Nov. 6, 2009 (PR Newswire) -- ATLANTIC CITY, N.J., Nov. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- The Middlesex County Educational Technology Training Center has received a $100,000 grant from the Verizon Foundation to continue to raise teachers' awareness of the free educational resources available on Thinkfinity.org and to train teachers from around the state how to use those resources.

With the grant, announced Friday (Nov. 6) at the New Jersey Education Association convention in Atlantic City, the Verizon Foundation has now invested more than $150,000 with the Middlesex ETTC. The organization, run by the East Brunswick school system, provides innovative online resources and professional development for teachers statewide.

Thinkfinity.org is the Verizon Foundation's free, comprehensive Web site containing thousands of educational resources, including standards-based, grade-specific, K-12 lesson plans, online educational games, videos and other materials provided in partnership with many of the nation's leading educational organizations.

Verizon's Thinkfinity.org offers elementary through high school teachers resources across eight academic disciplines, from science to English to mathematics, to improve student achievement. Thinkfinity.org is designed to help teachers gain access quickly to high-quality online resources.

"Thinkfinity.org provides a free, safe, standards-based educational portal," said Jo Ann Magistro, superintendent, East Brunswick Public Schools. "Every lesson plan or Web site found through Thinkfinity has been created or approved by 11 of the nation's leading educational organizations. Thinkfinity helps our students use the 21st century skills needed by today's global citizens."

In addition to providing standards-based resources from the nation's leading educational organizations, Thinkfinity.org also offers a free, robust professional-development program for teachers and trainers.

NJEA President Barbara Keshishian said, "Thinkfinity is a featured program in High Tech Hall at our annual convention this week. NJEA members will have the opportunity to learn how to integrate Thinkfinity into their lesson planning and instruction. The scope and quality of the Thinkfinity program make it an important tool for teachers of all grade levels and content areas.