensive professional-development program that allows teachers to sign up for free online or face-to-face training to learn how to make the most of Verizon Thinkfinity tools. The partnership, announced during a leadership luncheon at the Louisiana Association of Computer Using Educators Conference, will: -- Provide professional development opportunities to classroom teachers, college of education faculty/staff and students statewide through on-site and online training. -- Provide access to Verizon Thinkfinity resources aligned to state standards to educators and students through the Louisiana Department of Education's educator resource portals. -- Raise awareness of Verizon Thinkfinity resources and professional development opportunities to educators statewide. "Whether it's an English teacher looking for resources to spark a love of reading in a student, or a parent seeking a convenient and user-friendly educational activity to stimulate the mind of a young child, Verizon Thinkfinity will help them quickly and easily find the information needed to improve student achievement," said Michelle Robinson, Verizon president - Southeast region. 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. The Verizon Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Verizon Communications, supports the advancement of literacy and K-12 education through its free educational Web site, Thinkfinity.org, and fosters awareness and prevention of domestic violence. In 2008, the Verizon Foundation awarded more than $68 million in grants to nonprofit agencies in the U.S. and abroad. It also matched the charitable donations of Verizon employees and retirees, resulting in an additional $26 million in combined contributions to nonprofits. Through Verizon Volunteers, one of the nation's largest employee volunteer programs, Verizon employees and retirees have volunteered more than 3 million hours of community service since 2000. For more information on the foundation, visit http://www.verizonfoundation.org/. Verizon Communications Inc. , headquartered in New York, is a global leader in delivering broadband and other wireless and wireline communications services to mass market, business, government and wholesale customers. Verizon Wireless operates America's most reliable wireless network, serving more than 89 million customers nationwide. Verizon also provides converged communications, information and entertainment services over America's most advanced fiber-optic network, and delivers innovative, seamless business solutions to customers around the world. A Dow 30 company, Verizon employs a diverse workforce of more than 230,000 and last year generated consolidated revenues of more than $97 billion. For more information, visit http://www.verizon.com/. VERIZON'S ONLINE NEWS CENTER: Verizon news releases, executive speeches and biographies, media contacts, high-quality video and images, and other information are available at Verizon's News Center on the World Wide Web at http://www.verizon.com/news. To receive news releases by e-mail, visit the News Center and register for customized automatic delivery of Verizon news releases. Verizon CONTACT: Brian C. Malina, +1-908-559-6434, [email protected] Web Site: http://www.verizon.com/ Company News On-Call: http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/094251.html |