The Education Fund Receives $75,000 Grant From Verizon to Enhance S.T.E.M. Learning In Miami-Dade Schools.

MIAMI, FL, July 18, 2012 (Press-News.org) To support and enhance student achievement in science, technology, engineering and math (S.T.E.M.) in Miami-Dade public schools, the Verizon Foundation has pledged $75,000 to The Education Fund for various teacher- and student-focused programs in the upcoming school year.

The Verizon grant will support The Education Fund's efforts to support S.T.E.M. education, including the integration of mobile technology in learning, through:

1.) Ideas with IMPACT catalog, a 40-page publication containing attention-grabbing, full-page descriptions of numerous "best practices." Distributed annually to 20,000 Miami-Dade teachers, this year's IMPACT catalog will feature S.T.E.M. learning, with a call to action on teaching STEM on its cover and a prominent STEM section spanning half the book. The Education Fund's Ideas with IMPACT has become a ""must-have"" resource for teachers.

2.) Curriculum (Idea) Packets for teachers and other educators wishing to enhance S.T.E.M. activities and learning. The packets serve as "how-to" guides, containing lesson plans, worksheets, resource lists and more to provide step-by-step instructions for teachers to implement a featured strategy/project.

3.) S.T.E.M. workshops on various topics, such as the use of mobile technology in the classroom, for teachers at The Education Fund's annual Idea Expo.

4.) Up to 100 IMPACT Adapter Grants, which will be available to teachers to pay for supplies and other costs related to innovative S.T.E.M. experiments, programs and other classroom activities.

"S.T.E.M. learning is critical and Verizon's generous grant allows us not just to promote STEM but to demonstrate strategies teachers can use to implement the district's new focus on BYOD (bring your own device) learning methods," said Linda Lecht, President of The Education Fund.

"The areas of technology, engineering and innovation are core to our business at Verizon, and we're pleased to continue helping today's students excel in these disciplines which will result in greater educational and professional opportunity in the future," said Pam Tope, Florida region president of Verizon Wireless.

This recent grant of $75,000 follows $48,000 in funding last school year from Verizon to Miami-Dade County Public schools to enhance and implement innovative S.T.E.M. programs. One of these projects turned out to be a wind-powered "Dolphin Radio" station built by students and inspired by teacher Laurie Futterman at David Lawrence Jr. K - 8 Center.

"Verizon's funding enables us to be on the cutting edge, offering support in an educational arena that will definitely benefit students if teachers can be encouraged and trained in how to manage it creatively," said Linda Lecht. "In fact, teaming up with corporate sponsors to encourage this type of teaching excellence and student achievement is our mission at The Education Fund."
For more information, visit http://www.educationfund.org.

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The Education Fund is an independent, non-profit organization founded in 1985 with the goal of bringing excellence to public schools in Miami-Dade. The organization has raised more than $39 million for Miami-Dade County Public Schools in the last 25 years. The nonprofit's mission is to design, shape, and implement initiatives that involve the private sector in improving our schools and bringing excellence to public education. For more information, visit http://www.educationfund.org.