TSTT To Kick Off Countdown to 25th with Fundraiser Dinner

For Immediate Release

Media Contact: Frank Pagani, Pagani PR, GettingtheStoryRight@gmail.com, 914-843-5079

WHITE PLAINS, NY (November 7, 2017)

Friends and supporters of one the nation’s preeminent teacher diversity mentoring programs will kick off the celebration of its 25^th Anniversary milestone on Tuesday, November 14 when they gather at the renowned X20 Restaurant, one of Westchester’s magnificent four-star restaurants, in Yonkers, New York during a fund-raising dinner evening program entitled “Circle of Friends: Celebrating the Vision.”

Distinguished guests including elected officials, prominent educators, business and community leaders, as well as Today’s Students Tomorrow’s Teachers (TSTT) alumni teachers will join to hail and reaffirm the non-profit’s mission of closing the critical and widening teacher diversity gap in America’s classrooms.

Noted educator Dr. Bettye H. Perkins, founder, President and CEO of the White Plains-based organization, TSTT, said that the special event will be one in a series the non-profit plans to present between now and the silver anniversary in 2020. Underscoring the strategic importance of TSTT’s 25^th anniversary plan to help assure that TSTT’s mission will thrive, Dr. Perkins noted that TSTT long-time supporter, U.S. Congressman James E. Clyburn of the 6^th Congressional District, South Carolina, was named honorary chair of TSTT’s silver anniversary committee.

The prominent and influential lawmaker, who is assistant Democratic leader and the number three Democrat in Congress, will highlight the impressive gains of TSTT’s achievements since its founding in 1994. Today, there are nearly 165 alumni teachers and school administrators who have been impacting the lives of thousands of students in eight states and more than 800 caring and committed teachers in the TSTT pipeline.

He will also cite recent major developments including the Albert Shanker Institute recognizing TSTT as one of eight programs in the country as a solution to the teacher diversity crisis in a landmark report entitled ”The State of Teachers Diversity in American Education”; the announcement earlier this fall of a partnership between TSTT and Seton Hall University that expanded the non-profit’s network of partnerships with colleges and universities to 24, making it possible to provide deserving TSTT students with a minimum of 50% tuition scholarships; and the launch of the TSTT’s first-of-its-kind, high profile Workforce Diversity Leadership Forum in which a panel of prominent educators, policy makers and business leaders addressed the crisis threatening America’s economic competitiveness including keynote Randi Weingarten, President of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT). Weingarten will also address the audience at the kickoff event on November 14^th.

The veteran lawmaker Clyburn will also laud TSTT’s Male Teaches of Color initiative, chaired by Allan Houston, Assistant General Manager of the New York Knicks and General Manager of the Westchester Knicks, and the goal of a new partnership that Houston and Perkins plan to announce at the fundraiser to jump start the recruitment of 50 male teachers of color to be added to the TSTT pipeline in time for the 25^th anniversary.

The “Circle of Friends: Celebrating the Vision” honorary co-chairs are Weingarten, Houston and U.S. House of Representative Nita Lowey, 17^th Congressional District, New York. The event is made possible by the generosity of TSTT sponsors led by Entergy, the title sponsor; United Federation of Teachers (UFT), legacy sponsor; Seton Hall University, the Jandon Foundation and Morgan Stanley, visionary sponsors, as well as by individual benefactors. To learn more about sponsorship opportunities or to order tickets, contact TSTT, 914-345-3444 or visit the website: www.tstt.org

######

About TSTT

TSTT is an innovative career development model that addresses teacher shortages by recruiting culturally diverse and economically challenged high school students, mentors and trains them throughout college, and then helps place them as effective teachers in schools in their communities.

TSTT was founded in 1994 by Dr. Bettye H. Perkins, President and Chief Executive Officer. as an early teacher preparation program. According to Dr. Perkins, “Our goal is to close the achievement gap and to ensure that these deserving young people will ultimately be equipped to become highly effective teachers, role models, and leaders in their communities.”