YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE: SPRING 2008

To view this email as a web page, go here.

Visit us online ·  Your finances · Our regions  · The teaching experience · Your career  Spring 2008    Only 1 in 10 children growing up in poverty will graduate from college. But it doesn't have to be this way. Find out how you can help end educational inequity>> What the Experience Is Really Like Report from the field: "My students don't care who I was in college. What matters to them is, can I teach subtraction? Will I answer their questions? Will I read the story with enthusiasm? It's a lot of responsibility, and at the same time it's an honor that you have a classroom full of people who trust you and who are looking for you to lead them." -Amanda Jarrard (Mississippi Delta '06), high school teacher Hear more from Amanda and current corps members about what it's like to be a teacher>> Day in the Life Follow a corps member through a typical day at summer institute Watch video » How will you spend your summer? Members of Teach For America's 2008 corps will be at the summer institute, working and studying to become highly effective beginning teachers.   Support along the way: During your two-year commitment, you will receive support from experienced educators - most of whom were Teach For America corps members themselves - as you continue to build the knowledge and skills necessary for classroom success. Learn more about Teach For America's ongoing professional support and development>> Your salary as a corps member: Teach For America corps members earn the same salary and benefits as other beginning teachers in their districts. Learn more about salary, benefits, transitional funding to help you relocate to a new region, and other financial support>> How Teach For America Fits in with Your Career Goals Invaluable experience: "It is not a coincidence that several of our most successful and senior executives have been teachers at some point in their careers. Corps members' demonstrated commitment to education, along with the important skills and life experiences gained through Teach For America, make them more appealing candidates for us at Monitor. Teach For America is a critical national asset and it is a privilege to partner with them." -Bill McClements, Senior Partner, Director of Global Recruiting, Monitor Group Why Teach For America? "By agreeing to teach for two years in a low-income community, I'm doing my part to ensure that children in this country get what they deserve." -Rachel Evans (Baltimore Corps '05), Texas A&M University, B.A. English Employer partnerships: Top companies such as Google, Goldman Sachs, and McKinsey & Company offer Teach For America corps members job deferrals, summer internships, and other benefits. Many other leading firms work with our Career and Leadership Center to recruit our alumni. View the full list of our employer partnerships>> Graduate school partnerships: Highly respected graduate schools such as Stanford Law School, Tufts Fletcher School of International Affairs, and the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania offer deferrals, scholarships, and other benefits to Teach For America corps members. View the full list of our graduate school partnerships>> Long-term impact: Teach For America alumni are working from every professional sector to expand opportunities for students in low-income areas. Learn more about the impact of our alumni >>  What Are Your Summer Plans? Inspire a student: Make a difference this summer by tutoring students in under-resourced schools. Extreme Learning is currently hiring tutors to work in many high-need districts and schools throughout California. View job opportunities at Extreme Learning>> Become inspired: Start your reading list with these books about social change>> Get a head start on your application: Learn more about who we're looking for. The application for the 2009 corps will be available online in late summer 2008. Your parents want to know: Do your parents have questions about Teach For America? They'll find answers in our friends and family section>> Send to a friend      ·      Contact us   Opinions expressed in this document or linked documents are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official position of Teach For America, the Corporation for National Service, or the AmeriCorps program.

Click here to unsubscribe or modify your email profile. We respect your right to privacy - click here to view our policy.

This email was sent by: Teach For America 315 West 36th Street , New York , NY, 10018 USA

YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE: FEB '08

To view this email as a web page, go here.

