News & Announcements

September 18, 1998

NATIONAL SEMICONDUCTOR GIVES THE INTERNET
INNOVATOR AWARDS TO FIVE LOCAL TEACHERS

On Friday, September 18, National Semiconductor announced the names of five local teachers and their schools as the first winners of its Internet Innovator Awards. National created the Internet Innovator Awards to recognize and reward K-12 teachers who are using the Internet effectively in their classrooms. Each award is $30,000 in cash -- $10,000 for the teacher and $20,000 for the school. The school's portion of the award must be used primarily on technology training for teachers. Plus, each school receives a Global Connections training course valued at $3,500.

To present the awards -- including checks, trophies, and plaques -- National's CEO and senior executives, along with local elected officials, school superintendents, and board members, created a roaming "Prize Patrol." Festooned with banners and balloons, the Prize Patrol traveled to each of the winning schools to surprise the winning teachers at pre-assembled student rallies.

An independent panel of judges -- all experts in instructional technology -- evaluated the 114 applications received from California, Texas, and Maine. Judges recognized winning entries which showed that teachers were using the Internet for collaboration and communication...not merely research. In addition to the 4 winning projects in California, 7 awards were provided to teachers in Texas and Maine.

Please join National in congratulating:

• Catherine Chowenhill of Walter Hays Elementary in Palo Alto for "Monsters, Mondrian and Me"
• Kathleen Lincoln of Chaboya Middle School in San Jose for "A Culinary Trip Around the World"
• Jack Reynolds of Cabrillo Middle School in Santa Clara for the "Saratoga Creek Water Quality Project"
• Shannon Taylor and Letha Pretre of Farallon View Elementary in Half Moon Bay for "Oceans Project: What's in Your Ocean?"

Visit our Internet Innovator Awards Web site at www.nsawards.com for descriptions of the projects and links to their Web sites.

The Internet Innovator Awards are part of National's Internet Training Initiative, which is a $2.5 million, three-year commitment that also includes Global Connections, leader-led training showing teachers how to use the Internet in their classrooms, and Global Connections Online, a free, Web-based training course.

National established the program to make a positive impact on the quality of education in our communities. We also wanted to ensure our students thrive -- not just survive -- in the Information Age. The Internet is a resource with tremendous teaching possibilities. National wants to encourage its use, so that our students can take advantage of learning opportunities in the Information Age. This will, in turn, better prepare our future work force.