AT&T Helps UK Program Go Into Bardstown School

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Nov. 16, 2009) − AT&T has given a $24,000 grant to the University of Kentucky to implement a program designed to improve students' educations in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) at Bardstown High School.

The grant from AT&T (NYSE:T) will support the Partnership Enhancement Project (PEP) that establishes a collaboration between UK and local teachers to enhance teaching skills and students' academic performance. Last year, AT&T provided a $35,000 grant to plan the program that the new grant will put into action.

Under the program, math and science teachers will identify specific needs and deficiencies that need to be addressed with the support of school and district administrators. Because some teachers and administrators lack some of the skills to articulate specific needs, the PEP will use a program coordinator who has been trained as a master teacher or teacher leader to assist teachers in their tasks.

The PEP also will help teachers gather data from a variety of sources -- other teachers, parents and community members -- to build local decision-making that will provide a sustainable outcome of the project.

Bardstown teachers also will benefit from assistance from UK outreach professors with expertise in STEM disciplines.

"AT&T is pleased to continue its support of PEP and we applaud the University of Kentucky, Bardstown High School and our legislative leaders for the outstanding work they are doing to help students excel in science, technology, engineering and math," said Mary Pat Regan, president of AT&T Kentucky. 

"This is an exciting opportunity for our teachers and students," said state Rep. David Floyd, R-Bardstown.  “I hope this will steer more of our young people into technical careers.”

The Bardstown program is benefiting from STEM-education improvement approaches developed by UK’s Appalachian Math and Science Partnership (AMSP), a program funded by a $24 million grant from the National Science Foundation. The PEP approach is one of the successful strategies produced by the AMSP program.

AT&T's grant is part of the company's signature initiative, AT&T Aspire, which was announced earlier this year and helps address high-school success and workforce readiness.  AT&T has committed $100 million in philanthropy through 2011 to schools and nonprofit organizations that are focused on high-school retention and better preparing students for college and the workforce. More than 170 schools and nonprofit organizations will receive almost $12 million in competitive grants from the AT&T Foundation this year that are designed to support high-school retention programs at national and local levels for at-risk students.