Visit us online ·  Your finances · Our regions  · The teaching experience · Your career  February 2008    Only about half of the children growing up in poverty in our country will graduate from high school. But it doesn’t have to be this way. You can help end educational inequity by joining Teach For America. Apply now before this year’s final deadline: Friday, February 15. What the Experience Is Really Like Report from the field: "I have students who show me such quality work. Their motivation motivates me. Any time they ask questions, any time they're curious about something, it gets me excited because I can't wait to help them figure it out." —Amy Tran (Houston Corps '06), sixth grade social studies teacher Read more from Teach For America corps members about the daily triumphs and challenges of teaching>> Your financial future: Teach For America corps members earn the same salary and benefits as other beginning teachers in their districts. Through AmeriCorps, eligible corps members may also receive loan forbearance and interest payment on qualified student loans, as well as an education award of $4,725 at the end of the year of service. (Because of the timing of the renewal cycle for AmeriCorps grants, Teach For America cannot yet guarantee AmeriCorps benefits, but we hope to be able to offer them in 2008-09 and will know our status in May.) Learn more about the salary and benefits you can expect>> Day in the Life Follow a corps member through a typical day at summer institute Watch video » Preparing for the classroom: Teach For America corps members typically describe their training at the summer institute as intense, challenging, and rewarding. "The long nights are worth it," says Ed Kabay (Metro D.C. Corps '06), "when you get up in front of your kids and you see that they're very interested in what you have to say." Hear more from Ed and other '06 corps members about          life at institute>> Support along the way: During your two-year commitment, you will receive support from experienced educators—most of whom were Teach For America corps members themselves—as you continue to build the knowledge and skills necessary for classroom success. Learn more about Teach For America’s ongoing professional support and development>> Regional Spotlight: Greater New Orleans After Katrina, Teach For America is helping rebuild a school system from the ground up to create lasting change Watch video » The chance of a lifetime: An unprecedented education reform movement has emerged in Greater New Orleans, with Teach For America corps members and alumni at the forefront. They are making history and transforming education in New Orleans. Learn about the impact you can have in post-Katrina New Orleans in this video spotlight>> The Big Easy: "I’ve never lived in a place that is more welcoming. Especially in the midst of the rebuilding efforts, everyone is so appreciative to have people come here who believe in the future of New Orleans."—Maya McLaughlin (Greater New Orleans Corps ’05), first grade teacher Read more from Maya and other corps members about living in Greater New Orleans>>   How Teach For America Fits in with Your Career Goals Employer partnerships: Top companies such as Google, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, and McKinsey & Company offer Teach For America corps members job deferrals, summer internships, and other benefits. Many other leading firms work with our Career and Leadership Center to recruit our alumni. View the full list of our employer partnerships>> Graduate school partnerships: Highly respected graduate schools such as Georgetown University Public Policy Institute, Harvard University Law School, and Yale School of Management offer deferrals, scholarships, and other benefits to Teach For America corps members. View the full list of our graduate school partnerships>> "For a while, I chaired admissions in the graduate political science department at the University of Michigan. We didn’t just look at high test scores. We looked at things like whether an applicant had worked with Teach For America. We wanted to bring in people who had experiences and modes of thinking that would improve everyone else."—Professor Scott E. Page in the New York Times, January 8, 2008 Invaluable experience: "There is an open call in the job market for people who have been trained to approach problems and issues differently than every other person around them. Teaching all but guarantees this skill."—Michael Kirkbride (Los Angeles Corps ’90), investment manager, Bank of America Long-term impact: Teach For America alumni are working from every professional sector to expand opportunities for students in low-income areas. Learn more about the impact of our alumni >> Send to a friend      ·      Contact us  Opinions expressed in this document or linked documents are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official position of Teach For America, the Corporation for National Service, or the AmeriCorps program.

Click here to unsubscribe or modify your email profile. We respect your right to privacy - click here to view our policy.

This email was sent by: Teach For America 315 West 36th Street , New York , NY, 10018 USA

YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE: JAN '08

To view this email as a web page, go here.

