With some New York City (NYC) public schools temporarily committing to sequestered education, Verizon announced the company is supporting efforts to bridge the digital divide in the nation’s largest school district with a $43 million commitment to enable more students to learn digitally. The carrier is supporting the district’s ongoing efforts to provide remote learning tools by donating 20,000 mobile hotspots to students who face barriers to internet and technology access in NYC Department of Education (DOE) schools. The Orbic Speed mobile hotspots are equipped with 30GB per month of internet access.
Verizon is working in partnership with the Fund for Public Schools, as well as providing grant funding to several education nonprofit organizations to enable continued STEM education. These initiatives are in addition to 15 NYC public schools joining Verizon Innovative Learning, the company’s education initiative focused on bridging the digital divide.
“The hotspot donation, our commitment to work with local non-profits to benefit students and the expansion of our Verizon Innovative Learning Schools initiative further demonstrates our commitment to Verizon’s home city,” said Anthony Lewis, Region Vice President of State Government Affairs at Verizon. “Our students need connectivity to enable learning from home, and we are proud to step up and be part of the solution.”
“Thank you to Verizon for boosting our efforts to support our City’s public school students and their families in this critical moment,” said Julie Shapiro, Chief Executive Officer of the Fund for Public Schools. “Your donation will go towards the NYC Department of Education’s essential work of ensuring students have the resources they need to succeed – no matter where they are learning.”
Also because of COVID-19, Verizon is supporting STEM education through grant funding to education nonprofit organizations benefiting the most vulnerable K-8 students across NYC’s five boroughs. The grants will enable over 15,000 students to access online resources including 3D design and virtual reality tools, mentorship opportunities, programming on digital literacy, game design coding, social justice in-class activities and much more. The organizations receiving programmatic grants from Verizon include: Bronxworks, CAMBA, DIVAS for Social Justice, Grand Street Settlement, Hypothekids, NY Public Library, Phipps and STEM Kids NYC.
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