KDK-Harman Foundation

AUSTIN, Texas, Oct. 30, 2008 - KDK-Harman Foundation selected three programs at The University of Texas at Austin for approval in its fall grant cycle for a total of $120,000. Funding from the KDK-Harman Foundation will continue for the Free Minds Project at the Humanities Institute, and AmeriCorps for Community Engagement and Education within the Dana Center. A new grant will support the creation of an elementary science demonstration program at The University of Texas Elementary School.

“We have every confidence that these programs further the mission of our foundation to break the cycle of poverty through education,” said Jennifer Esterline, program officer for The KDK-Harman Foundation. “We know that these three UT organizations are greatly respected in the community and have a proven track record of providing outstanding educational opportunities to the underserved.”

Improving Opportunities for Youth

UT Elementary’s founding principal and Chief Executive Officer Ramona Trevino said, “In order for our country to produce more scientists and engineers to keep up with human capital demands and increase minority representation in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) fields, science education must begin in elementary school and be reinforced through postsecondary education. The incorporation of science curriculum in earlier grades and subjects will build the foundation to encourage learning in STEM fields for the future workforce.”

The grant from KDK-Harman will fund an instructional science coach at the school, who will develop and implement an aligned, rigorous, and engaging science curriculum for all elementary grades.

Kelly Mullin, who will serve in the role of instructional science coach, said “Often science is compartmentalized and separated from other main subjects. However, best-practice research shows that integrating science with other subjects, such as science journaling, is most effective for student learning.”

Part of the coach’s time is spent working with The University of Texas at Austin College of Education’s Texas Regional Collaboratives (TRC), a network of statewide partnerships that provide intense professional development for teachers of science and mathematics across the state. More than half the schools involved with the TRC have a greater than 50 percent poverty level.

The instructional science coach will bring these professional development opportunities from the TRC to the teachers at UT Elementary and the student teachers from The University of Texas at Austin’s College of Education. The science coach will also make professional development opportunities available to teachers from Austin Independent School District’s Govalle and Metz Elementary Schools, UT Elementary’s partners in the Urban Education Project, who have similar student demographics.

The KDK-Harman Foundation’s support for this project looks at the long-term benefits- because UT Elementary is a demonstration school and because of the partnership with the TRC, the elementary science curriculum developed at UT Elementary will be vetted and disseminated through the networks of the TRC and brought to scale across the state.

UT Elementary Principal Melissa Chavez notes, “We expect that with the creation and dissemination of this science demonstration program, not only will scores on the science TAKS improve, but these students will leave elementary school with a solid foundation in the sciences and an enthusiasm for learning science.”

Bridging the Gaps

AmeriCorps for Community Engagement and Education (ACEE) is an ongoing project in the Dana Center at The University of Texas at Austin. By helping young children from disadvantaged backgrounds build a strong foundation in early literacy skills during their first years in school, ACEE and the KDK-Harman Foundation are giving young children the tools they need to succeed in life.

Executive Director of the Dana Center Dr. Uri Treisman said, “The KDK-Harman Foundation is helping ACEE continue to bring an infusion of literacy support to schools in AISD through research-based individualized tutoring, and additional small group work in the classrooms, library, and science lab.”

With the support of the KDK-Harman Foundation, ACEE will also continue its Parent Literacy Workshops, to encourage parents as their child’s first teacher by teaching them early literacy skills and providing books and materials to implement those skills. ACEE also engages parents from project schools as ACEE tutors. This year, 11 parents from Lucy Read and Sanchez are working as literacy tutors for pre-kindergarten and kindergarten classrooms, and will earn valuable career development opportunities, as well as the AmeriCorps education award for post-secondary education.

Mary Ellen Isaacs, director of the ACEE program, said that this year the project is extending its reach. ACEE will build the capacity for childcare centers to provide school-readiness skills to low-income children by sending tutors to the centers for early literacy small-group intervention and parent literacy workshops.

Adult Pursuit of Intellectual Life

The Humanities Institute’s Free Minds Project partners with Austin Community College, Foundation Communities, Camp Fire USA, and most recently, the Austin Public Library, to serve adults who face severe economic and social barriers to higher education.

“This type of high-quality, empowering academic opportunity is rarely imagined for, let alone made available to, economically and educationally underserved adults,” said Pauline Strong, associate director of the Humanities Institute. “No other program in Austin addresses the need for advanced literacy among adults living on low incomes, and we couldn’t do it without the generous support of those like the KDK-Harman Foundation.”

Free Minds students participate in nine-month college-level courses in literature, philosophy, American history, and creative writing. With the sustained support of the KDK-Harman Foundation, the Humanities Institute will continue the Free Minds project and the Camp Fire USA program.

“Free Minds bridges the divide between skills-based training usually delivered to people living in poverty and the more humanistic education typically reserved for students at colleges and universities,” says Syliva Gale, the Founding Director. “We accomplish this through advanced literacy classes with critical analysis and also provide career workshops and cultural field trips.”

Gale said through the partnership with Camp Fire USA, the commitment to learning is extended to the children of those involved in Free Minds. Childcare is a basic necessity for those who participate in these college courses despite the life obstacles they face, but Camp Fire USA goes a step beyond to provide intellectual stimulation for these children that complements what their parents are learning.

About KDK-Harman Foundation

KDK-Harman Foundation was founded by Janet E. Harman in December 2004. The Foundation provides financial and capacity-building resources to education-focused nonprofits that assist disadvantaged Central Texas families, with a focus on women, to help them achieve educational success. The ultimate goal of such funding is to transform their lives from poverty to financial independence to enable a better life for themselves and future generations. The Foundation supports programs within Travis, Williamson, Hays, Bastrop, Caldwell, Burnet and Llano counties.