TELUS gives $75,000 to improve IT resources for Nova Scotia students

Technology for Teachers Fund helps upgrade classroom technology

HALIFAX, Oct. 16, 2013 /CNW/ - Teachers in 16 Nova Scotia schools have been selected for grants of up to $5,000 each to purchase new technology for learning in their classrooms as part of the $75,000 TELUS Technology for Teachers Fund.

"The teachers who applied proposed some great uses for technology to improve the learning environment. We chose the applications that demonstrated the most innovative and effective uses for technology to help students learn," said Gen. (Ret.) Rick Hillier, Chair of the TELUS Atlantic Canada Community Board. "In all cases, teachers intend to use technology to help students engage more deeply in their education."

The TELUS Atlantic Canada Community Board involved members of the education sector in the selection process. The Board selected 16 teachers to receive grants of up to $5,000 to upgrade the technology in their classrooms. TELUS received more than 100 applications, with many looking for funding to purchase tablets, SMART boards and learning software for classrooms.

Some of the grant recipients include:

• Primary students at Elmsdale District School will receive $5,000 for mini tablets that will help them access literacy resources to practice their reading and writing skills.
• Students with special needs at West Hants Middle School will benefit from a $4,000 grant for tablets to improve their phonological awareness, learning skills and social abilities.
• Elementary school students at St. Andrews Consolidated will have access to software to help them learn music literacy, compose songs and practice singing with a grant of $4,500.
• Rockingstone Heights will receive $5,000 to help grade 6 students who were not engaged in their classes to have access to tablets to supplement their learning with online resources.

"I have been working at inner city schools for my entire teaching career and I have noticed the highest engagement comes when students used technology to explore and present ideas," explained Crystal MacLean, a teacher at Rockingstone Heights, in her application.

The TELUS Technology for Teachers Fund is part of TELUS' national Phones for Good campaign. For every new smartphone purchased in Nova Scotia between February 7 and August 7, 2013, TELUS gave $25 to this fund, to a maximum of $75,000.

The TELUS Phones for Good program in Atlantic Canada has donated more than $800,000 to organizations such as the IWK Health Foundation, Boys & Girls Clubs and Janeway Children's Hospital Foundation. Since the Phones for Good campaign started in 2011, TELUS has given more than $2 million to 20 local community projects.

About TELUS

TELUS (TSX: T, NYSE: TU) is a leading national telecommunications company in Canada, with $11.2 billion of annual revenue and 13.2 million customer connections, including 7.7 million wireless subscribers, 3.3 million wireline network access lines, 1.4 million Internet subscribers and 743,000 TELUS TV customers. Led since 2000 by President and CEO, Darren Entwistle, TELUS provides a wide range of communications products and services, including wireless, data, Internet protocol (IP), voice, television, entertainment and video.

In support of our philosophy to give where we live, TELUS, our team members and retirees have contributed more than $300 million to charitable and not-for-profit organizations and volunteered 4.8 million hours of service to local communities since 2000. Fourteen TELUS Community Boards lead TELUS' local philanthropic initiatives. TELUS was honoured to be named the most outstanding philanthropic corporation globally for 2010 by the Association of Fundraising Professionals, becoming the first Canadian company to receive this prestigious international recognition.

For more information about TELUS, please visit telus.com.

SOURCE: TELUS Corporation

For more information and/or a list of all grant recipients, please contact:

Holly Dunn
Dunn & Associates Communications and Public Affairs
902-422-6014
[email protected]