Visit us online · Our mission · Our regions  · The teaching experience ·  Your career  January 2008  Only 1 in 10 students in low-income communities will graduate from college.* But it doesn’t have to be this way. Learn how you can help end educational inequity>> What the Experience Is Really Like Report from the field: "I thought about the challenges my students face and the sacrifices their families have made in order to provide them an education in the United States. I felt a sense of humility. How could I not provide my students with the quality education to justify their families' sacrifices? I became empowered by the notion that, as their classroom teacher, I have the opportunity to make those sacrifices worthwhile…" —Janis Ortega (New York City Corps ’04) Read more about Janis’s experience and  the daily rewards and challenges of teaching>> "Teach For America is designed to attract not only the most talented on the college campus, but individuals who have a passion to make a contribution. They may lack teacher training, but we easily can compensate with instructional models and data delivery systems. You can’t buy a work ethic. You can’t buy intelligence and enthusiasm. You can’t buy hope. At the end of the day, that stuff is priceless."—Paul Vallas, Superintendent, Recovery School District, New Orleans Read more about Teach For America’s role in post-Katrina education reform and what it’s like to live and teach in Greater New Orleans>> Day in the Life Follow a corps member through a typical day at summer institute Watch video » Get ready to make an impact: Teach For America’s training institute prepares corps members to be highly effective beginning teachers while improving the academic performance of students in their summer school classrooms. Watch one new corps member in a typical  day at institute>> How does this affect my financial future?: Teach For America covers major expenses during the summer institute and offers no-interest loans and transitional grants ranging from $1,000 to $6,000 to help corps members until they receive their first paycheck. Additionally, corps members may be eligible to receive loan forbearance and interest payment on qualified student loans as well as an education award of $4,725 at the end of each year of service. Learn more about the salary and benefits Teach For America corps members receive>>  How This Fits in with Your Career Goals Graduate school and employer partnerships: Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, Google, and other employers join top-ranked graduate programs such as the University of Washington School of Medicine and the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania to offer deferrals and other benefits to Teach For America teachers. View all of Teach For America’s employer partnerships and graduate school partnerships>> Why Teach For America?: "It’s a really great opportunity to be part of something bigger than myself, bigger than a group of people, bigger than a company. I knew it was going to be a challenge. I was never really interested in doing something easy, but I have always been interested in a challenge."— Jason Boots (Baltimore Corps ’07) A lasting difference: After their two-year commitment, Teach For America alumni continue to be agents of change. Learn more about alumni working from every professional sector to level the playing field for children in low-income communities. Regional Spotlight: Rural Regions Joining Teach For America in a rural region such as the Mississippi Delta, South Dakota, or the Rio Grande Valley can give you insight into aspects of life in our country that you otherwise might not experience—and if you grew up in a rural area, you can be a particularly powerful role model for the students and community you serve. View a video of corps members and alumni in rural regions>> Send to a friend      ·      Contact us *Please note that this statistic was incorrectly printed in our December newsletter. The correct statistics are:   Only 1 in 10 students from low-income communities will graduate from college. [Source: "Family Income and Higher Education Opportunity," Postsecondary Education Opportunity, 2005]   About half of students growing up in low-income communities will not graduate from high school. Nationwide, the graduation rate for "high-poverty" districts is 60 percent. However, in nearly all of the districts where Teach For America places teachers, the rate is below 50 percent. [Source: Editorial Projects in Education Research Center, 2006]. Opinions expressed in this document or linked documents are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official position of Teach For America, the Corporation for National Service, or the AmeriCorps program.

Click here to unsubscribe or modify your email profile. We respect your right to privacy - click here to view our policy.

This email was sent by: Teach For America 315 West 36th Street , New York , NY, 10018 USA

LEVELING THE PLAYING FIELD: DEC '07

To view this email as a web page, go here.

Visit us online  ·   Our mission  ·  Our regions   ·  The teaching experience  ·   Your career December 2007 Only 1 in 10 students in low-income communities will graduate from high school. But it doesn’t have to be this way. Take advantage of winter break to learn more about educational inequity and what you can do to help end it>>  What the Experience Is Really Like Report from the field: "What happened in my classroom was not magic. It was a product of setting incredibly high standards, pursuing results relentlessly, and never giving up. Under those conditions, anything is possible."—Liam Honigsberg (Phoenix Corps ’04)  Read more about Liam’s experience and the daily rewards and challenges of teaching>>          Mythbusters: Are you wondering how you can succeed as a teacher if you’ve never taught before? Teach For America teachers can lead students to make dramatic academic gains in a single year. Learn more about becoming an exceptional teacher>>  How This Fits in with Your Career Goals Why Teach For America? "I know that it will be incredibly difficult—in fact, that it will almost certainly be the most difficult thing I have ever done—but I want to take on the challenge and overcome it. In doing so, I will learn a great deal about myself and grow immeasurably as a person, in ways that I never would were I simply sitting in an office for the next two years." —Scott Thompson (New York City Corps ’06), 2008 Rhodes Scholar Graduate school and employer partnerships: Google, JPMorgan, and other employers join top-ranked graduate programs such as Harvard University Law School and New York University’s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service to offer deferrals and other benefits to Teach For America teachers. View all of Teach For America’s graduate school partnerships and employer partnerships>> Work that matters: Join a network of individuals who’ve made a difference—Teach For America alumni. Learn how Teach For America alumni are working from every professional sector to expand educational opportunity>> Regional Spotlight: Rural Regions With national attention often focused on struggling urban schools, few Americans have a clear picture of the educational challenges facing rural schools or the potential economic and social policies that might benefit rural communities. Learn about our rural placement sites including the Mississippi Delta, the Rio Grande Valley, and South Louisiana>> Send to a friend      ·      Contact us Opinions expressed in this document or linked documents are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official position of Teach For America, the Corporation for National Service, or the AmeriCorps program.

