Lehighton Area School District recently announced support from Verizon's "Check Into Literacy" program. The school received a grant in the amount of $5,000, to be split between Lehighton Area Middle School Library and Lehighton Area High School Library.

This support for integrating technology through the use of digital books and magazines at the high school level and improving reading achievement using technology at the middle school level will enable the district's students to access the latest technologies using Kindles and Entourage E-Reader.Lisa Krause, reading teacher at the middle school, said, "Bringing e-texts to our school will enhance our students learning environment and we are grateful to Verizon for allowing us this opportunity."The "Check Into Literacy" initiatives allows Verizon's landline telephone customers to indicate on their monthly phone bills that they wish to make a $1 tax-deductible donation to promote literacy. Verizon distributes these donations to local literacy groups, including public libraries and school districts."A dollar a month may not seem like much, but it can go a long way toward improving literacy skills in local communities and giving people the opportunity to succeed," said Daniel J. Reavy, director of external affairs at Verizon. "We are delighted that the Lehighton Area School District will benefit by the generosity of our customers."Lehighton has been implementing greater use of technology since 2008 and the purchase of Kindles for the high school will enhance motivation to read using the digital and audio book device. All students at the middle school will be able to access the new Entourage E-Readers for remediation, enrichment, and research through the use of this new technology.