Think back to fifth grade; to the desertion of dodgeball, the sweeping surge of preteen angst, and of course, the official "sex talk." Chances are, day-to-day scholarly tasks don't dominate your recollections. Chances are, these responsibilities posed no unattainable hurdles to you. Chances are, your teacher insured your proficiency before passing you to the sixth grade. On what ground can these assumptions be made? By the fact that you are reading this now.
Tragically, in both urban and rural communities throughout the United States, the education of future and current generations is suffering. While they should be the beneficiaries of boundless knowledge, children are the youngest victims of one of the greatest downfalls of our society: the public education system. It's not that quality teachers aren't out there, said Matt Dolan, Penn State '03 graduate and program teacher/spokesperson. Rather, the issue stems from the constant lack of resources and thus rapidly-drying wells of optimism for an improved situation.
Enter: Teach for America. Recruiting on a nationwide basis, the program seeks out recent college graduates who are passionate about making a tangible difference in the education system of our nation.
The program, founded in 1991 by a graduate of Princeton University, thrives on the ideal of sending individuals into communities across the country with the objective of volunteers eventually applying what they gain through their experiences to their future careers. In this way, Teach for America is changing the system through everything from hands-on interaction to the improvement of public policy.
If you find yourself hesitating at the name "Teach for America," be assured that you do not have to be in the Lynch School of Education to participate in the program. In fact, TFA not only welcomes but embraces graduates of all majors. Participation in the corps is applicable to many future endeavors including, but not limited to, the worlds of business, medicine, law, and public policy. Volunteers are required to commit two years to the program, in which time they will attempt to transform the performance and outcome of students who are significantly behind in their education. The following statistics, listed in a Teach for America brochure and reemphasized by Patrick O'Donnell, teacher/spokesperson for the corps and BC '03, grant a glimpse into the heartbreaking reality of the young minds subject to an inadequate system:
"In America today, 9-year-olds growing up in low-income communities are already three grade levels behind their peers in high-income communities. Half of them won't graduate from high school. Those who do graduate will, on average, read and do math at the level of eighth graders in high-income communities."
This is staggering evidence in the case against our schools. The ultimate realization for the men and women working for Teach for America is that of the dire need for a closing of the above-mentioned student gap. As challenging as this may seem, the people in the corps recognize that this issue is in our control.
Through the improvement of teacher quality, school leadership, and expectations of students, strides can be and are being made that will make a lasting impact not only on the children, but on their current family situations and on the situations of the generations they will precede, thereby bettering society as a whole.
To evidence the advancements that are being made, O'Donnell proceeded to relate a story about his friend, a fellow teacher in the corps who graduated from Stanford University in 2003.
This woman, putting her knowledge from her biology major to use as a science teacher, entered a New York classroom of eighth graders to find that they had been without a science education for more than two years.
Right then she made up her mind to coach them to a proficiency level that would allow them to qualify for the economic bowl, an event in which schools with students of all levels annually compete.
Embarking upon a project that involved the students with fuel cells and the ensuing operation of vehicles, she not only led them to qualifying, but to taking first place.
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