During the week of April 19-23, members of the Attleboro Senior Center were recipients of computer training sponsored by the Denver Chapter. Past Chapter President Deb Foley attended the session on April 21, which was held at the Bristol Community College campus in Attleboro. Deb showed everyone how to access the Verizon Pioneers and Denver Chapter websites. When Deb introduced Thinkfinity, she was surprised to discover that the instructor, Tricia Svendsen, was a certified Thinkfinity facilitator. A new Thinkfinity networking relationship has developed as a result of this chance encounter.

The Council on Aging had such an overwhelming response to the training that they have 25 seniors in waiting and are looking for additional funding. They will be submitting a Verizon Foundation grant to fund this as an on-going offering to the senior community. The Center featured the Verizon Pioneers as the sponsor of the training in more than 5,000 flyers in their newsletter.

On Saturday, April 24, the South Bay Council of the Paumanok Chapter helped clean up areas in Massapequa Park, New York. The Council has been involved in this event for many years. In attendance were: Bob & Mo Roth, Charles Nicolas, John Nieson, Jean Kohler, Jim and Joan McGuire, John Ronga, Marge and Hank Koehler, Dominick and Dot Schiavone, and their three family members, Michael, Thomas and Donna Polimeni.

Recently, June Judd, a member of the Blue Ridge Council of the Old Dominion Chapter, was visited by Flat Stanley, who had traveled to Virginia from Louisiana at the request of June's son-in-law's niece. Not only did Flat Stanley help June make Smart Bears for a local hospital, he also toured the local Civil War sites. From there, Flat Stanley and June continued on to the Blue Ridge Mountains for a tour before he had to return to Louisiana.

Flat Stanley was originally created as a pen pal activity, but has evolved into so much more. Children learn about the world by sending this paper traveler to family and friends, who document Flat Stanley's visits with them. Flat Stanley's journey is depicted through pictures and sent back to the child who then reports on his journey at school. Can you see Flat Stanley in the middle of bears in the photo?

Congratulations to Ashley Luddy, granddaughter of Nancy Luddy of the Thomas Sherwin Chapter. Ashley is a 2010 recipient of a $1,000 national Pioneer scholarship. Ashley is a senior at Naragansett High School in Rhode Island, where she is Class Historian and a member of the National Honor Society and the Foreign Language Honor Society. She plans to major in Finance/International Business at American University in Washington, DC, this fall. Ashley was one of five selected from more than 100 applications.

Winners were selected by Scholarship Management Services, an independent judging organization. The scholarships are awarded based on applicant involvement in community service, school and leadership activities, and academic achievement. Ashley stood out from other applicants because of her on-going commitment as a religious education teacher at Saint Mary's Star of the Sea. "Besides being a great role model for the children, Ashley is dependable, organized and someone our younger parishioners can look up to," said Marilyn Palazzo, pastoral assistant, St. Mary Star of the Sea Church.

For more information on the scholarship program, please visit the national Pioneer site.

Some of you will remember from the November "Communicator" that in September 2009, the Tampa Sunshine and Pinellas Pasco Clubs of the Verizon West Chapter dedicated an exhibit at the Safety Harbor, Florida Museum of Regional History. This was dedicated to the memory of Almon Brown Strowger, the inventor of the automatic telephone system and the Strowger switch, the backbone switching system for the dial telephone for many years.

The exhibit consists of a display case of memorabilia about Strowger and an actual working switch with two rotary dial phones so one can place a call and see the switch operate. The switching system worked very well ONE WAY. The calling party could dial and the called party could answer, but there was one catch. There was no bell or ringing and for the called party to talk two ways to the "calling" party, someone had to push a relay on the switch to manually put the call through.

At the unveiling reception in September, one of the guests, Keith Cheshire, a retired Strowger engineer and director of Telephone Collectors International, agreed to procure the antique equipment and engineer an arrangement for the system to work both ways with normal ringing. However, it would be in the spring of 2010 as he was headed for the Smokey Mountains for the winter.

Club members were patient and operated the system manually for the summer explaining rotary dialing and switching to many visitors to the Safety Harbor Museum. Children were particularly interested and lined up to use the strange dial telephone that they had never seen.

On April 10, Mr. Cheshire returned to Safety Harbor with the proper equipment and with the able assistance of Tampa member, Marty Miller, engineered, wired and installed the system so that now it works both ways. They worked eight hours from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. to get the system working properly.

