Verizon Employees Cheer on Middle School Students Heading Back to School
All across the U.S. this week, kids arriving for their first day of school are being met with cheers, applause and high fives. It’s part of a nationwide “Clap-In” given by Verizon employees to welcome students into Verizon Innovative Learning, a transformative program that gives a free tablet and internet access to every student and teacher, and provides extensive teacher training, support, and a unique, immersive curriculum.
The program, launched in 2012, has reached 74 schools and more than 43,000 students. This year it expands to 100 schools. Fifty-eight Verizon Innovative Learning schools, in or near cities such as Atlanta, Cleveland, Colorado Springs, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Louisville, Pittsburgh, San Jose, Washington, DC and more, are welcoming students back to the cheers of more than 1,200 Verizon employee volunteers.
“We want students, their families and the school community to know that we’re rooting for them and we encourage them as they experience this new way of learning,” said Deirdre Robinson, director of marketing and employee engagement for the Verizon Foundation. “It’s part of our company’s DNA to give back. We’re doing this not only by building innovative education programs and working with leading nonprofit partners to deliver them to under-funded schools, but also by showing up in person as volunteers, mentors, and even cheerleaders, to support our students and communities.”
Verizon Innovative Learning
Millions of American students lack the access to technology and the skills they need to succeed in the digital world1. Since 2012, Verizon has been working to help solve this problem holistically through a transformative program called Verizon Innovative Learning.
Verizon Innovative Learning provides free technology, free internet access, and hands-on learning experiences to help give under-resourced students the education they deserve. Powered by a next-gen, technology-infused curriculum that fundamentally changes the way teachers teach and students learn, Verizon Innovative Learning is giving kids the ability to do more in this world. Students are showing improvement in math and reading2, and they’re more engaged in school3.
1Pew Research Center Analysis of 2013 American Community Survey (IPUMS).
2Westat March 15, 2017 Research.
3Across all VIL programs that reported data in 2017.
