February 21, 2008                                                                            Contact:  Christle Balvin
                                                                                                                            (626) 792-6463
RELEASE DATE: Friday, February 20, 2008

HELPING KIDS BY HELPING OUR SCHOOLS

Pasadena wants its young people to receive the kind of education and enrichment opportunities that will enable them to lead healthy and productive lives.  To assure that this happens, the Pasadena Community Foundation (PCF) is awarding the largest single grant of its 55-year history and announcing it at 9:15 a.m. on Tuesday, February 26th from the steps of John Muir High School, 1905 Lincoln Avenue in Pasadena. The Foundation Board plans to award almost half-a-million dollars over three years for this new Youth Initiative.  The first phase grant of $150,000 will be awarded to the Pasadena Unified School District for the new John Muir Reinvention Plan.  This is the largest single grant ever made by the Foundation to any one institution and underscores the great importance that PCF places on youth and education.

Present to make the award will be Jennifer DeVoll, Executive Director of the Pasadena Community Foundation and Robert Carlson, Chairman of the Board.  They will be joined by Mayor William Bogaard and Superintendent of Schools, Edwin Diaz as well as other community leaders.    

“Pasadena is a community that believes in the value of education as a pathway to a better and more successful life,” says Jennifer DeVoll, the Executive Director of the Pasadena Community Foundation.  “We spoke with many leaders in the community about how we could make an impact in helping our youth make a successful transition to adulthood. That led to conversations with our new Superintendent of Education about his exciting plans for Muir. The Foundation has heard the call for improving the way we educate our kids. This grant is just one of the ways the PCF has chosen to respond and assist,” says DeVoll.     

The Youth Initiative funding of approximately $450,000 over a three-year period will initially be applied to an innovative new Teacher Training program designed to introduce Muir teachers to dynamic best practices for smaller learning communities that have proven successful in motivating students and turning around test scores. Because all current teachers have been asked to reapply for their positions and new teachers are being recruited, high quality teacher training and on-going coaching is of primary importance.

During its 55-years of service to the local community, the Pasadena Community Foundation has been a strong supporter of PUSD.  In the last decade alone, the Foundation has already given will over a half-million dollars in individual grants to our public schools.  As the community foundation, PCF uses its assets to support the changing needs of Pasadena.

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