The U.S. Conference of Mayors has recognized Verizon with the Outstanding Award in Public/Private Partnerships for joining with the city of Los Angeles to expand an innovative after-school program to more inner-city schools.

At a Conference of Mayors meeting in Washington on Sunday (Jan. 18), Verizon was honored for providing $1 million to support expansion of LA’s BEST (Better Educated Students for Tomorrow), the city’s nationally recognized after-school learning program that serves more than 28,000 students at 180 elementary schools. Verizon also supported the creation of best-practices sites, where staff will be trained for similar programs at other schools.

With support from Verizon, the city was able to implement LA’s BEST after-school programs at additional schools. These programs use innovative computer-based and Internet-based curricula to help develop students’ interests and learning abilities and expose students to various forms of new technology.

“This is a prime example of how a private-public partnership can work together to bring state-of-the-art technology to underserved students,” said Tim McCallion, president of Verizon’s West region. “Investing in the education of future generations – especially in growth areas such as technology – has far-reaching benefits to the rest of society.”

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