The University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) School of Education’s Institute for Urban Education (IUE) recently received gifts totaling more than $1,100,000, supporting its new program and scholarships.
The W. K. Kellogg Foundation awarded a grant in the amount of $356,450 for the IUE Active Community Collaborations Enhancing Student Success (Project ACCESS). The Project is designed to assist future teachers in experiential understanding of their students and families by immersing them in the family, cultural and neighborhood settings of the urban public school students. It will provide the first opportunity for students to view urban education and living from a different perspective – that of an adult problem-solver, as well as provide knowledge of resources available through nonprofit networks.
The program funding begins June 1, 2009 and continues through May 31, 2010.
“The Kellogg Foundation is among the nation’s leaders in supporting effective education programs for disadvantaged youth, which makes this gift a wonderful affirmation of the quality of our School of Education and the IUE program,” said Chancellor Leo E. Morton. “UMKC continues to meet the challenge to improve teacher training in urban classrooms in Greater Kansas City, and Project ACCESS will help students gain a pragmatic understanding of the students they will teach in the future.”
All elementary education majors in the School of Education will participate in Project ACCESS.
Gifts also were recently received for IUE scholarships:
Civic leaders and families – contributions of $200,000 each
- Aquila, Inc.
- The Hugh J. Zimmer Family
- The Sherman Family Foundation
Companies and foundations – contributions totaling $160,000
- Bauermeister Family Foundation Scholarship Fund
- FUNKY Fund/Because We Can Giving Circle of the Greater Kansas City Community Foundation
- J. E. Dunn Construction Company
- KCP&L
“The IUE is a nationally recognized model for urban teacher preparation, and the graduates will have undergone a rigorous program of study with an emphasis on math, science and literacy, which includes more than 1,400 hours of field experience working in urban schools,” said Ed Underwood, executive director of IUE. “They represent a new wave of teachers who will play a key role in strengthening the fiber of Kansas City and will have first-hand experience in gaining a broader understanding of their students thanks to Project ACCESS. The IUE program receives broad support, and these gifts add to the investments of more than $2 million from other local corporations, foundations, alumni and friends since the program’s inception.”
“This investment will be returned to the community many times over through increasing the achievement of urban students and thus enriching their lives,” said Linda Edwards, Dean of the School of Education.
The IUE program currently has 55 students enrolled and eight students from its first class will graduate in May. The program’s goal is to enroll 25 new students each year. The University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC), one of four University of Missouri campuses, is a public university serving more than 14,000 undergraduate, graduate and professional students. UMKC engages with the community and economy based on a four-part mission: life and health sciences; visual and performing arts; urban issues and education; and a vibrant learning and campus life experience.
The W.K. Kellogg Foundation was established in 1930. The organization supports children, families and communities as they strengthen and create conditions that propel vulnerable children to achieve success as individuals and as contributors to the larger community and society. Grants are concentrated in the United States, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the southern African countries of Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Swaziland and Zimbabwe.