Verizon Foundation Marks Hispanic Heritage Month With a Strong Focus on Education


The Verizon Foundation recently celebrated Hispanic Heritage Month with an announcement that it has awarded more than $680,000 in scholarships to146 Hispanic students for the 2008-2009 school year.

At the same time, Thinkfinity.org launched a special Hispanic Heritage Month resources section. The creative section is designed to help educators stimulate their students’ interest in Hispanic American history and culture with a rich collection of free lesson plans, activities and educational resources.

In September 1968, Congress authorized President Johnson to proclaim a special National Hispanic Heritage Week, and 20 years later the observance was expanded to one month, Sept. 15 - Oct. 15. The start date marks the anniversary of the independence of five Latin American countries.

Since 2006, the Verizon Foundation has contributed more than $31.7 million to support the Hispanic community. "Verizon has a long history of investing in the Latino community, including in the education and development of tomorrow's leaders," said Magda Yrizarry, Verizon chief diversity officer.

"In our global society, it's more important than ever for our students to have the opportunity to develop a true understanding and deep appreciation of cultures different from their own," added Verizon Foundation President Patrick Gaston. "Thinkfinity.org gives teachers quick, free access to a multitude of educational resources to bring the stories of Hispanic American history to life."

Resources available in the Thinkfinity.org Hispanic Heritage section, on http://thinkfinity.org, include:

  • Teaching the Epic Through Ghost Stories Students connect to epic storytellers through traditional ghost stories.
  • A Nation of Immigrants: Latino Stories Articles and photographs from the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History highlight personal experiences of Latino immigrants.
  • Mexican Culture and History Through its National Holidays Students learn the origins and importance of several Mexican national holidays.

Among the organizations that received Verizon Foundation grants to fund scholarships are: the Hispanic Scholarship Fund, Hispanic Business College Fund, Hispanic Engineering, Science and Technology Program - University of Texas-Pan American, Society of Professional Hispanic Engineers National Scholarship and the University of Southern California/Mexican American Alumni Association.

The U.S. Hispanic Population
The U.S. Census Bureau reports these statistics:

  • 44.3 million was the Hispanic population as of July 1, 2006, making people of Hispanic origin the country's largest ethnic or race minority.
  • 9.9 million is the ranking of the U.S. Hispanic population. Only Mexico and Colombia had larger Hispanic populations than the U.S. as of 2005.
  • Mexican Culture and History Through its National Holidays is the number of Hispanic family households in 2006, and almost two-thirds of these households included children younger than 18.
  • 32.2 million U.S. household residents five and older speak Spanish at home.