OAKLAND, Calif., Aug. 19, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Comcast, in
partnership with Khan Academy, a nonprofit on a mission to provide
a free, world-class education for anyone, anywhere, today
celebrated students from the City of
Oakland for their achievement in Khan Academy's recent Bay
Area learning challenge, LearnStorm2015.
"We're excited to recognize all the Oakland students and educators who
participated in LearnStorm 2015," said Sal
Khan, Founder and CEO of Khan Academy. "Through their
hard work and grit, they've shown that you really can learn
anything when you have the right mindset – and that's what
LearnStorm is all about."
Comcast recently introduced new eligibility criteria for
Internet Essentials, the nation's largest and most comprehensive
high-speed Internet adoption program. The Company expanded
its instant approval process to all families whose children attend
schools where fifty percent or more students participate in the
National School Lunch Program. All public schools in
Oakland meet this new test.
As a result, all public school students in the City of Oakland will be instantly approved
when they apply for the program, provided they meet the other
eligibility criteria.
To celebrate Oakland's success
in LearnStorm, Comcast will offer six months of complimentary home
Internet service to any qualified family in the City of Oakland who has not yet signed up for
Internet Essentials. This includes all students in the
Oakland Unified School District, plus any students who attend
charter, parochial, private and cyber schools, as well as those who
are being home schooled.
As a further incentive, starting today and running for the next
two weeks, through September
2nd, Comcast will also give away a free laptop to
new families who take advantage of this special offer and are
enrolled in and connected to the program.
"As children prepare to return to school, there is no more
essential tool to have than Internet service at home, so learning
can continue even when school is over for the day or the summer,"
said David. L. Cohen, Senior Executive Vice President and Chief
Diversity Officer, Comcast Corporation. "We're thrilled with
Oakland's impressive results in
the LearnStorm challenge and can think of no better free online
resource for students to take advantage of this upcoming school
year than the potentially life-changing educational resources from
Khan Academy." Oakland students
topped the LearnStorm leaderboard in the "hustle" category as the
number-one city, earning points for taking on challenging skills
and demonstrating perseverance. The three-month learning
challenge for third- through 12th-graders in 10 Bay Area
counties was designed to build students' math skills through online
practice on Khan Academy. Students earned points by mastering
math skills and tackling challenging new concepts.
"In order to reach our goals, we must embrace innovation and use
technology to empower our students and enable learning," explained
Oakland Unified School District Superintendent Antwan Wilson. "Khan Academy demonstrates
how new approaches can lead to student success and Comcast is a
steadfast partner as we work to provide every OUSD student with
Internet access and a portable wireless device--both at home
and in the classroom. It's only appropriate that these
two partners honor the students of Oakland, as we march down the Pathway to
Excellence."
Comcast recently announced that more than 500,000
low-income families nationally have signed up for the Internet
Essentials program, benefitting more than 2 million
Americans. In addition, the Company announced it is doubling
the Internet download speed to up to 10 Mbps and offering a free
Wi-Fi router with the service.
About Internet Essentials:
Internet Essentials from
Comcast is the nation's largest and most comprehensive broadband
adoption program. It provides low-cost broadband service for
$9.95 a month plus tax; the option to
purchase an Internet-ready computer for under $150; and multiple options to access free digital
literacy training in print, online and in-person. Eligible
families must have at least one child eligible to participate in
the National School Lunch Program, including public, parochial,
private, and homeschooled students. For more information or
to apply for the program, visit www.InternetEssentials.com or call
1-855-846-8376, or, for Spanish, call 1-855-765-6995.
About Khan Academy:
Khan Academy is a 501(c)3
non-profit with a mission to change education for the better by
providing a free world-class education for anyone, anywhere.
We believe that students of all ages should have free, unlimited
access to the best educational content, and that they should be
able to consume and master this content at their own pace. In
addition, we believe that there are incredible opportunities to use
intelligent software development, deep data analytics, and
intuitive user interfaces to more effectively surface and present
these educational resources to students and teachers around the
world. Our library of content covers kindergarten to early
college math, science topics such as biology, chemistry, and
physics, and reaches into humanities with tutorials on economics,
finance, music, philosophy, and art history. We have over 26
million registered users and to date, we have delivered over 580
million lessons and 3.8 billion exercise problems. Facebook
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About Comcast Corporation:
Comcast Corporation
(Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK) is a global media and technology company
with two primary businesses, Comcast Cable and NBCUniversal.
Comcast Cable is the nation's largest video, high-speed Internet
and phone provider to residential customers under the XFINITY brand
and also provides these services to businesses. NBCUniversal
operates news, entertainment and sports cable networks, the NBC and
Telemundo broadcast networks, television production operations,
television station groups, Universal Pictures and Universal Parks
and Resorts. Visit www.comcastcorporation.com for more
information.
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SOURCE Comcast