RALEIGH - Students and teachers in Angier, Burlington, Coats and Dunn receive receiving $20,000 Innovate Learning Grants from Verizon. The grants highlight the importance of STEM education and promote opportunities to study STEM subjects and achieve in these fields.

Angier Elementary School in Angier, Hillcrest Elementary in Burlington, Coats Elementary School in Coats and Harnett Primary in Dunn are among 80 underserved public schools across the country who will receive the grant from Verizon.

"I would like to thank Verizon for its generous grants. North Carolina has the talent and the work ethic to continue to produce nation's premier scientists and engineers," Governor Pat McCrory said in a press release. "I'm confident in our students and their ability to excel in STEM subjects and look forward to the strides these schools will make as they champion STEM education. Closing the skills gap in our state between employers and our workforce depends greatly on fostering interest in STEM subjects and other areas at a young age."

According to Verizon, schools will use its Verizon Innovate Learning grants for teacher professional development or programs that leverage new technologies like 3D printing and robotics, as well as coding.

"We created this program to boost innovative STEM initiatives in underserved schools nationwide, and we salute the 80 schools chosen to receive these grants," Rose Stuckey Kirk, Verizon's vice president of global corporate citizenship and president of the Verizon Foundation said in a statement. "These schools' programs will expose more students in underserved schools to STEM fields, offering them hands-on, project-based learning opportunities to help increase their interest and achievement in STEM."