Optimum Lightpath on Monday said it will award up to $100,000 in financial grants to help New Jersey's K-12 schools expand their use of technology in the classroom.
The service provider, which has carved out a sizeable niche providing fiber-based Ethernet services to New York metro-based schools and businesses, will reveal winners during the Optimum Lightpath New Jersey Education Technology Conference that will be held in November at The Palace in Somerset, N.J.
Since launching the program in 2010, Optimum Lightpath has awarded more than $250,000 to area schools.
Julia McGrath, senior vice president of marketing and business development at Optimum Lightpath, said that since starting the program in 2010 "more than 350 K-12 schools have submitted applications detailing plans to integrate technology into curriculums."
Winners of the grants will be chosen on various criteria, including how they will use technology to improve instruction; promote the use of technology to improve the overall education experience; promote distance learning; and create new school initiatives around new technologies.
One school that's already seen the benefits of the grant is Fernbrook Elementary School, which won an Optimum Lightpath grant in 2010. The grant has enabled the students to not only become involved in world events, but also to discuss accomplishments outside of school.
Providing grants to schools, which have continued to struggle financially, strengthens Optimum Lightpath's presence as a partner in the community it serves.
For more:
- see the release
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