On Catherine Perez’s first day of teaching in East Los Angeles last fall, she walked into a classroom with 25 students, 24 desks, no chalkboard and no air conditioning. It was 94 degrees outside.
A couple of days later, in another class, she learned that the average reading level of her 35 12th-grade students was fifth grade, and she had two illiterate students.
Perez, a 2005 University alumna, is currently a corps member of Teach For America, a nationwide program designed for recent college graduates of all academic majors who commit to teach for two years in rural and urban public schools in low-income communities. The program does not require participants to have a degree in education.
Perez and other University students tied to the program talked to interested juniors and seniors at an information session Wednesday in the EMU’s Walnut Room.
Teach For America was founded in 1990 to help create equal education opportunities for students in the nation’s lowest economic regions, and to build a growing network of civic-minded individuals.
Currently, more than 3,500 corps members are teaching in more than 1,000 schools in 22 regions nationwide.
“The long-term goal is to affect all these areas for the best,” said University senior Nick Hudson, an on-campus recruiter for the program and member of student government. Hudson will be teaching secondary social sciences in New York City this fall.
Those chosen as corps members go through a five-week summer institute training during which they are provided resources and information, Perez said.
Because of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, corps members can teach elementary and secondary education without an education certificate, but only if they work toward a degree while teaching, Hudson said.
The program has been criticized in recent years for allowing untrained graduates to teach children, but those interviewed who have worked in the program say the benefits outweigh the problems.
“A lot of people are concerned that it throws kids so young and untrained into classrooms,” University law student and Teach For America teacher Ryan Kahler said. But, he notes, there are statistics that show the program positively influences students’ lives.
Perez shared a success story of her own with students at the information session about an illiterate student, Steven, who would not talk in class. After two months of working with Steven and his mother, the student raised his hand and answered a question.
“It was the most amazing feeling ever,” Perez said.
Applications for 2006 teachers (who will begin teaching in the fall) are due Feb. 17 and can be found online at www.teachforamerica.com. To be eligible, students must have a confirmed University degree before summer training sessions in late June.
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