ORLANDO, Fla., Feb. 10, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Sprint (NYSE:
S) is helping more than 700 high school students from Puerto Rico who were displaced after Hurricane
Maria and are now enrolled in Orange
County Public Schools. Through Sprint's 1Million Project,
the students will be receive free wireless devices and free service
to complete online homework, tests and other assignments. Students
began receiving devices at an event on Saturday, February 10 at Lake Nona High School in
Orlando.
"Starting over in a new place and a new school would be a huge
challenge for any student," said Scott
Howat, President of the Foundation for OCPS. "But when you
consider that many of these kids lost absolutely everything, we
recognized there was an even greater need to help them get a fresh
start. Because of Sprint's 1Million Project we had an amazing
opportunity to give them the tools and internet connectivity they
will need to succeed in school."
"Working with OCPS since we launched the 1Million Project with
them last year has been such a positive experience that when the
opportunity arose to expand the program, we jumped at the chance to
help these very deserving students from Puerto Rico," said Doug Michelman, president of Sprint's 1Million
Project. "The Sprint Foundation has been honored to coordinate with
Sprint's regional teams and community organizations across the
hurricane-impacted region to do what we can to help families get
back on their feet."
70 percent of high school teachers assign homework to be
completed online, yet more than 5 million families with kids do not
have internet access at home. Sprint created the 1Million Project
to help close this Homework Gap by providing 1 million free devices
and wireless service to high school students who can't complete
their schoolwork at home because they lack internet access.
In addition to the devices for the Puerto Rican students, Sprint
also provided 2,000 OCPS students with free devices and free
wireless service during the 2017-2018 school year. Across the state
of Florida more than 20,000
devices have been donated this year.
About Sprint:
Sprint (NYSE: S) is a communications services company
that creates more and better ways to connect its customers to
the things they care about most. Sprint served 54.6 million
connections as of December 31, 2017
and is widely recognized for developing, engineering and deploying
innovative technologies, including the first wireless 4G service
from a national carrier in the United
States; leading no-contract brands including Virgin Mobile
USA, Boost Mobile, and Assurance
Wireless; instant national and international push-to-talk
capabilities; and a global Tier 1 Internet backbone. You can learn
more and visit Sprint at www.sprint.com or www.facebook.com/sprint
and www.twitter.com/sprint.
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SOURCE Sprint