MONROE, La., May 14, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- This pandemic has changed the way we are educating our children. Teachers across the country have been challenged to find new ways to reach and teach their students and technology is the key. To support innovative learning and educational opportunities, CenturyLink is awarding $500,000 to fund 114 technology-focused projects as part of the CenturyLink Clarke M. Williams Foundation's 2019-20 Teachers and Technology grant program.

"Our goal with these grants is to help teachers expose students to STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) concepts through the use of innovative equipment and projects," said Stephanie Calhoun, CenturyLink vice president of talent management. "Our teachers and students have faced so many challenges this spring with closures and adapting to distance and online classes. These CenturyLink grants will help teachers reach and teach. It helps them bring useful technology into everyday learning."

Once states deem it safe for children to return to school, it will be important to have the right technology in place for them to learn again in the classroom. Grants funded through the 2019-20 program will be distributed to schools in the fall to provide a range of equipment including robotics, drones, virtual reality mechanisms, laptops, microscopes and more. View a complete list of the 2019-20 CenturyLink Teachers and Technology Grant recipients here.

Shawn Tolley, a music and dance teacher at Stevens Elementary in Spokane, Wash., is a past grant recipient. He used the funding to purchase color sensors so his students could make original music and 3-D printers to create dioramas for narrative story telling. "Our CenturyLink grant allowed us to engage students in a whole new way," stated Tolley. "They were able to take their most imaginative ideas and turn them into fantastic creations they would never have thought possible before."

The Teachers and Technology program, which has distributed more than $11 million since its inception, awards grants of up to $5,000 per project to schools in CenturyLink's local service and corporate locations in support of projects submitted by pre-K through 12^th grade teachers to innovatively implement technology in their classrooms.

Key Facts

• Across the United States, more than 300 grant applications were submitted to the grants program and 114 were awarded based on the impact they will have on students in the classroom and the overall innovation of the project.
• The CenturyLink Teachers and Technology grant program, which began in 2008, has awarded more than $11 million to technology-based learning projects to date.
• CenturyLink service is neither required nor considered in the review of applications.

About the CenturyLink Foundation
CenturyLink improves the lives of our customers by connecting them to the power of the digital world. CenturyLink extends this vision through the CenturyLink Clarke M. Williams Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to contributing to endeavors that improve the well-being and overall quality of life for people throughout CenturyLink's communities. Named after CenturyLink's founder Clarke M. Williams, the Foundation is endowed by CenturyLink to support K-12 STEM education and other initiatives that encourage our employees to use their time, talents and treasure to strengthen their communities.

SOURCE CenturyLink, Inc.