DATE: March 27, 2008

CONTACT: Robin Denny, director of News Services, Clemson University, (864) 656-2061
robin@clemson.edu
CONTACT: Jim Foster, director of communications, S.C. Department of Education, (803) 734-8815
jfoster@ed.sc.gov
CONTACT: Jamie Prince, director of corporate communications, The Cliffs Communities, (864) 371-1000
jprince@cliffscommunities.com

WRITER: Cathy Sams, (864) 656-2061
ctsams@clemson.edu


Land, cash donations to support Teacher Renewal Center, youth programs

COLUMBIA – Clemson University and the South Carolina Department of Education Thursday announced a major gift of Upstate forestland and cash to support a new partnership aimed at providing unique professional development opportunities for teachers to renew their enthusiasm for the teaching profession.

Jim Anthony, CEO, The Cliffs Communities Clemson President James F. Barker announced that The Cliffs Communities and its foundations, led by Jim Anthony, will donate $10 million in cash and more than 355 acres of prime real estate in the Jocassee Gorges area of Pickens County to support development of a Teacher Renewal Center – a first-of-its-kind facility in South Carolina. The goal of the center is to enhance the quality of education by helping the state retain its best teachers.

“The Teacher Renewal Center will offer a venue and programming designed to renew teachers’ spirits and celebrate their contributions to our children, to our state and to our nation,” said Anthony, founder and chief executive officer of The Cliffs Communities. “Our Cliffs property owners and associates are honored to be a part of a project that will make a tremendous difference now in the lives of literally thousands of teachers and children in South Carolina, and also for generations to come. Being involved in this initiative is simply the right thing to do.” 

Similar to nationally recognized programs in North Carolina and Washington, the Teacher Renewal Center will bring teams of 20 to 25 practicing K-12 teachers from across the state to the waterfront complex for weeklong, residential seminars. The seminars will be highly experiential in nature and organized around the interdisciplinary study of ideas, questions or themes.

Initial plans for the center include a hotel, restaurant and conference complex on the banks of the Keowee River between lakes Keowee and Hartwell. Clemson will join forces with the S.C. Department of Education to oversee development and management of the Teacher Renewal Center.

“The scope of this takes your breath away, it truly does,” state Superintendent of Education Jim Rex said at the announcement. “It’s such an amazing show of support for our children, for our schools and for our state. Now we have to honor Mr. Anthony’s support by building something that will become the gold standard for the whole nation.”

Clemson President James F. Barker Elevating and reinvigorating the teaching profession is one of Rex’s key goals. 

“One in three new teachers leaves the profession within five years,” Rex said. “We have to find creative ways of stopping this dangerous draining away of young talent. One way to do that is to start treating teachers more like the professionals we expect them to be. And our new Teacher Renewal Center can help to do that.”

More than 6,800 teachers in South Carolina will not be returning to the schools where they taught last year, at a cost of nearly $75 million to South Carolina taxpayers, according to education department statistics.

Anthony said that he believes “lifting teachers up” will have additional benefits.

“For teachers, the more they care and pour themselves into their students, the more stressful it is,” he said. “We want to inspire them and lift their spirits. We want to reconnect them to what led them to the classroom in the first place. Our children will surely reap the benefits.”

Four years ago, Anthony founded Zest Quest (www.zestquest.org), a 501(c)(3) organization with a mission to educate and inspire children to lead healthier lives. To date, Zest Quest programming has been incorporated into 13 schools, helping more than 7,000 students.

One facet of the Teacher Renewal Center that will distinguish it from programs in other states is a youth development component that offers experience-based learning for students while their teachers participate in seminars. Barker said the Teacher Renewal Center programs would be coordinated by Clemson’s Youth Learning Institute (YLI), which is already known for its nature-based education programs for children and teachers. The partnership also will support development of a national model for nature-based education programs that integrate wellness.

Jorge Calzadilla, executive director of the Youth Learning Institute “This partnership allows the Youth Learning Institute to expand our programs for youth and educators into new areas,” said Jorge Calzadilla, YLI executive director. “Clemson has a history of connecting children and teachers with nature through programs such as Teaching Kids About the Environment (KATE), residential field studies, wilderness camping and other programs. We are humbled to be the stewards of a gift that will impact education for generations to come. “

Since 1991, Clemson’s Teaching KATE program has involved more than 70,000 teachers and students in third through eighth grade in environmental education that aligns with South Carolina’s science academic standards. The new partnership will expand that program to reach more students and schools across the state.

The Youth Learning Institute is part of Clemson’s Public Service Activities division and is chiefly responsible for accomplishing university goals for outreach and service to youth and families.    

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