Opening Doors to Legal Careers
When President Jimmy Carter, who appointed more minority and female judges to the federal judiciary than all previous presidents combined, was asked about this track record, he said that it was “just the beginning.”
Inspired by these words, Just The Beginning – A Pipeline Organization was formed in 1992. The group works to increase diversity in the legal community by developing educational programs designed to inspire students from underrepresented groups to pursue careers in law.
In 2018, for the sixth year in a row, MassMutual and Just The Beginning welcomed students to the Springfield Summer Legal Institute, a five-day immersion program for Springfield-area high school students. Nine of the program’s top-performing scholars had the chance to travel to Washington, D.C. for a day. There, they had a private tour of the Supreme Court and met Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Justice Ginsburg spoke to the students about the challenges she has overcome as a woman and a Jewish American – providing many students with further inspiration to pursue their dreams against the odds.
Supporting Early Education in Our Hometown
Education begins before students enter a formal classroom – which means that gaps in education take effect early, too. The MassMutual Foundation is helping provide high-quality early education and care by helping fund Massachusetts’ first Educare school. The Educare model began in 2000, and helps ensure that financially disadvantaged children are academically, socially, and emotionally prepared to succeed in kindergarten and beyond.
When it opens in 2019, Educare Springfield will provide quality care and early childhood education for more than 140 children ranging in age from six weeks to five years. It will also be used as a training facility for the local early education community, including aspiring and current early education teachers, social workers, and other affiliated professions. Educare will help make our entire community stronger – not only by closing the readiness gap for children, but also by increasing parents’ economic stability through workforce development programs and other services.
The MassMutual Foundation further supported education through two grants intended to build a successful educational ecosystem in Springfield by developing a cadre of highly qualified, motivated, and effective teachers. A grant to Teach Western Mass is building a pipeline of quality educators in our backyard by providing support, fellowships, and strong partnerships with a network of schools. With support from the MassMutual Foundation, Teach for America recruits, trains, supports, and retains great educators and fields the next generation of educational leaders for Western Massachusetts.
FutureSmartSM: Taking Financial Control
Elliott Powell, a history teacher at California’s San Marcos Middle School (featured above), knows that financial education can change the course of students’ lives. Many of his pupils come from low-income backgrounds and lack the tools to take control of their financial futures, making resources like the MassMutual Foundation’s FutureSmart financial literacy program an important feature in their educational experience.
“One of the things I love about teaching FutureSmart is that it gives my students the opportunity to dream,” Powell says. In his classroom, he focuses on the choices that seventh and eighth graders can make to influence their futures, from how to comparison shop to how to use debit and credit cards. These real-life examples can make all the difference. Says Powell, “I want them to understand that you can break the cycle. There is a way around it.”
