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Sachs Foundation aims to help Black students pursue a career in education in Colorado

Sachs Foundation aims to help Black students pursue a career in Education

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- Colorado-Springs-based Sachs Foundation, an organization providing college scholarships to black students in Colorado, is partnering with Teach For America. The goal is to deliver funds and support to Black educators while also addressing the Black teacher shortage in Colorado.

Data shows that 150 of Colorado's 178 school districts have no Black teachers at all. The Sachs Foundation hopes to change that by providing Black college graduates more money to teach in Colorado.

The partnership with Teach for America will allow them to pay Black teachers in the program an extra $10,000 a year to work at Colorado schools.

KRDO spoke with Emmanuel Annag, the founder of Soul and Rhythm African drumming, on this program.

"I look at the big picture, I look at how people can benefit from what I bring and that is what influenced me growing up," said Annag.

Growing up in West Africa and influenced by the sights of his community, he pursued a passion that would transform into teaching others a bit about his culture.

"What influenced me is just the people I see doing the things that I wanted to do," said Annag.

Colorado isn't the only one lacking in Black educators. According to data, the number of Black educators in the United States has continued to decline since desegregation.

"In Colorado, if we can have a lot more black teachers really bringing the culture into the community and the community push what they are doing it will influence kids, it will influence other people growing up," said Annag.

The program will supplement Black educators' salaries for three years. The goal of the annual stipend payments is to recruit and retain a community of educators from all backgrounds.

Ben Ralston, President of Sachs Foundation says students deserve representation in the classrooms.

"For black students in particular seeing an educator that they can look up to allows them to have somebody that can be a mentor - or an inspiration in their lives---and the research shows that black students who have at least one black educator in their lifetime have higher college admission rates, lower disciplinary records," said Ralston.

The first cohort in the program in Colorado is comprised of 14 teachers. The hope is that more teachers of color will come here to teach across the state.

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