Augsburg College will receive nearly $400,000 in new state funding over the next two years to launch a new East African teacher preparation program. The new Augsburg EAST initiative (East African Students to Teachers) will provide scholarships, academic support and service learning opportunities for East African students who are education majors at Augsburg College at our Minneapolis and Rochester locations.
The number of East African students in K-12 public schools is growing in many communities throughout the state. School systems are challenged to meet the needs of these students, many of whom are the first in their family to receive education in the United States. Augsburg’s strong relationships with the Somali and East African community and its successful record of educating East African education majors, both in Minneapolis and at our Rochester location, make it uniquely qualified to lead this initiative.
This new funding is strong recognition of Augsburg’s excellence in preparing teachers. Since 2004, five Augsburg teacher-education graduates have received the prestigious Milken Award, a national award which provides public recognition and financial awards to elementary and secondary education professionals who further excellence in education. Only 30 Milken Awards are given annually across the nation. In 2009, the Margaret A. Cargill Foundation awarded the college more than $400,000 in support of its teacher preparation programming. Augsburg was one of only four Minnesota colleges receiving these grants funds. In addition, Augsburg is one of six private colleges in the Twin Cities collaborating to improve teacher education, made possible by major funding from the Bush Foundation.
In April and May many alumni contacted state legislators to urge their support for this funding which made a very real and positive difference.