Bell Atlantic Sponsors Net Day at the Katzenbach School for the Deaf

Bell Atlantic Sponsors Net Day at the Katzenbach School for the Deaf

April 11, 1997

NEWARK, N.J. -- The Marie H. Katzenbach School for the
Deaf will
receive free information superhighway on-ramps Saturday morning, April
12, courtesy of Bell Atlantic and a corps of volunteers.

Bell Atlantic is providing the landmark school with all of the cable,
jacks, tools, molding, termination blocks and technical assistance
needed to wire 24 classrooms for Internet access.

Colleen McCloskey, vice president of public policy for Bell
Atlantic-New Jersey and one of the volunteers installing cable on
Saturday, noted that while Internet access benefits students across
the educational spectrum, students at Katzenbach find it particularly
useful.

"The Internet is a tremendous resource for these students because it
provides instant access to millions of volumes of visual
information,"
McCloskey said. "Electronic mail, for example, lets deaf and
hearing
students work together, unaided by a sign interpreter."

Volunteers from Bell Atlantic and Leadership New Jersey - the
Partnership for New Jersey's statewide program for emerging leaders -
will begin wiring the classrooms at 8 a.m. Work will continue into
the late afternoon.

Saturday's Net Day effort is a continuation of Bell Atlantic's
long-standing commitment to bring 21st century technology into New
Jersey classrooms.

Net Day itself was inspired by Bell Atlantic's Interactive Multimedia
Education Trial at the Christopher Columbus School in Union City. As
part of last October's national Net Day, Bell Atlantic provided
Internet wiring and software to three schools in state-operated
districts.

In addition, Bell Atlantic each year awards more than $100,000 in
Opportunity New Jersey (ONJ) grant money to educational projects that
encourage students to learn using the latest technology.

In 1996, Bell Atlantic awarded an ONJ grant to the Katzenbach School,
which used the money to create a compressed-video link to the
Invention Factory, a Trenton science museum.

The Marie H. Katzenbach School for the Deaf is located at 320 Sullivan
Way, West Trenton, New Jersey. Sullivan Way is just off of Route 29,
a few miles west of downtown Trenton. The contact numbers there are
609-530-3100 and 609-530-6620 (TTY).

Bell Atlantic Corporation (NYSE:
BEL) is at the forefront of the new
communications, entertainment and information industry. In the
mid-Atlantic region, the company is the premier provider of local
telecommunications and advanced services. Globally, it is one of the
largest investors in the high-growth wireless communication
marketplace. Bell Atlantic also owns a substantial interest in
Telecom Corporation of New Zealand and is actively developing
high-growth national and international business opportunities in all
phases of the industry.

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