CIBA Foundation donates $25,000

TSTT News - Spring / Summer 2001

From left to right: Stan Sherman, Ciba CEO and President; Ruth Tolbert, Woodlands High School; Lois S. Amend, Ciba Specialty Chemicals Education Foundation; Robert Ernest, Woodlands High School; and Bettye Perkins, Executive Director Today's Students, Tomorrow's Teachers.

Today's Students Tomorrow's Teachers announced its newest corporate donor. The Ciba Specialty Chemicals Foundation, which presented the organization with a $25,000 check during a small ceremony recently. The grant was awarded through The Learning Foundation, the program's first sponsor.

"We are very pleased to receive this very generous donation from the Ciba Foundation," said Bettye Perkins, executive director, Today's Students Tomorrow's Teachers. "It is the support of our donors that helps us further our mission of developing aspiring teachers."

The Ciba Foundation joins a growing list of corporate supporters. Now, in its sixth year, TSTT has received support from companies like Reader's Digest, Chase, the GE Fund, and MasterCard International. TSTT students receive an array of support services: Teaching and Tutorial Experience, High School and College Mentors, Kaplan SAT Preparatory Courses, College and Career Counseling, College Visits, and Job Placement Assistance. In addition, the TSTT program offers students a 50% tuition scholarship from 14 participating colleges. In return, the students pledge to teach in one of the participating school districts for at least one year.

"Bettye Perkins and her staff are to be congratulated on the achievements TSTT has accomplished," said Lois S. Amends of the Ciba Foundation. "This program is a model for one approach in addressing the critical need for new teachers. The foundation is pleased to offer its support to enable the program to be expanded into four new districts."

TSTT has received national recognition for its partnership program model. The program was hailed by former U.S. Secretary of Education Richard Riley, as "an innovative program, which embodies many of the goals and objectives of President Clinton's crusade for educational excellence and should serve as a model for other regions in the nation."