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TEACH FOR AMERICA

STRIVING FOR EQUALITY IN THE CLASSROOM

Miami Herald, The (FL) - Friday, November 16, 2007

Author: AMY DRISCOLL adriscoll@MiamiHerald.com

Abstract: College grads try to change the world, one student at a time.

BY AMY DRISCOLL adriscoll@MiamiHerald.com

Even in college, Chelsea Stone knew she wanted to give back.

She looked into the Peace Corps, but wasn't sold on the idea. Considered a Wall Street job after graduation, but her heart wasn't in it. Then the Colorado native heard about a program called Teach for America, and it clicked like nothing else had.

"I realized, you don't have to go abroad to be kind," she recalled.

Now Stone, 23, is in her second year of teaching at a Miami -Dade County school, devoting her days to ninth-graders at Edison High School. Her mission, like other recent college graduates who sign up for a two-year, Teach for America commitment, is no small task: eliminating educational inequities in America's schools.

"A lot of the students have not encountered success but if you have high expectations and put in a lot of time and energy and effort, they will absolutely reciprocate," she said. "Every morning when I wake up, I know that if I show up there and am present, I am actually effecting change in 60 lives. It's very high stakes."

And long hours. And tough working conditions. And the sense of doing something that really matters, Stone and other teachers in the program say.

"This is such hopeful work," Stone said. "I truly believe that I can affect my students' lives in a good and positive way. And there are people like me all across the country doing the same thing."

Teach for America works under the theory that educational inequalities are at the heart of many social problems in the United States. By sending a corps of motivated "agents of change" (teachers) into the field, the program attempts to reduce the disparities that limit many children in rural and urban environments.

The program began sending teachers to Miami -Dade in 2003, after securing the support of the county's education system. There are 91 teachers in 40 schools across the county, affecting the lives of 7,700 students, according to program statistics. In the next two years, Teach for America plans to double the size of its Miami -Dade corps, enlisting 100 new teachers each year for the fourth largest school district in the country.

The program picks teachers who can excel in their first two years of teaching, and offers training and support. Many program members choose to stay in the field after their commitment is completed.

"We have massive recruitment efforts to seek students with very strong leadership abilities who we know will be successful in the classroom," said Suzanne Lynn, vice president for regional operations in Miami .

And the competition to make a difference is fierce. Last year, 18,000 applied; 2,900 began teaching this fall. The program was founded in 1990 by a Princeton student who wrote her thesis on the idea that many top college students would choose teaching over more lucrative opportunities if they thought they could make a real difference.

Those who become corps members embrace an activist's approach. They talk about having joined "the movement" and being "agents of change."

Thomas Maffai, a teacher at Miami Jackson Senior High, is in his second year as a corps member. Originally from Oregon, the 23-year-old said he has learned from his students how wide the gap between socio-economic classes can be.

"When I first signed up with this movement, I was thinking the achievement gap -- that's education . But now I'm in the movement, I see the gap is much bigger," he said. "It includes health care, have my students eaten breakfast, are my students sick, are my students homeless. All of that contributes to the achievement gap. . . . It sort of opened my eyes to this huge difference between the haves and the have-nots."

And the commitment to a life of education and change often doesn't end after two years. Miami -Dade is home to more than 75 Teach for America alumni, many still in education .

Sarah Giblin, a graduate of Loyola University in Chicago, completed her two years last year and now is a program director for the Miami office, part of the support staff.

"Before I started teaching, I knew that I wanted to work for social justice issues. I knew that would be a focus in my life," she said. "After teaching, I thought I could never turn my back on education and I could never turn my back on my students. . . . So now I'm broadening my reach, by supporting the teachers."

HOW TO HELP

Teach for America is a national corps of top college graduates who commit two years to teach in under-resourced public schools. To support Teach For America in Miami -Dade County with a gift or to request additional information, contact:

Christina Ralabate, Office Manager

1541 Sunset Dr.

Suite 201

South Miami , FL 33143

(305) 661-2993

For more information and applications for the program: www.teachforamerica.org

Caption: ALEXIA FODERE/FOR THE MIAMI HERALD HIGH STAKES: Chelsea Stone, instructing students at Edison High School, has found her niche in the Teach for America movement.

Edition: Final
Section: Special Section
Page: 3GV
Record Number: 403933
Copyright (c) 2007 The Miami Herald