IN THIS ISSUE

The S. Mark Taper Foundation Supports the Development of Vital Curriculum | Two-Year Study of CRF’s Youth Internship Program Demonstrates Benefits | The Weingart Foundation Funds CRF Immigration Education Initiative | CRF’s Summer Law Institute Program Receives Support from California Bar Foundation | 2008 Spring Dinner Update | CRF Publishes Special Bill of Rights in Action on Intellectual Property | Of Note

CRF has received a grant from the S. Mark Taper Foundation for the development of a much needed curriculum resource for Grade Three teachers. This curriculum will provide elementary teachers with innovative lessons that support the California History-Social Science content standards related to civics and will integrate research-based methods found to be effective in civic education.

“This grant provides CRF with an opportunity to respond to the many requests we have had from elementary teachers and administrators to address the needs of primary-grade teachers,” said Marshall Croddy, CRF Director of Programs, “and we are thrilled to begin with the content provided in the Grade Three standards.”

CRF has established a focus group of outstanding elementary teachers to provide input and field test the lessons. The new curriculum will be ready for publication in late 2008.

The S. Mark Taper Foundation, founded in 1989, is a private family foundation dedicated to enhancing the quality of people’s lives by supporting nonprofit organizations and their work in our communities.

 Two-Year Study of CRF’s Youth Internship Program Demonstrates Benefits

An independent evaluator, Dr. Matash Esfandiari of UCLA, has recently completed a two-year study of the Youth Internship Program. Funded by the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation, the study demonstrated that the program had a positive impact on participants’ development of civic knowledge and dispositions, attitudes toward academic goals and success, and career skills and attitudes. In addition, the program was shown to increase young people’s confidence and office skills. The study also showed longitudinal effects as a result of the program even after interns’ participation ended: Interns still gained in leadership, positive attitudes toward civics, responsibility, and motivation to achieve.

A downloadable copy of the final report is now available.

The Weingart Foundation Funds CRF Immigration Education Initiative

In 2006 and 2007, during the student walkout crises and at the request of Los Angeles Unified School District and the Los Angeles County Office of Education, CRF created and distributed free-of-charge its Current Issues of Immigration classroom materials to help teachers address these critical topics in the classroom.

Now, thanks to a generous grant from the Weingart Foundation, CRF has launched its Immigration Education Initiative to provide educators with comprehensive and ongoing resources for teaching about immigration history and policy debates. Components of the program will consist of the revision and expansion of the existing curriculum, professional staff development in its use, and the development of an immigration web site that will provide updated information, policy perspectives, and free resources.

Summer Law Institute Program Receives Support from California Bar Foundation

The California Bar Foundation has made a commitment to the youth of California by supporting CRF's Summer Law Institute, a weeklong summer program at UCLA for high school students interested in learning more about the American legal system. The foundation's grant will be used to help underwrite the cost of attendance for students with financial need. CRF will incorporate elements of the Legal Heritage Institute, a program previously run by the State Bar Foundation.

Summer Law Institute is also supported by UCLA School of Law and will take place August 3–9 at UCLA.

2008 Spring Dinner Update

Those attending last year’s spring dinner experienced a memorable event, and this year’s fundraiser promises to be every bit as spectacular.

CRF’s 46th Annual Spring Dinner is scheduled for Wednesday, May 28, 2008, at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza in Century City. Honoree Peter Liguori, Chairman, Entertainment, for Fox Broadcasting Company, will be presented with the Bill of Rights Award, and CRF’s retiring Executive Director, Todd Clark, will receive the Lloyd M. Smith Award. Walter Dellinger, Chair of the Appellate Practice at O’Melveny & Myers LLP and the Douglas B. Maggs Professor of Law at Duke University, will deliver the keynote address. This year, the dinner will start one half-hour earlier at 5:30 p.m. to accommodate a silent auction with some one-of-a-kind movie memorabilia thanks to Fox Entertainment. Thanks to Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., we will once again raffle off a 2008 Lexus GS 450h, the top of the line Lexus hybrid. The $250 tickets for the Lexus can be obtained by calling the CRF Development Office at (213) 316-2102 or (213) 316-2107.

CRF Publishes Special Bill of Rights in Action on Intellectual Property

In collaboration with Street Law, Inc., and funded by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance with support from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, CRF has published a special edition on critical issues of intellectual property. This publication will help teachers around the country educate their students on the origins of patent and copyright law, issues of digital piracy, the controversies over patenting life, and cheating and plagiarism in America’s schools. This edition has been distributed to some 30,000 educators throughout the United States and will be used to support teacher professional development in three national sites, including Los Angeles.

Of Note

	CRF Board Member Louis Meisinger has been named to a judgeship on the Los Angeles Superior Court by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Lou's investiture took place on February 22, 2008.
	Belinda Lee, a partner at Latham & Watkins LLP, joined CRF's Board of Directors in December 2007. Ms. Lee is a member of the firm's Litigation Department and her practice focuses on antitrust matters, and she also has had significant experience in intellectual property and mass and class-action tort matters.

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