ANNA KING
Assistant News Editor
Few graduates would bypass a chance to begin their careers to relocate to a strange place and profession for two years of service. That is exactly how five Pepperdine seniors have chosen to start their careers after graduation when they were accepted to join the Teach for America program.
Pepperdine’s acceptance rate speaks for the program, which accepts less than 30 percent of applicants nationwide. Pepperdine currently has the highest acceptance rate into the corps in the Southern California region.
Seniors Kimberly Clinite, Lera Danley, Erin Diaz, Kirsten Rush and Crystal Luong were accepted into the program. Their training begins this summer, with a training program in one of three training sites in either Houston, Los Angeles or Philadelphia.
From there they will go on to serve two years as a teacher in underprivileged areas across the country and here at home.
Teach for America (TFA) was founded in 1990 with 500 members by Princeton graduate Wendy Kopp as a response to the educational inequalities young people faced in low-income communities throughout the United States.
The program takes recent college graduates and places them as teachers in the most desperately lacking classrooms in cities throughout the nation. There, they are asked to inspire their students from low socio-economic backgrounds to achieve academic success and find personal fulfillment.
Each of the participants from Pepperdine has been able to pull from experiences over the past four years to prepare for the tasks and difficulties that will accompany their assignments.
Diaz, a political science major and Spanish minor, has been stationed to teach elementary school in the Los Angeles region, her first choice for placement. As the student coordinator of the Camp David Gonzales program on campus, Diaz has had several years of experience with underprivileged youth going into the TFA program.
“Last year I went to information session and heard from a Pepperdine alum talk about it and was interested because of the fact that education equality is their mission,” Diaz said. “I’ve seen a lot of the correlation of bad education and life opportunities and thought it would be something I would be both good at and have the heart to do.”
Another Camp David Gonzales volunteer, Danley, also pulled from her experiences with the camp to inspire her to join the TFA movement.
“Meeting those students at Camp David Gonzales showed me that we as a country are missing out on what these kids have to teach us because we’ve shown them and the communities that they live in Los Angeles and that they are disposable and hopeless,” Danley said. “I wanted to join the movement so that I can be a part of a generation that believes every child in this country deserves the best education possible.”
Danley is an English literature major who is going to teach elementary special education in Phoenix, her first choice site.
Rush, a biology chemistry major, was inspired to join the program after hearing about it from a graduated student in the program. She will be serving in the Los Angeles region at the high school level.
“I heard about it from a friend who graduated, and this year was put in contact with someone who works for TFA,” Rush said. “I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do after graduation, and was motivated to do something I love: teaching and inspiring people.”
No matter how much preparation and dedication each participant may put into it, the experience is undoubtedly one of the most challenging periods of their lives.
“The fact that I will be in an urban area, teaching high school in a different environment than what I grew up in will be one of the hardest things about the next two years,” Rush said. “Of course, managing a classroom, coming up with lesson plans and helping the students come away from class with something they didn’t have before will be difficult too.”
Diaz said she feels apprehension about the task set before her in terms of connecting with her students and having an impact on their lives that they will feel far into the future.
“I plan to make it a priority to keep my students motivated and well aware of the fact that they can do anything they set their minds to,” Diaz said. “Once they understand that everything will come into place.”
“Within urban and rural areas, we have found that the most successful teachers are those who operate as successful leaders would in any context,” said Adriana Garcia, TFA recruitment director for the Pacific Coast. “Because leaders come in many forms, we do not look for a specific profile, such as specific past experiences or certain GPAs. Rather, we seek through our admissions process to gain a holistic view of each candidate.”
Now, more than 14,000 college graduates have been placed in the TFA program since 1990, reaching into 22 cities across the country.
Each corps member joins for two years, and following their service, more than 60 percent of alumni remain in the educational field, according to the TFA Web site.
Whether or not the participants continue into the educational field after their term of service is complete, past alumni have proven that the experiences and skills discovered through the program are impacting in any profession.
“I may want to stay in education for a while after my two-year commitment,” Danley said. “But my long-term goal as of now is to go to a competitive and radical graduate school of public policy and work in the public sector, making large-scale changes in education and possibly health care.”
Some participants from Pepperdine are not certain about their plans beyond the program, but still feel that their experiences will guide them into their paths.
“I’m not quite sure what I want to do as a career, but I want to spend time touching the lives of children and giving back what I’ve been given as far as education goes,” Diaz said.
While working for the TFA program can be a personally rewarding experience for participants, it’s not for everyone.
“The program is something where it’s a good thing if you don’t know what you want to do,” Rush said. “But you really need to search your heart and do a little soul searching before you apply. There are easier roads to take.”
Applicants must complete an online application, including a letter of intent, a resume and an essay. The most promising applicants are invited to attend an all-day interview process, including a sample teaching lesson, a group discussion and a personal interview.
The next deadline to apply for the program in Feb. 18. Students interested should contact Elizabeth Eubanks at elizabeth.eubanks@pepperdine.
edu for more information or visit the national organization Web site at www.teachforamerica.org for program history and an application.
01-26-2006