Annenberg Foundation Gives $50,000 for Teaching Scholarships at CSUSB'S Palm Desert Campus

At the request of Leonore Annenberg, president and chair of the Annenberg Foundation, the foundation has awarded a $50,000 grant to the Palm Desert Campus of California State University, San Bernardino to fund scholarships for students pursuing undergraduate teacher preparation degrees. The money will be available for upper-division undergraduates, completing the third and fourth years of their bachelor's degrees during the next three years, according to Fred Jandt, dean of the campus.

"We're very grateful for the ongoing partnership of the Annenberg Foundation in addressing one of the Coachella Valley's most critical needs-the need for more teachers," said Jandt. The foundation also donated $3 million toward the construction of the Indian Wells Center for Educational Excellence, which opened in the fall of 2004. The Annenberg Wing of that building was dedicated by U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy in February.

Many Palm Desert Campus students are the first in their families to attend college, and are struggling to pursue their dreams of becoming teachers, Jandt said. "Scholarship support is critical to many of them. The Annenberg gift will help many more future teachers continue on their path."

For more information, call the university public affairs office at (909) 537-5007, or visit http://news.csusb.edu. There is also more information at http://pdc.csusb.edu.