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HomePublicationPasadenaPCC Foundation Receives $1.5 Million Gift

PCC Foundation Receives $1.5 Million Gift

The Pasadena City College Foundation has announced a $1.5 million bequest from the estate of Adelaide Finkbine Hixon, an enthusiastic supporter of the college and advocate for education.
Hixon died in 2019 at the age of 101.
In 2000, she gave $1 million to the college, funds that were used to establish the Hixon Teacher Preparation Program. Last month, the foundation received an additional $1.5 million bequest in her will.
Of that total, $1 million will go toward the continued support of the teacher prep program, which aims to increase career opportunities for PCC students who want to teach K-12. The additional $500,000 will go toward students who plan to teach in the visual and performing arts.
The Hixon Teacher Preparation Program is the first of its kind at PCC. More than 450 students are enrolled, and most plan to transfer to a variety of California State University and University of California campuses to pursue a teaching credential after receiving their bachelor’s degree. Students have access to academic counseling and enrichment activities, internships, mentorships, tutoring opportunities, scholarship opportunities and experiences working as teacher aides.
Additionally, a hybrid program will be established to assist students who are majoring in the arts with scholarships and provide them an opportunity to also pursue their teaching credential.
“The program supports PCC students who are interested in teaching as a profession,” said Leticia Rojas, faculty lead for the Hixon program. “The community college level is a great space to get more diverse teacher pathways. With the additional funds, we can better support the program and expand it, which will allow students from different backgrounds, different interests and different art forms to bring what they have to the table.”
Locally, Hixon was a longtime leader in organizations supporting art and education, including the Pasadena Art Alliance, the Conservatory of Music, Southern California Public Radio, the Pasadena Art Museum, the ArtCenter College of Design, Polytechnic School, and the California Institute of Technology.
At PCC, however, Hixon wanted to do something that would make a significant impact not just on the college but on the community. That was when, in 2000, the decision was made to invest in a program at PCC that would foster future teachers.
“We are so grateful for the profound generosity of the Hixons,” added PCC Foundation President Gloria Pitzer. “These endowment gifts will provide funding in perpetuity for education and the arts, areas in which the Hixons have exhibited generous and longstanding support during their lifetimes. This legacy of support to PCC will enable and equip our students, many of whom might not otherwise have the opportunity, to become educators, with additional emphasis on training teachers in the arts.”
The foundation is a nonprofit, charitable, public-benefit corporation that develops funding and community support for the enhancement of teaching and learning at Pasadena City College.

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