Teach For America

When I was a freshmen in college I was so generally overwhelmed by the greatness of a place where everything seemed to be infused with brilliance and interesting content that I attended almost anything free and open to the public that was happening on campus. One morning after class, I headed over to the Student Union to check my mail and I came across a sign advertising an information session for Teach For America. I had no idea what TFA was at the time, but I do remember the poster was emblazoned with the words 'Educational inequity is our nation's greatest injustice. You can change this.' And I thought that was pretty cool.

So I went to the information session. There I learned that TFA is a program where college seniors or recent alums go through a very meticulous application and interview process in order to become teachers at underserved schools. The idea is that after acceptance into the program, the new teachers are quickly trained and then tossed into the proverbial frying pan to try and close the educational access gap.

The presentation consisted of a Middlebury alum, who had recently finished her 2year TFA commitment, telling the abridged version story of her experience as a teacher somewhere in Mississippi. She talked about the rigorous application and interview process she'd been through in order to even be considered for a position with TFA. The pride she'd felt in being part of such an elite group with such a special mission. Her idealism. She talked about moving from her parents' comfortable suburban home into a tiny apartment in a rough neighborhood with 3 locks on the door and mouse poop in the kitchen drawers. She talked about how on her first day she realized that half of her 2nd graders couldn't write their own names, and that the school didn't have enough pencils to give them to write with anyway. She told a story about how she had once thrown a tantrum at one of her students throwing a tantrum.

But she also talked about the unbelievable sense of achievement and right when one of her students finally did learn to read. About the first time she got a hug from one of her students. About how she cried when most of them moved on to 3rd grade. Finally, about how she was still in touch with a lot of them and their families despite moving back up North.

Teach for America is a really incredible program but what it seems many people seem to forget is that it involves a major responsibility to real students and communities, that it isn't just a vehicle to achieve one's idealistic ponderings. If you're interested, check out the website at www.teachforamerica.org. There're sections on what happens before, during and after the program and where you can apply to teach. It's definitely a program worth considering.