NEWS

Teach for America has a Strong Presence on Campus

Reporting By: Lindsey Ramon

Videography By: Emily Horowitz

UW-Madison seniors have many options for careers after graduation, but the public service program Teach For America is becoming more and more popular.

This week, the earliest applicants found out if they were selected to the program. Accepted applicant Elana Ben-Porat will teach at a school in New York City for two years after graduation.

“That’s really exciting knowing that I am going to be doing something worthwhile,” said Ben-Porat. “And even though it’s going to be really hard and I’m going to have a lot of obstacles ahead of me, I know I’m going to come out of it very happy that I did it.”

Like many other students, Elana has attended recruitment meetings and campaigns around campus. One display says only half of the 13 million American children living in poverty will graduate high school by age 18, and only one in ten will finish college.

Teach For America places graduates in low income or rural communities to tackle educational inequalities in the U.S.
“Education really had the potential to be, and I still believe this, really had the potential to be an equalizer socially and politically, and that it really wasn’t functioning that way in the United States,” 2002 Teach For America participant Meghan Condon said.

Not everyone is fit for this job. Recruiters say participants need to be motivated and passionate about helping kids.

“I think everyone can pretty much agree that UW is a campus that has students that are active and students that care about what’s going on in the community, the country and the world; and to top it all off, the students who are going to do something about it. They’re leaders, they’re movers and shakers,” said Ann Albrecht, Teach For America Campus Campaign Manager.

Over 100 UW students have applied at this point, doubling the numbers from last year.

“It is my dream to make this the number one school for Teach For America in the country,” said Garrett Bucks, Teach For America Recruitment Coordinator. “And I think it would just be amazing since we’re already known as being the number one school for Peace Corps. What a huge asset and benefit to the university if we are number one in Peace Corps and number one in Teach For America. This is the school that serves.”

And Elana shares that dream for Teach For America nationwide.“And I think it’s going to be pretty cool in ten years when the organization has probably made milestones and you know has put some alumni in some pretty significant political positions and I can say, ‘Wow, I worked for them and I was a part of that’,” Elana said.