This is the vision of the College of Education’s Improving Futures Fund (IFF) and it’s achieving its goal with great success.
Launched in the fall of 2014 by Dean Joseph F. Johnson, Jr., the Improving Futures Fund provides monetary support to College of Education’s faculty and staff endeavors that improve the future COE’s graduates and of children, youth, and adults they will serve.
“It has been successful,” said Megan Beardsley, director of development for the
College of Education and Division of Undergraduate Studies. Beardsley indicated that the Fund raises about $25,000 every year and funds three projects annually.
One of those projects is Aztecs for Education—One Book One School Community Outreach Project led by Dr. Virginia Loh-Hagan, Coordinator of Liberal Studies at the COE’s School of Teacher Education.
The goals of the project, which also involves COE students pursuing a teaching credential, are to continue building school partnerships via outreach and to celebrate literacy, she said.
The first schools secured were the STEAM Academy in La Presa Middle School in the La Mesa-Spring Valley School District and Logan K-8 School in the San Diego Unified School District. They’ve also secured two authors—Kathleen Krull for La Presa and Gennifer Choldenko for Logan.
“It's fun to work collaboratively with the young students, with principals, with teachers,” said Loh-Hagan, explaining that teachers at those schools will be integrating the book into their lessons and the parents will be reading the books and doing activities with their children. “It's wonderful to have a whole community bond over a book and this is all thanks to the Improving Futures Fund.”
To help fund the project, Loh-Hagan applied for and received $10,000 from the IFF. To promote the project, students at the STEAM Academy produced a video that also features the college students that will be working with their schools.
“This funding source allows us to be creative and funds a variety of innovative endeavors,” Loh-Hagan added. “College should be more than just books and studying. It should also provide students the opportunity to experience and engage.”
To support the Improving Futures Fund, you can make a gift now. For information about the IFF Committee, contact Megan Beardsley at mbeardsley@mail.sdsu.edu.