| Enlighten
Me on SuperPages.com Inspires Creative Learning
Among Adults and Children National Education
Expert Says SuperThinkers Game Teaches Important Critical Thinking Skills
DALLAS, TX
Verizon SuperPages.com today launched a new online literacy and education
site, Enlighten Me: Read, Learn and Explore (http://superpages.com/enlightenme).
Enlighten Me stimulates intellectual exploration among children and
provides parents, caregivers and teachers - the people who influence
a child's educational growth - a robust educational resource that promotes
the value of reading and encourages creative learning. The heart of
Enlighten Me is SuperThinkers, a fun resource with
educational activities that challenge and engage kids while making learning
transparent. Here, children have access to the original and interactive
Peetnik Mysteries, which promote SuperThinking skills
such as logic, problem solving, critical thinking, cooperative learning,
imagination and creativity.
"To really make a difference with kids, you have
to make sure they enjoy learning," said Janet Stevens,
group vice president - public affairs for Verizon Information Services.
"Enlighten Me - and the Peetnik Mysteries in particular - provide caregivers
the tools to help kids develop critical thinking skills while having
fun online."
Making Learning Fun
SuperThinkers respects and challenges a child's emerging problem-solving
skills as humorous text and clever visuals draw in the young player.
Almost instantly, users will recognize the need to heed details while
keeping track of the larger picture. "SuperThinkers is a wonderful collection
of motivating and meaningful activities that encourage creativity, research
and analysis, problem solving, leadership and community involvement,"
said Dr. Peggy Healy Stearns, an award-winning, children's
educational software designer. "While kids may not realize the educational
value of solving mysteries, parents and educators can be satisfied that
their time spent online is time well spent." To create an online activity
with significant educational and learning value, Verizon worked with
FableVision Studios, an educational media company under
the leadership of Emmy Award-winning Partner and Creative Director Peter
Reynolds. FableVision creates positive programming and story-based
engaging media for children and adults.
Solving the Peetnik Mysteries
The Peetnik Mysteries encourage SuperThinking by challenging children
to solve the mysteries of Clutterbuck Valley, a fictional community
where 12-year-old student and amateur detective Penn Peetnik runs the
Problem Solvers Agency. Children use various real-life information-gathering
tools, such as the yellow and white pages, a telephone, a map and a
Who's Who directory, to familiarize themselves with Clutterbuck Valley,
its geography, businesses and residents, to solve the community mysteries.
In addition, SuperThinkers offers tips on educational extracurricular
activities, ideas on getting involved in the community and a reading
list of appropriate mysteries and detective novels. Additional mysteries
and content frequently will be added to Enlighten Me, ensuring that
children can continually access new and interesting activities. Parents,
caregivers and educators can access a link from SuperThinkers that explains
what "SuperThinking" is and how it can complement school curriculum,
and teachers can explore ideas from an educational team on how to expand
on SuperThinker themes in the classroom.
Additional Resources on Enlighten Me
Enlighten Me complements the resources and activities available
on SuperThinkers with a number of community-oriented resources that
in the past have not been available online:
- Everyday Literacy - Offers ways to bring literacy
and technology into everyday family life from award-winning children's
book author Mary Brigid Barrett;
- Book Reviews - Shares Verizon employees' book reviews
and recommendations for all ages;
- Literacy Leaders - Shows how literacy has affected
some extraordinary individuals;
- Getting Involved - Profiles literacy programs across
the country and offers tips on how to get involved in programs in
your area;
- Literacy Links - Provides useful links to literacy
resources;
- Internet Learning Tutor - Offers a free, online
interactive program to help novices and experts better use the Internet.
Enlighten Me combines Verizon's long-standing support of literacy with
the national reach of its online directory, SuperPages.com. "Verizon's
championship of literacy causes provided the foundation for the development
of Enlighten Me," Stevens continued. "Enlighten Me extends the reach
of Verizon Reads and the many literacy programs that Verizon supports,
including the Scholastic Book Angels and Books for Babies."
About FableVision
Led by Peter Reynolds, FableVision Studios (http://www.fablevision.com)
leverages multiple media platforms including animation, books, CD-ROM,
and the Web to create "stories that matter, stories that move" for children,
adults and families, museums, publishers and broadcasters. The company
continues to build an award-winning reputation among the educational,
publishing and cross-media landscape, including launching two original
animated series with Sesame Workshop/Nickelodeon's new television/on-line
network, Noggin.
About Verizon Information Services and SuperPages.com
Verizon Information Services is the world's leading print and online
directory publisher and a content provider for communications products
and services. Verizon operates in 16 countries and has annual revenues
of more than $4.3 billion. The company publishes nearly 1,200 U.S. Verizon
SuperPages directories and 400 international directories with a total
circulation of approximately 150 million copies worldwide.
Verizon Information Services also produces and markets SuperPages.com,
the Internet's #1 online directory and shopping resource. SuperPages.com
receives as many as 12 million visits and 9 million unique visitors
a month. SuperPages.com also powers directory services on MSN, InfoSpace,
AltaVista, Excite, Lycos, Ask Jeeves, HotBot, BigFoot, Tripod and Angelfire
as well as more than 2,500 affiliate Web sites.
Through its signature Verizon Reads program and the
Verizon Literacy Network, Verizon is committed to leading
the fight to increase U.S. literacy levels by creating community and
corporate awareness, raising funds, encouraging collaboration among
literacy providers and engaging employees in supporting literacy programs.
Verizon Information Services supports community outreach programs across
the nation designed to increase the literacy rate of children and adults,
and to help people of all ages become computer literate. Based in the
Dallas area, Verizon Information Services is a unit of Verizon Communications
Inc. (NYSE:VZ), one of the world's leading providers of communications
services. For more information on Verizon Information Services, visit
Verizon.SuperPages.com. For more information on Verizon's literacy programs,
visit SuperPages.com and click
on the Verizon Reads icon.
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