Click here to unsubscribe or modify your email profile. We respect your right to privacy - click here to view our policy.

This email was sent by: Teach For America 315 West 36th Street , New York , NY, 10018 USA

YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE: NOV '07

To view this email as a web page, go here.

Visit us online ·  Our mission · Our regions  · The teaching experience Your career  · Grads and professionals November 2007 Of the 13 million children growing up in poverty today, about half will graduate from high school. Those that do graduate will perform, on average, at an eighth-grade level. Educational inequity is    our nation's greatest injustice—and you can help solve it.  What the Experience is Really Like Mythbusters: All first-year teachers experience a steep learning curve. However, Teach For America corps members say that our five-week training institute helped prepare them for the challenges they experienced during their first year of teaching. Read more about Teach For America training>>           Video report from the field: “There’s this really honest moment that you have to have with yourself when you’re in a [classroom] . . . and you’ve got a lot of work to do. It’s hard. But as someone who really enjoys a challenge, I’ve got to say—there’s nothing like it.”—Linda Mendez (Houston Corps ’05) Hear more from Linda and other corps members who offer an inside look at life in the classroom and in the corps>> Developing your skills: Highly effective teachers in under-resourced schools employ the same skills required for success in any profession. You will build these skills during your Teach For America training and ongoing professional development>>  How this Fits in with Your Career Goals Not just for graduating seniors: If you’re enrolled in a graduate program or you’re a college graduate working in the public or private sector and you want to be a powerful force in the lives of others, consider joining Teach For America. Learn more from individuals who joined Teach For America after graduate school or after time in other professions>> Graduate school partnerships: Top-ranked graduate programs, including Georgetown University’s Public Policy Institute and Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Graduate Program in Chemistry, offer deferrals and other benefits to Teach For America teachers. View the full list of Teach For America graduate school partnerships>> Employer partnerships: Google, Goldman Sachs, GE, and many other top companies offer two-year deferrals, summer internships, and signing bonuses to Teach For America corps members and alumni. View the list of Teach For America's job deferrals>> Teach For America alumni impact: “Very early in my Teach For America experience, I realized that poor health, nutrition, and a lack of access to adequate medical services negatively impacted my students’ ability to achieve in school. This reality played a large part in my decision to pursue medicine as another way to serve my students.”—Prasanna Jagannathan (Los Angeles Corps ’98), Internal Medicine Resident, University of California, San Francisco; Harvard University ’06 M.D.; University of California, Berkeley, ’98 B.A. Learn more about the impact of Prasanna and other alumni in a variety of fields>> Career Spotlight: Law Experience that counts: “It is easy as a law student to treat our studies as abstract analytical exercises, but underneath each case we read is a real story involving the frustrated hopes of some flesh-and-blood human being. With this in mind, it is central to the task of any lawyer, in whatever field, to be able to think in terms of the interests of his client and to put those interests ahead of his own. My experience as a teacher has prepared me to see this human dimension and to accept the responsibility that comes with it.”— Nick Pyati (New York City Corps ’05), J.D. candidate at Yale Law School, Stupski scholarship recipient Read more about Nick’s path to law school>> Yale Law School scholarship and benefits: Two applicants who defer their acceptance to Yale Law School to join Teach For America will each receive a $30,000 Stupski Scholarship for Civic Leadership. Read more about Yale Law School and the Stupski scholarship>>  What law schools think: “At Harvard Law School, we look for passion, energy, and social awareness in our students, and we’ve found these qualities consistently in Teach For America alumni. They share our commitment to law as public service and we’re confident that they’ll use the resources and opportunities available here to go out and change the world.”—Elena Kagan, Dean and Charles Hamilton Houston Professor, Harvard Law School Top law schools value the commitment, leadership skills, and social awareness that Teach For America alumni bring. Read more about Teach For America’s law school partnerships>> Regional Spotlight: Greater New Orleans “At what other point in your lives have you had the opportunity to literally write history—to change the course of history? That is the moment we are living here in Greater New Orleans, and you feel it every day.”—Kira Orange-Jones (South Louisiana Corps '00), Executive Director, Teach For America-Greater New Orleans Learn more in a video spotlight on Greater New Orleans>> Send to a friend      ·      Contact us Opinions expressed in this document or linked documents are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official position of Teach For America, the Corporation for National Service, or the AmeriCorps program.

Click here to unsubscribe or modify your email profile. We respect your right to privacy - click here to view our policy.

