Teach for America offers graduates a chance to give back, educate
Amber Emery
Argonaut
With graduation day nearing, many seniors have questions they don’t know the answers to — “Where am I going to work? Where am I going to live? How am I going to make money? What I am going to be doing with my life?”
Psychology and organizational science senior Ada Fryer doesn’t have these questions. She has a full-time job lined up after graduation with Teach for America — a program that recruits leaders to teach in low-income urban and rural communities across the United States, in an effort to solve educational inequality.
“I’m graduating in May and I will leave in June for San Antonio, Texas,” Fryer said. “I’m going to be a teacher for TFA and be responsible for an entire classroom of elementary-aged children.”
There are still placements available for the 2014-2015 school year and applications can be completed at www.teachforamerica.org and are due Thursday.
Justin Yan, managing director of recruitment for Teach For America West, said the benefits of participating in TFA are full-time salaries, graduate school partnerships, traveling to a new place and most importantly — working for a good cause and gaining leadership skills in a service-learning program.
“We aim to hire leaders,” Yan said. “A lot of the people who do TFA gain a better understanding of educational inequality and go on to pursue careers in law, education, medicine and other professions that allow them to make a difference.”
Fryer said TFA trains participants to become effective classroom leaders and places people strategically — so it is a good fit for everyone.
“They train you for the classroom and try to put you in something you’re comfortable with,” Fryer said. “So, like obviously a lot of us can understand the curriculum of an elementary class, but then if you’re going to teach high school and your major is English, you’re probably going to teach English. I’ll be doing elementary, so I’m really excited about that.”
Fryer said after nearly four years of being a TFA representative for the University of Idaho campus, she is excited to participate in the program, because of her experience with young children.
“I really enjoy kids,” Fryer said. “Like I have been a camp counselor and I enjoy spending time with them and I think working for a good cause while you’re teaching and being involved with a new community is a really exciting thing. I’m excited for that and especially all the new cultures and people I’ll be surrounded by.”
Yan said there are 48 regions in the U.S. where participants can be placed and each person has a say in where they’ll end up — there’s even a new region in Idaho.
“We’ve had a long history with University of Idaho students participating in TFA,” Yan said. “I’ve heard that a favorite aspect among them is the opportunity to travel. There isn’t many situations in which recent graduates can travel and work a steady job at the same time.”
Fryer said she’s looking forward to the experience and hopes other UI students will see the benefits of the program as well.
“The biggest thing for me is personal growth and awareness, like knowing more about these issues and trying to find where my niche is and how I can help improve the educational inequality here in America,” Fryer said. “I feel like this is a good place to start after college, it’s only two years and you’re getting a full-time salary. It’s hard enough I think to get a paid job working for a good cause, so this is something everyone should apply for.”
Amber Emery can be reached at [email protected]