Students look to return to classroom after graduating

By: Katherine Martinez

Posted: 11/3/08

Teach for America, a two-year teaching program that recruits college graduates from all majors to teach in under-performing public schools, has a high appeal to UConn students, according to Debra Feinberg, a 7th-semester political science major and Teach for America intern on campus.

"The number of applicants has already far surpassed that of last year," Feinberg said.

UConn alumni who are currently involved with Teach for America believe that the program's appeal lies in its ability to make a difference. According to the organization's mission statement, educational inequity is a problem that strong leaders have the power to solve.

Erin Sippel graduated from UConn last May and is now a corps member, teaching second grade in Denver. While at UConn, Sippel was involved with the Human Rights program and knew that she wanted to continue on a similar path after graduation. She decided to apply to Teach for America after seeing flyers because she thought teaching would be an interesting way to help improve education in the United States.

Once in the program, Sippel, like many other Teach for America corps members, learned that teaching underprivileged children is more difficult than most people expect.

"I don't think anything can fully prepare you for it," Sippel said. "It is more work than I ever thought possible, but it's worth it."

After teachers, or "corps members," are accepted to the program and placed at a school, they undergo an intensive five-week training program called Institute, according to David Brown, recruitment director at UConn. Corps members spend the summer in one of six training institutes across the country to help them adjust to the teaching process.

"The passion and drive to help people learn is not something you can teach," said Rachel Jones, a UConn graduate student and Teach for America alum.

Jones joined the program in 2005 after graduating from New Mexico State University. According to Jones, Teach for America has a much stronger presence at UConn than it did at New Mexico.

"I kind of went into it blind," said Jones, who had little interaction with recruiters or current teachers before joining the program.

To Jones, it is imperative to understand what the Teach for America experience is like before signing up.

"You don't want people going into it with a skewed sense of reality," Jones said. "Then, if you quit, you quit on the kids."

Jones described her first month teaching as the hardest thing she has ever done. There are obstacles and challenges in becoming a teacher, Jones said. If a lesson plan fails, the teacher is forced to go home and redesign it. If students do not do well, the teacher has to figure out a new way to reach them.

"I had to get over the need to be a perfectionist, but the option of giving up just wasn't there for me," Jones said.

But despite all the challenges Jones faced, she still considered the experience to be one of her life's most valuable.

Steve Ferketic, a Teach for America corps member in Texas, has a similar outlook of the program. Ferketic is currently in his first year of the program and is teaching 10th-grade chemistry. Most of his students cross the border from Mexico every day, and have a very basic English vocabulary.

"Nothing can fully prepare you for teaching anywhere, whether it's with TFA or not," Ferketic said, "But I think TFA does a good job training you over the summer."

There is also a network of support groups to help with the adjustment. According to Brown, 89 percent of Teach for America corps members have other Teach for America members in their school. This helps solidify the Teach for America network and gives new members the ability to learn from program veterans.

New members are also encouraged to attend a fair that helps them adjust to life outside of the classroom, Feinberg said. The fair includes car dealers, real estate agents and credit card companies that help ease members' transitions across the country.

"I think one of the key things about the experience is that someone right out of college can handle it," Feinberg said. "You can go right out of school and do something great that is still financially viable."

Most Teach for America corps members make $27,000 to $45,000 a year and get full health benefits. There is also a $5,000 grant that can be applied toward preexisting loans or graduate school.

Applying to Teach for America is a six- to eight-week process that requires submitting a resume with two short essays, a potential phone interview and an in-person interview. There are four deadlines throughout the school year, the next of which is Nov. 7 and the last is in February.