This email was sent by: Teach For America 315 West 36th Street , New York , NY, 10018 USA

Teach For America News: October 2007

To view this email as a web page, go here.

Visit us online  ·   Our mission  ·  Our regions   ·  The teaching experience  ·   Your career    October 2007 Ninety percent of students growing up in low-income communities will not graduate from college. Educational inequity is our nation's greatest injustice—and you can help solve it. What the Experience is Really Like Report from the field: “I've been teaching for a month now and everything has been running smoothly on the whole,” writes New York City corps member Maribel Gonzalez. “But there is one student in particular who has been requiring a lot of my time and attention during class...He refuses to sit with any of the four groups the class has been arranged into and instead chooses to sit in the back of the room by himself..." Read more about Maribel’s experience and the daily rewards and challenges of teaching from other corps members>>         The impact you can have: You can help level the playing field for children in low-income communities and make a significant impact on their academic achievement>> Mythbusters: Teach For America corps members are not volunteers. In fact, they're paid directly by the school districts for which they work and receive the same compensation as other beginning teachers. Learn more about corps member salaries and benefits>>  Your training and development: In Teach For America, you will learn the skills and strategies that work for highly effective teachers in under-resourced schools. Read more about your training and ongoing professional development>> “I know how satisfying it is to be a teacher, and I understand the excitement that motivates young people to Teach For America. Corps members bring to their classrooms extraordinary skill, compassion, energy, and idealism . These are important qualities in any workplace, but they're especially important in schools, where teachers aren’t just job-holders, but they’re role models, mentors, and friends.”—First Lady Laura Bush “Teach For America’s corps members and alumni become lifelong leaders in the effort to ensure that all children in our nation have an equal chance to succeed in life."—Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y. How this Fits in with Your Career Goals Teach For America ranks among top entry-level employers: Teach For America is recognized as one of the best places to launch your career by BusinessWeek, Fortune, the Princeton Review, and the Wall Street Journal. Graduate school partnerships: The latest graduate schools to partner with Teach For America include the University of California, Berkeley - College of Engineering and Northwestern University programs in chemistry, mathematics, and earth and planetary science. View the full list of Teach For America graduate school partnerships>> Employer partnerships: Google, GE, JPMorgan, and many other top companies offer two-year deferrals, summer internships, and more to Teach For America corps members and alumni. View the list of Teach For America's job deferrals>> Alumni in every sector: After their two-year commitment, Teach For America alumni work from every career sector to level the playing field for children growing up in low-income communities. Learn how from alumni working in engineering, public policy, technology, and more>>  Career Spotlight: Business What business schools think: Top business schools, such as Stanford University Graduate School of Business and The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, recognize the entrepreneurial spirit, leadership skills, and committment to social justice that Teach For America alumni bring. Read more about Teach For America's business school partnerships>> M.B.A. benefits for Teach For America alumni: The William Bowes Scholarship for Emerging Business Leaders awards $50,000 annually to two Teach For America alumni entering each of the following business schools: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University, University of Chicago, and University of Pennsylvania. Learn more about these schools>> The Harvard Business School equation: Harvard Business School is partnering with Teach For America and others on a deferred M.B.A. admissions program - HBS 2+2. Learn more about the HBS 2+2 Program>> Regional Spotlight: 2008 Expansion Sites Jacksonville: “Teach For America provides us with a wonderful opportunity to bring new leaders to the community who are passionate about educational reform. These young educators share our commitment to and vision of eradicating the achievement gap, and they will be placed in some of our most critical schools.”—Dr. Joseph Wise, Superintendent of Duval County Public Schools, welcoming Teach For America to Jacksonville, Florida Kansas City: "The Teach For America program and its corps members are a valuable addition to our community, our schools, and our vision for the future."—Anthony Amato, Superintendent of the Kansas City Missouri School District, speaking about Teach For America’s expansion to Kansas City Indianapolis: “Teach For America [corps] members have left deep, positive impressions on many school systems…. Over time, their competence and zeal [will] have a replenishing effect on our struggling urban schools.”—Indianapolis Star editorial about Teach For America’s expansion to Indianapolis Send to a friend      ·      Contact us Opinions expressed in this document or linked documents are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official position of Teach For America, the Corporation for National Service, or the AmeriCorps program.

Click here to unsubscribe or modify your email profile. We respect your right to privacy - click here to view our policy.

This email was sent by: Teach For America 315 West 36th Street , New York , NY, 10018 USA