:: Spotlight
Verizon supports Urban Scholars Program
$40,000 grant strengthens educational opportunities for Boston middle and high schoolers
Urban Scholars find some out-of-classrom time on the Campus Center lawn
to get better acquainted. Since 1983, 1,500 students have received learning
opportunities that have enabled them to attend college.
December 2008.
The Verizon of New England President Donna Cupelo and University of Massachusetts Boston Chancellor J. Keith Motley today announced a $40,000 grant from the Verizon Foundation to help support the Urban Scholars program, which this year is celebrating its 25th anniversary of helping middle and high school students to achieve at the college level.
With the new funding from the Verizon Foundation, the Urban Scholars college readiness curriculum will be infused with leading-edge content provided by premier education experts and organizations through Verizon’s Thinkfinity.org efforts. Thinkfinity.org is the cornerstone of Verizon Foundation's literacy, education, and technology initiatives and provides high-quality content and extensive professional development for teachers.
“UMass Boston’s Urban Scholars program has demonstrated a history of commitment to success, making it an ideal program for the Verizon Foundation to support,” said Cupelo. “We look forward to helping Boston students lay the groundwork to excel in college.”
The UMass Urban Scholars program provides gifted and talented students from selected Boston Public Schools with the skills, task commitment, and self-motivation they need to enter and successfully complete college. Nearly 1,500 students have graduated from the Urban Scholars program, 98% of which went on to college, and 85% of which graduated from college or are still enrolled.
“We are always looking for additional resources to strengthen our programs, and we are thankful for the Verizon Foundation’s generous support,” said Chancellor Motley. “With the help of our partners, we are making a difference in the lives of young students in Boston and helping them to achieve.”
About the Verizon Foundation
The Verizon Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Verizon Communications, is committed to improving literacy and K-12 education. In 2006, the foundation awarded more than $69 million in grants to nonprofit agencies in the United States and abroad. The foundation also matched charitable donations from Verizon employees and retirees, resulting in $29 million in combined contributions. Under the foundation’s Verizon Volunteer initiative, one of the nation’s largest employee-volunteer programs, company employees and retirees have also contributed nearly 3 million hours of community service since Verizon’s inception in 2000. For more information, visit www.verizon.com/foundation.