Future Educator Scholars Program of the SDEF

History

Ken Rearwin, Scholarship Students and Parents

The Future Educator Scholars Program is the major project of the San Diego Education Fund which was founded in 1954.

The Future Educator Scholars Program was started when the late Kenneth R. Rearwin, then President of The Parker Foundation, attended a Council on Foundations meeting in which they urged that teachers reflecting the "diversity in the community" be recruited.

Rearwin returned to San Diego and began discussions with the San Diego Education Fund to launch a program that would recruit outstanding high school seniors and encourage them to become teachers.

After the first scholarships were awarded in 1989, it became evident that the students, most of whom who were the first in their family to attend college, would need mentoring and counseling. Part-time counseling was provided by San Diego City Schools which was already providing clerical and accounting assistance. (The SDEF is grateful for the clerical and accounting assistance so that it can pass 86 cents of every dollar contributed on in the form of scholarships.) Kathie Ross, retired scholarship coordinator at SDSU provided counseling and currently Mary Castleberry, a respected educator for 30 years, implements the mentoring and counseling to students on scholarship attending 10 local colleges.

Under the guidance of David E. Porter, SDEF president, and Jeanne Jehl at the school district, an expanded funding program to increase counseling and the number of scholarships was initiated. When Eugene Brucker (Gene) became president he used his considerable contacts and partnered with San Diego State University to secure a U.S. Department of Education Grant that would greatly increase the counseling, mentoring, plus Future Educator clubs in middle and senior high schools. Brucker, then retired, had been Deputy Superintendent for the District. At the time of his death, he was a member of the County Board of Education. The City Schools Educational Complex on Normal Street is named in his honor.

Brucker recruited his protégé Vance Mills, who is now a manager with the California State GEAR UP Program, and with the support of the Board of Directors he succeeded him as president upon his death. Mills received incredible support from Rearwin who had continued to serve on the Board and was the spark that generated considerable donated funds from the community right up until his death.

The Future Educator Scholars Program has succeeded because of the dedication of its Board of Directors who serve without pay and play a vital role in the governance, funding, and implementation of this project.


						History Ken Rearwin, Scholarship Students and Parents The Future Educator Scholars Program is the major project of the San Diego Education Fund which was founded in 1954. The Future Educator Scholars Program was started when the late Kenneth R. Rearwin, then President of The Parker Foundation, attended a Council on Foundations meeting in which they urged that teachers reflecting the "diversity in the community" be recruited. Rearwin returned to San Diego and began discussions with the San Diego Education Fund to launch a program that would recruit outstanding high school seniors and encourage them to become teachers. After the first scholarships were awarded in 1989, it became evident that the students, most of whom who were the first in their family to attend college, would need mentoring and counseling. Part-time counseling was provided by San Diego City Schools which was already providing clerical and accounting assistance. (The SDEF is grateful for the clerical and accounting assistance so that it can pass 86 cents of every dollar contributed on in the form of scholarships.) Kathie Ross, retired scholarship coordinator at SDSU provided counseling and currently Mary Castleberry, a respected educator for 30 years, implements the mentoring and counseling to students on scholarship attending 10 local colleges. Under the guidance of David E. Porter, SDEF president, and Jeanne Jehl at the school district, an expanded funding program to increase counseling and the number of scholarships was initiated. When Eugene Brucker (Gene) became president he used his considerable contacts and partnered with San Diego State University to secure a U.S. Department of Education Grant that would greatly increase the counseling, mentoring, plus Future Educator clubs in middle and senior high schools. Brucker, then retired, had been Deputy Superintendent for the District. At the time of his death, he was a member of the County Board of Education. The City Schools Educational Complex on Normal Street is named in his honor. Brucker recruited his protégé Vance Mills, who is now a manager with the California State GEAR UP Program, and with the support of the Board of Directors he succeeded him as president upon his death. Mills received incredible support from Rearwin who had continued to serve on the Board and was the spark that generated considerable donated funds from the community right up until his death. The Future Educator Scholars Program has succeeded because of the dedication of its Board of Directors who serve without pay and play a vital role in the governance, funding, and implementation of this project.