News

04.19.2005

SBC Foundation Announces $500,000
Grant To CTCSE

Grant Will Create “SBC Learning Connection” Educational
Web Portal Center Hits 85 Percent of
$150M Capital Campaign Goal

HARTFORD AND NEW HAVEN – April 17, 2005 – The Connecticut Center for Science and Exploration, a centerpiece of Hartford’s downtown renaissance at Adriaen’s Landing, today announced a leadership gift from the SBC Foundation that will help the center make an impact well beyond the building’s walls.

The $500,000 grant – which puts the organization at over 85 percent of its development goal – will be used to build an interactive Web-based program that will support science learning in schools statewide by making aspects of the Center’s content available to students and teachers online.

”Our state has been a leader in technology for more than 200 years, beginning with Eli Whitney’s invention of the cotton gin,” said Dr. Theodore S. Sergi, The Connecticut Center for Science & Exploration’s president and CEO. “It is fitting that SBC, with roots in Connecticut that began with the world’s first commercial telephone exchange and its rich history of innovation and new technologies, would step forward to help make our dreams a reality.”

The SBC Learning Connection will maximize the educational potential of the Center by supplementing classroom visits made by Connecticut students with pre- and post-visit classroom discussions and activities available online.The SBC Learning Connection will be the key educational portal on the Center’s website.

Through this virtual doorway, teachers will be able to:

Tie their classroom teaching to the key educational components of the Center’s exhibits so students will have a clear context for what they see in the exhibit galleries.

Download pre-tests and post-tests to assess the learning value of their trips, or sign up for professional development opportunities.

Access numerous resources, including a Science Database, which will allow classes to conduct experiments based on their experience at the Center and enter the results from their own classrooms compared against results of other classes across the state.

“We have a phenomenal opportunity to invest in enhancing education of young minds and to inspire study of the sciences,” said Michele Macauda, SBC Connecticut president and CEO.“Growing up and as a college math major, I experienced first-hand the excitement and value of the sciences.For a variety of reasons, students today are not drawn to this important area of study and, as a nation, we are conferring many fewer science graduate degrees compared to many other nations.The Connecticut Center for Science & Exploration has the potential to turn around that statistic, and we are proud help make a difference that will be felt for decades to come.”

Nationally, the SBC Foundation and the SBC family of companies donates millions of dollars to support technology programs to enhance education and community development.A particular focus is placed on helping support nonprofits through the use of technology.In Connecticut, grant donations and contributions totaled $2.27 million in 2004.

The SBC Foundation is the charitable giving arm of SBC Communications Inc. The SBC Foundation supports efforts that enrich and strengthen diverse communities nationwide, particularly those with an emphasis on education and technology and those that benefit underserved populations. SBC Foundation-backed programs are designed to increase access to information technologies, broaden technology training and professional skills development, and effectively integrate new technologies to enhance education and economic development. The Foundation Center has consistently ranked the SBC Foundation among the nation's top fifteen corporate foundations. In 2002, the SBC Foundation launched SBC Excelerator, a multimillion dollar competitive grants program that funds nonprofit organizations in their efforts to digitally connect communities.

SBC Communications Inc. is a Fortune 50 company whose subsidiaries, operating under the SBC brand, provide a full range of voice, data, networking, e-business, directory publishing and advertising, and related services to businesses, consumers and other telecommunications providers. SBC holds a 60 percent ownership interest in Cingular Wireless, which serves more than 50 million wireless customers. SBC companies provide high-speed DSL Internet access lines to more American consumers than any other provider and are among the nation's leading providers of Internet services. SBC companies also now offer satellite TV service. Additional information about SBC and SBC products and services is available at www.sbc.com.