A program that is striving to eliminate the educational disparities that occur in low-income communities is coming to the U today to recruit students. The program, Teach for America, enlists recent college graduates of all majors who can commit to two years of service and teach in urban or rural public schools for job experience and placement. According to statistics published by Teach for America, children in low-income communities are already three grade levels behind those in high-income communities and half of them will never graduate from high school. The half that does graduate will, on average, leave high school reading and doing math at the level of an eighth grader from a high-income community. Wendy Kopp addressed these educational issues and proposed Teach for America in her senior thesis at Princeton University. She then went on to raise $2.5 million and start the program in 1990.The program benefits not only low-income students and communities, but also corps members who teach in the program, as they are given options for paying for graduate school as well as the credibility gained from work experience. “They are always looking for people with diverse backgrounds,” said Sarah Briggs, an anthropology major who graduated from the U last May and is involved with the program. Briggs grew up in Utah but said she believes her time spent living in Russia, China and Taiwan is what got her interested in Teach for America. She is currently working at a school in Phoenix, Ariz.It’s a tremendous amount of work and a massive time commitment, Briggs said, but she does not regret her decision to join the program. “I believe strongly in what I’m doing, and I love my students,” she said. Amber Saloner, a Stanford University graduate and alumna of the program, is the current recruiting director for Teach for America. She said she lives to hear stories like Briggs’. “After two years of battling in the classroom to catch my students up to grade level,” Saloner said, “I just couldn’t walk away. Working as a recruitment director allows me to effect even larger change. I am thrilled to share my experiences with college students and to encourage them to use their leadership and talent as corps members.”Saloner will hold an information session this afternoon from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. in Room 319 of the Union. The program will also have an information booth in the Union lobby today from 8 a.m. to noon.For more information, visit the Teach for America Web site at www.teachforamerica.org or e-mail Saloner at [email protected].
Ryan Perkins