Teach For America opens eyes and minds A Midd student reflects on the profound effects of teaching

Author: Leigh Arsenault

Nine-year-olds growing up in low-income communities are already three grade levels behind their peers in high-income communities. Half of them will not graduate from high school. They are seven times less likely to graduate from college. These are the facts Teach For America corps members use to define their challenge.

The national teacher corps of recent college graduates, now in its 16th year, believes it can expand educational opportunity in the United States by recruiting outstanding recent college graduate to serve two-year teaching commitments in low-income communities, before these future leaders go on to become doctors, lawyers, businessmen or, in many cases, career educators.

Serving as a member of the Teach For America corps is no small undertaking, but one that nearly 80 Middlebury students have pursued since the program's inception. Next week four Middlebury alumni return to campus to participate in a panel discussion and dinner, "Why I Teach For America: Middlebury Alumni on the Corps Experience" that will take place on Friday, Oct. 20th in Redfield Proctor Dining Room.

"Once you do decide to make the commitment, and once you have begun your two years in the corps working for kids who have been overlooked by too many others, you will realize the strength, the perspective and the unbelievable capacity for love those years will give you," explained Lauren Guza '05, now in her second year with Teach For America.

Teaching English as a second language to ninth through twelfth graders at a high school in south-central Los Angeles, Guza said she is inspired by her experience and dedicated to the success of the program. When asked what the most fulfilling aspect of her time has been, she exclaimed, "My students!"

"I get to hang out with rooms full of kids who challenge me, need me and make me laugh like nobody else can," said Guza. "There are a thousand little moments that make every day feel important - seeing James lose his tough-guy façade long enough to get giddy about his first passing grade on a quiz, watching Gladys's excitement at a Tuesday night slam poetry performance, dancing raggaeton with my ESL students during passing periods."

Teach for America corps members often find themselves leaving prestigious colleges and universities, only to be placed in schools situated amongst poverty and distress. Coming in on emergency teacher certifications, most of the Corps members lack formal training in education and are shocked to realize that imagination paired with ambition alone will not power students to success. Discipline and respect are necessary to make a classroom run smoothly. It is easy for young teachers to lose perspective in the sometimes hostile company of children and teenagers. Guza warned, "Only those who are truly serious about the mission and able to commit themselves to the challenge should take this on, because it is far too important to be taken lightly." Given the ups and downs of the jobs, Guza does not regret her membership in the Corps.

"Once I learned to focus on the positives every day brought, to turn the negative into opportunities for improvement, and to see everything that I did as part of a larger learning experience, I was able to move away from this self-doubt and into a more assured, proactive state of mind."

Teach For America is not for everyone, but for many the experience provides a sense of confidence that leads Corps members into strong careers and relationships.

In 2006, almost 19,000 individuals applied to Teach for America, including dozens of Middlebury seniors. Thirteen matriculants were Middlebury alumni.

Guza said that her Middlebury experience led her to question her world and her place in it. She applied to Teach for America knowing the power of social activism and the opportunity for individuals to work collaboratively and effect large-scale change. "My college years taught me to balance creativity and spontaneity with structure and organization, and that balance is exactly what I need to be successful with my students," she said. She is helping high school students question their own spheres of experience, expand their minds and reach out to others.

Across the country millions of kids struggle to get by in educational systems that do not offer anything near the same amenities that Middlebury students know. For those students Teach for America is working to bridge the gap between the haves and have-nots by bringing more and more dynamic teachers into the classroom. These students are not the only ones, however, to benefit. Guza reflected, "Everyday I get to say, 'Today mattered.'"