Graduates Seek Alternative Path

College students have many opportunities upon graduation. Many go on to pursue their Master's degree in graduate school, others begin their careers in the job market, and others choose an alternate route, such as working to eliminate one of the nation's most pressing problem - educational inequality - with Teach for America (TFA).

In America today, educational imbalance persists along socioeconomic and racial lines, according to the TFA Web site. Nine-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.

TFA's mission is to enlist the "nation's most promising future leaders in the movement to eliminate educational inequality," according to Audrey Giesler, a recruitment director for TFA who also was a corps member for two years in Chicago. She taught 7th-grade reading, math and science.

TFA accomplishes this by building a diverse, highly-selective national corps of recent college graduates - of all academic majors and career interests - who commit two years to teach in urban and rural public schools in the nation's lowest-income communities and become lifelong leaders for expanding educational opportunity, according to its Web site.

This year 78 UConn students applied to TFA, however due to its selective nature, only 12 students have been offered jobs with TFA and have accepted.

One of these students is Micah Uhrlass, a graduating finance major. Uhrlass will begin his two-year commitment with TFA in Houston this summer, teaching high school mathematics. He said teaching isn't just a job, it is a life-long commitment.

"I intend to make that commitment and be a continual role model who will challenge these children," Uhrlass said.

Demonstrating the ability to overcome obstacles and possessing exceptional leadership capabilities is what Uhlrass said he thinks got him into this program.

"TFA expects you to have a passion and an understanding that these children need to be held to the same standards as those being educated in high-income areas," he said. "The applicant who is book-smart, yet ignorant to the educational inequity that is happening in our country right now will not be chosen by TFA."

Ashley Gibson, another UConn student graduating today with an English degree was also offered a job with TFA in Houston. She will be teaching elementary education and said she is looking forward to her students and being their role model.

"I know that I have something to offer them, but I also have a lot to learn from them," Gibson said. "I cannot wait to get in the classroom and challenge my students as I am being challenged by them."

Gibson said she can really relate to the students she'll be working with while a TFA corps member.

"I was once a child who had to eat breakfast at school," she said. "I know first hand what these kids could be going through. I had a teacher who cared and a mother who was there for me. I know how important a good teacher-parent relationship is in a child's life."

Another UConn student, Elizabeth Laverty, graduating today with a degree in human development and family studies, has been accepted to TFA and will be teaching elementary education in either Hartford, New Haven, or Bridgeport. Laverty said she recently decided to pursue a teaching career and thought that this would be an excellent alternative to graduate school.  

"I also strongly believe in closing the education gap in the U.S.," she said.

The most challenging thing about the next two years will be figuring out what works and doesn't work in the classroom, how to teach, managing a class - basically learning how to be an effective teacher, Laverty said.

After TFA selects a corps of outstanding recent college graduates, members are trained during summer institutes and placed as full-time, paid teachers in urban and rural public schools. They are provided with ongoing professional development to help them succeed during their two years as teachers and beyond.

Corps members are paid directly by the school districts where they work and receive the same salaries and health benefits as other beginning teachers, according to the TFA Web site. Corps members also receive a stipend each year that can be used toward getting their Master's degrees while teaching.

Laverty said she is happy with the mission of TFA.

"Closing the education gap and providing equal education for all children in the U.S. is extremely important," she said. "It will give these children the opportunity to succeed in life."

According to Giesler, recruiters look for candidates who have a proven leadership record in school, work or extracurricular activities and who demonstrate leadership qualities such as the ability to influence and motivate others and the ability to persevere through difficult challenges.

"Specifically, we look for evidence of demonstrated past achievement, perseverance in the face of challenges, strong critical thinking skills, ability to influence and motivate others, organizational ability, desire to work relentlessly in pursuit of our mission and high expectations for students and families in low-income communities," she said. According to Giesler, about 60 percent of corps members stay in education. 

"Others go on to work toward our mission in other ways, be it through policy, law, medicine, business, etc.," she said.

In addition to Texas and Connecticut, the other nine 2007 UConn graduates will be working with TFA in New Orleans, New York City and Chicago, according to Giesler.

Although these UConn graduates may be taking a different path than many of their peers, they are sure they have chosen a start to extremely bright futures.

"You always hear of the importance of enjoying your job," Uhrlass said. " 'Get a job you like doing,' people say. I took their advice. Now I may notice gray hairs and back pains at age 25, but for the rest of my career I will be doing what I love - working with impressionable youth and affecting a multiplying impact on the lives of future parents and grandparents."