One now can dial "75." The Strowger Connector from Pennsylvania will step up seven numbers and over five and connect to the called phone. It will ring and they can talk both ways. Mr. Cheshire's next step is to add "dirty dial tone." Apparently present dial tone is clean and the antique dial tone is considered dirty as it didn't sound as pretty. Who would have thought?

Did you know there is criteria you should evaluate when exploring partnerships or support of another public charity? Support can include volunteers, cash donations or gifts in kind. How do you evaluate whether they are reputable and operate within the guidelines set for non-profits? There are several things to consider:

1. The charity should align with the Pioneers and your sponsor group's focus, as well as fit with your chapter's annual business plan.
The charity must have 501(c)(3) IRS tax status.
Does your chapter has the resources to provide support?
Will the support garner visibility for the Pioneers?
Is there an opportunity to combine volunteer hours with financial support?
You should research the charity through one or more of the charitable watchdogs or through your state's charity regulatory agency to be sure the charity dedicates the appropriate amount of contributions to programs - a minimum of 65% of annual expenses, with the remaining up to 35% of expenses attributable to a combination of fund raising and general and administrative expenses. Charity watchdog agencies include the Better Business Bureau's Wise Giving Alliance and www.charitynavigator.org.

Pioneers Headquarters has also created a screening document for your use in evaluating potential charitable partners.

Verizon Thinkfinity has captured the imagination of teachers, parents and students across the country with its award-winning K-12 resources. It is the go-to place for thousands of premium lesson plans, interactives, videos, learning games and more - great for use at home, in the classroom and beyond. And now, the Verizon Foundation has taken the best of free online educational content and made it better, with the just-released next generation of Verizon Thinkfinity.org. The new website is equipped with a whole new set of features. There's a new design that helps users quickly access all of Thinkfinity's resources, easier navigation, new social networking tools and more. Visit thinkfinity.org to see the new site for yourself and be sure to share it with teachers, students, parents, afterschool practitioners or anyone you know who is interested in helping students learn and succeed in school and in life.

Verizon and the Pioneers,

I wanted to write to let you know how much my class at Hampden Elementary School appreciated the books they received from Verizon and the Maryland TelecomPioneers. Each child selected a book that he or she was able to bring home. In 1st grade, students really learn to read and it is important to have plenty of books to read at home and in school. Seeing the look on my students' faces was priceless as they got to "shop" for a book and every student left that day excited to read their books.

Thanks again,
Ms. Marano
1st Grade Teacher
Hampden Elementary School, Baltimore, MD

P.O. Box 4406 . Salem, MA 01970

Earth Day at Massapequa Park

On Saturday, April 24, the South Bay Council of the Paumanok Chapter helped clean up areas in Massapequa Park, New York. The Council has been involved in this event for many years. In attendance were: Bob & Mo Roth, Charles Nicolas, John Nieson, Jean Kohler, Jim and Joan McGuire, John Ronga, Marge and Hank Koehler, Dominick and Dot Schiavone, and their three family members, Michael, Thomas and Donna Polimeni.

Flat Stanley visits the Pioneers

Recently, June Judd, a member of the Blue Ridge Council of the Old Dominion Chapter, was visited by Flat Stanley, who had traveled to Virginia from Louisiana at the request of June's son-in-law's niece. Not only did Flat Stanley help June make Smart Bears for a local hospital, he also toured the local Civil War sites. From there, Flat Stanley and June continued on to the Blue Ridge Mountains for a tour before he had to return to Louisiana. Flat Stanley was originally created as a pen pal activity, but has evolved into so much more. Children learn about the world by sending this paper traveler to family and friends, who document Flat Stanley's visits with them. Flat Stanley's journey is depicted through pictures and sent back to the child who then reports on his journey at school. Can you see Flat Stanley in the middle of bears in the photo?

Ashley Luddy wins $1,000 Pioneer Scholarship

Congratulations to Ashley Luddy, granddaughter of Nancy Luddy of the Thomas Sherwin Chapter. Ashley is a 2010 recipient of a $1,000 national Pioneer scholarship. Ashley is a senior at Naragansett High School in Rhode Island, where she is Class Historian and a member of the National Honor Society and the Foreign Language Honor Society. She plans to major in Finance/International Business at American University in Washington, DC, this fall. Ashley was one of five selected from more than 100 applications. Winners were selected by Scholarship Management Services, an independent judging organization. The scholarships are awarded based on applicant involvement in community service, school and leadership activities, and academic achievement. Ashley stood out from other applicants because of her on-going commitment as a religious education teacher at Saint Mary's Star of the Sea. "Besides being a great role model for the children, Ashley is dependable, organized and someone our younger parishioners can look up to," said Marilyn Palazzo, pastoral assistant, St. Mary Star of the Sea Church. For more information on the scholarship program, please visit the national Pioneer site.

