Granite State Telephone has made a priority of supporting area schools in their efforts to educate our young people, including establishing the Granite State Telephone Scholarship Fund in 1994 to assist local students with paying for college tuition.

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For the fifteenth consecutive year, two deserving students living within Granite State Telephone's service area will be awarded $1,000 scholarships. Since the program's inception, the company has awarded over $25,000 to New Hampshire students aspiring to further their education.

The scholarships will be awarded in the summer of 2008 for the 2008-2009 academic year. Eligible candidates must be planning to enroll in an undergraduate or graduate program at an accredited two- or four-year college, university, or vocational school within the United States.

The scholarships are based on financial need and academic merit and are administered by the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation. The application deadline for the 2008-2009 school year has passed. Please check back in the fall of 2008 for the 2009-2010 deadlines.

For further information, please visit the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation online at www.nhcf.org, or contact them by phone at 225-6641.

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FRED (Foundation for Rural Education and Development) Scholarships & Grants

FRED is a charitable organization established in 1989 by rural telephone companies like Granite State Telephone to address the educational and developmental needs of rural areas. Over $75,000 in scholarships and grants are awarded each year to rural students.

Descriptions of available scholarships and grants are listed below. For more information and applications, visit the FRED website at www.fred.org.

Deadlines: Completed applications for FRED scholarships and grants should be sent to the following address by the dates below: Jennifer Prince, Granite State Telephone, PO Box 87, South Weare, NH 03281-0087.

• General Scholarships & Everette Kneece Scholarship: The application deadline for the 2008-2009 school year has passed. Please check back in the fall of 2008 for the 2009-2010 deadlines.
• Technology Grants: The application deadline for 2008-2009 Technology Grants has passed. Please check back in the fall of 2008 for the 2009-2010 deadlines.

FRED General Scholarships recognize outstanding students who have rural backgrounds, are interested in pursuing careers in the telecommunications industry, or show an interest in returning to rural America. The scholarships range from $1,000 - $2,500.

Everette Kneece Return to Rural America Scholarship is presented to one exceptional student who shows a desire to live and work in a rural community upon completing his/her education. The recipient will be awarded $5,000 to help defray the cost of tuition and books..

Technology Grants for Rural Schools are awarded to rural schools working to increase the use of technology in the classroom by utilizing new forms of technology to further enhance learning. This includes adding new programs and curriculum for technology education and purchasing new equipment. The grants range from $1,000 - $10,000.

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Education Link
Bringing the Power of the Internet to Schools and Libraries

Granite State Telephone partners with GSInet to provide free Internet access to those institutions within Granite State Telephone's service area. The companies equip interested schools and libraries with telephone service, unlimited access to the Internet, and electronic mailboxes (email) free of charge. Schools and libraries located in the Chester (887), Hillsboro Upper Village (478), Washington (495), and Weare (529) telephone exchanges of Granite State Telephone are eligible to participate in this program.

John Stark Regional High School in Weare linked almost 50 computers in two different computer labs via a networked connection. "Thanks to the powerful DSL line provided by Granite State Telephone and GSInet, even when the computers are very busy they can still access the Internet at very fast speeds." - Geoffrey Hirsch, technology coordinator at John Stark.

For further information about Granite State Telephone's Education Link program, send an email to info@granitestatetelephone.com or call 529-9911 or 1-800-559-9900 (outside NH).

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Have Granite State Telephone Visit Your School

One of our most important outreach programs focuses on educating children of all ages on the operations, history, and future growth of the telecommunications industry. Working with local teachers, Granite State Telephone is able to offer itself as a resource to enhance existing curriculum and enrich learning.

Granite State Telephone Visits Weare Middle School Do you know what a central office is or how it routes telephone traffic from one location to another? The students at Weare Middle School do. Granite State Telephone recently participated in the Weare Middle School Career Day to give students a greater understanding of the many different career paths open to them in the telecommunications industry. Students learned that all the telephone wires in their homes connect directly to the central office and how the equipment it houses is able to route the calls on to their different destinations. They also learned that GSInet's equipment, which allows customers to access the Internet, is also located in the central office. Students were educated on how our engineering department designs the telephone poles and aerial cable lines they see along road sides. They also learned how our computer mapping system keeps track of customer locations and the 14,000 telephone poles and 1,300 miles of cable that we maintain. Students were shown a fiber optic cable capable of carrying 400,000 simultaneous telephone conversations as well as a section of an aerial cable filled with copper wires.

If you are interested in having GST speak at your school, send an email to info@granitestatetelephone.com, or call 529-9911 or 1-800-559-9900 (outside NH).