Friday, September 18th, 2009


The California K-12 High Speed Network (K12HSN) and the Verizon Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Verizon, unveiled Thursday September 17, 2009 a new initiative that will provide free online resources for California teachers, parents and students, through Verizon’s Thinkfinity.org.

Under the initiative, announced at simultaneous news conferences at Thomas A. Edison Middle School in Los Angeles and the state Capitol in Sacramento, Verizon will provide a $125,000 grant to enable K12HSN to coordinate Thinkfinity activities – including providing comprehensive professional development for teachers and trainers – throughout California. This partnership is designed to broaden awareness of Thinkfinity resources and their capacity to support K-12 teachers in California.


State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Jack O'Connell, interacts with students from Edison Middle School in Los Angeles from the State Capitol

Verizon Thinkfinity is a free, comprehensive Web site containing more than 55,000 educational resources, including standards-based, grade-specific, K-12 lesson plans, online educational games, videos and other materials provided in partnership with many of the nation’s leading educational organizations.

“We are pleased to be working with the Verizon Thinkfinity program and the vast resources it brings to California’s educators,” said State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell.  “This
is a critical time in education.  Partnerships such as these will help our classrooms embrace opportunities technology brings as they work to close the achievement gap.”

Tim McCallion, Verizon West region president, said: “Whether it’s a science teacher looking for interactive resources to explain how gravity works or a parent seeking assistance to help their child on a history report, Thinkfinity.org will help them quickly and easily find the information they need. Verizon is proud to partner with California’s education community to help our students achieve.”

Todd Finnell, CEO of K12HSN, Verizon’s Thinkfinity State Education Partner in California, said: “The K12HSN is excited to partner with the Verizon Thinkfinity program. Its robust collection of resources from outstanding content providers is now combined with the statewide reach of our distribution and support network. We're proud to support California educators with increased access to these high-quality supplemental resources.”

Assemblymember John Pérez, the Democratic Caucus chair, said: “Given the economic downturn, private-public partnerships in education are particularly important to support teaching and promote academic achievement in California.  The new partnership between Verizon Thinkfinity and K12HSN provides teachers with the tools they need to provide excellent instruction to California’s students.”

Access the Verizon Thinkfinity resources at: www.thinkfinity.org
 


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