DEVELOPMENT DIGEST
By Michelle Mertz-Stoneham

Donor Spotlight

In 2004, Michigan State University received a $6 million five-year award from the Eli Broad Foundation to support a partnership with the Detroit Public Schools (DPS) focused on identifying, recruiting and preparing DPS students to attend MSU’s teacher preparation program. The Broad Partnership between the MSU College of Education and DPS, led by Assistant Dean Sonya Gunnings-Moton, is designed to establish a pipeline for the early identification, preparation and placement of future Detroit educators.

The initial success of the Broad Partnership led to a four-year $580,000 grant from the Skillman Foundation in support of the Future Teachers for Social Justice (ftsj) Program. This program, developed by Gunnings-Moton and professors Dorothea Anagnostopoulos and Christopher Dunbar, provides supplemental funding allowing for the expansion and enrichment of one component of the Broad Partnership—the Broad Summer High School Scholars Program. The Broad Summer High School Scholars Program targets 11th- and 12th-grade students from DPS for a four-week, pre-college residential program at MSU with a focus on a career in education. The Skillman grant provides funding to extend the summer program into an academic-year, multi-tiered mentoring and parental outreach program. The ftsj program rests upon the premise that quality teaching in urban schools connects schools and communities, and is a force for social justice in both.

The success of the Broad Partnership, now in its third year, as well as the initial success of the Future Teachers for Social Justice Program, has led to increased investment by the university to expand the “pipeline” concept beyond DPS into other urban districts in Michigan and beyond. Most significantly, the Urban Educators Cohort Program was established with funding from the university in 2006 and was designed for students who intend to become urban educators at the elementary or secondary level. This program enhances a student’s understanding of issues related to social class, diversity and economic conditions in urban settings.

In addition, the university invested in urban education by providing funds to expand the Urban Fellows component of the Broad Partnership by funding 40 additional College of Education students to teach summer school in DPS or work in a Detroit community-based setting serving children, youth and families.

Several donors to the college have invested in supporting the preparation of urban educators. MSU College of Education graduate Kellie Dean (B.S., Physical Education and M.A., Classroom Teaching), owner of Dean Trailways of Michigan and Dean Transportation, Inc., provided the transportation associated with the Broad Summer High School Scholars Program and for the Future Teachers for Social Justice Program, including parents of attendees. This generous in-kind gift, which Dean has pledged to support in subsequent years, allows the college to enhance the two programs by providing additional academic and community-based experiences for the students involved.

College of Education graduate Kellie Dean, owner of Dean Trailways of Michigan, with the Broad Summer High School Scholars as they arrive at Shaw Hall for the four-week pre-college program.

JOYCE & JIM PUTNAM ENDOWED FUND IN URBAN EDUCATION

Established in 2006 by Emeritus Professor of Teacher Education Joyce Putnam, and her husband, Jim, the Joyce and Jim Putnam Endowed Fund in Urban Education comprises two components. The Joyce and Jim Putnam Endowed Scholarship in Urban Education provides significant financial support for students from urban districts interested in and committed to working with PK–12 learners from diverse racial/ethnic backgrounds, particularly with students in poverty and in urban settings.

The Putnams observed through their work and experiences in both Flint and Port Huron, Mich., that many urban students prevailed over difficult conditions in their home and neighborhood environments. However, due to a lack of financial support, many of these bright, energetic students were not able to realize their full potential. In many cases, these students ended up pursuing life directions that were not fulfilling and not of their primary interests. Through their gifts, the Putnams’ desire to specifically support urban students’ dream to pursue a career in teaching, and to be afforded the opportunity to realize this dream in a nationally top-rated teacher preparation program.

Equally important to the sustainability of this vision, the Putnams have created the Joyce and Jim Putnam Chair in Urban Education. This prestigious chaired position will be awarded to a faculty member whose interest is in urban education. The Putnam Chair will oversee the Putnam Scholarship Program.

DONOR FACT

Did you know that the Pension Protection Act of 2006 contains a two-year IRA Charitable Rollover provision that will allow people age 70 or older to exclude up to $100,000 from their gross income for a taxable year for cash gifts directly to a qualified charity?

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