Strowger Exhibit finally works both ways

Some of you will remember from the November "Communicator" that in September 2009, the Tampa Sunshine and Pinellas Pasco Clubs of the Verizon West Chapter dedicated an exhibit at the Safety Harbor, Florida Museum of Regional History. This was dedicated to the memory of Almon Brown Strowger, the inventor of the automatic telephone system and the Strowger switch, the backbone switching system for the dial telephone for many years. The exhibit consists of a display case of memorabilia about Strowger and an actual working switch with two rotary dial phones so one can place a call and see the switch operate. The switching system worked very well ONE WAY. The calling party could dial and the called party could answer, but there was one catch. There was no bell or ringing and for the called party to talk two ways to the "calling" party, someone had to push a relay on the switch to manually put the call through. At the unveiling reception in September, one of the guests, Keith Cheshire, a retired Strowger engineer and director of Telephone Collectors International, agreed to procure the antique equipment and engineer an arrangement for the system to work both ways with normal ringing. However, it would be in the spring of 2010 as he was headed for the Smokey Mountains for the winter. Club members were patient and operated the system manually for the summer explaining rotary dialing and switching to many visitors to the Safety Harbor Museum. Children were particularly interested and lined up to use the strange dial telephone that they had never seen. On April 10, Mr. Cheshire returned to Safety Harbor with the proper equipment and with the able assistance of Tampa member, Marty Miller, engineered, wired and installed the system so that now it works both ways. They worked eight hours from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. to get the system working properly. One now can dial "75." The Strowger Connector from Pennsylvania will step up seven numbers and over five and connect to the called phone. It will ring and they can talk both ways. Mr. Cheshire's next step is to add "dirty dial tone." Apparently present dial tone is clean and the antique dial tone is considered dirty as it didn't sound as pretty. Who would have thought?

How to evaluate partnerships with non-profits

Did you know there is criteria you should evaluate when exploring partnerships or support of another public charity? Support can include volunteers, cash donations or gifts in kind. How do you evaluate whether they are reputable and operate within the guidelines set for non-profits? There are several things to consider: 1. The charity should align with the Pioneers and your sponsor group's focus, as well as fit with your chapter's annual business plan. The charity must have 501(c)(3) IRS tax status. Does your chapter has the resources to provide support? Will the support garner visibility for the Pioneers? Is there an opportunity to combine volunteer hours with financial support? You should research the charity through one or more of the charitable watchdogs or through your state's charity regulatory agency to be sure the charity dedicates the appropriate amount of contributions to programs - a minimum of 65% of annual expenses, with the remaining up to 35% of expenses attributable to a combination of fund raising and general and administrative expenses. Charity watchdog agencies include the Better Business Bureau's Wise Giving Alliance and www.charitynavigator.org. Pioneers Headquarters has also created a screening document for your use in evaluating potential charitable partners.

Thinkfinity's New Design and Features

Verizon Thinkfinity has captured the imagination of teachers, parents and students across the country with its award-winning K-12 resources. It is the go-to place for thousands of premium lesson plans, interactives, videos, learning games and more - great for use at home, in the classroom and beyond. And now, the Verizon Foundation has taken the best of free online educational content and made it better, with the just-released next generation of Verizon Thinkfinity.org. The new website is equipped with a whole new set of features. There's a new design that helps users quickly access all of Thinkfinity's resources, easier navigation, new social networking tools and more. Visit thinkfinity.org to see the new site for yourself and be sure to share it with teachers, students, parents, afterschool practitioners or anyone you know who is interested in helping students learn and succeed in school and in life.

Thank You!

Verizon and the Pioneers, I wanted to write to let you know how much my class at Hampden Elementary School appreciated the books they received from Verizon and the Maryland TelecomPioneers. Each child selected a book that he or she was able to bring home. In 1st grade, students really learn to read and it is important to have plenty of books to read at home and in school. Seeing the look on my students' faces was priceless as they got to "shop" for a book and every student left that day excited to read their books. Thanks again, Ms. Marano 1st Grade Teacher Hampden Elementary School, Baltimore, MD