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Reminder Assistant Editor WESTFIELD This month students across the country will be throwing their caps into the air signaling their right of passage into adulthood and the working world. But what does the 2008 economy have to offer college graduates? Moving back home to work minimum-wage retail jobs, which have absolutely no correlation with their $160,000 degrees? Fearing the inevitable uncertainty of her life after college, Stacey Berry, a January 2008 graduate of Westfield State College (WSC), eagerly began exploring her post-graduate options. In September 2007, she was one of over 18,000 applicants of Teach for America a two-year program, which trains and places college graduates and professionals as teachers in underprivileged communities in an effort to eliminate "educational inequity." Berry is one of 2,900 accepted into Teach for America this year. She is the first WSC graduate ever to be accepted into the program. In an interview with Reminder Publications, Berry said she didn't have any intention of becoming a teacher while at WSC. She was graduating with a sociology degree and was considering graduate school. However, weighing the real life ramifications of costly graduate work and monthly bills, Berry said she looked into Teach for America, which provides funding for graduate work and also a paid teaching position. "I'd worked so hard to graduate early [in seven semesters] and thought, 'Oh my God, I'm setting myself up to be unemployed sooner,'" she said, adding that against her parents' advice she did not become educated in a trade. Berry explained that while exploring Teach for America, a quote on the home page of the organization's Web site powerfully resonated with her, prompting her to apply. The statement reads: "Of the 13 million children growing up in poverty, about half will graduate from high school. Those that do graduate will perform on average at an eighth grade level. You can change this." "How, in our country, is this possible?" Berry asked. "The more aware I became of the economic stratification in this country, the more I felt I needed to do something about it," she said. After applying, Berry was put through a 45-minute telephone interview, followed by a daylong interview, where she had to prepare and execute a lesson plan, participate in a face-to-face interview and complete a writing exercise. "It was really intense," she said of the daylong interview process, adding that she feels honored to have been accepted into this prestigious corps. "The achievement gap in the United States in unbelievable," she said. "The community you come from shouldn't dictate the quality of your education. I was lucky enough to have great teachers all throughout my public school education; teachers I know cared about my success and always pushed me academically. I hope my students will have access to the same opportunities that were available to me, because of the excellent education I received." Berry explained that she has realistic goals for herself upon entry into the program. "Me in one classroom is not going to change the world," she said. "I'm going to give it my all and try my hardest." Berry added that teachers must begin to pay greater attention to students in underprivileged areas, such as those in her teaching district of Oakland, Calif. After completing her Teach for America five-week training course in Los Angeles, Calif., this summer she will begin teaching in the Oakland Unified School District. Within the city of Oakland there are 46,000 kindergarten - 12th grade students and 6,000 public school employees, according to the district's Web site. "Education is the deciding factor in so many of life's opportunities, and it's not fair to kids in urban and rural areas to be stuck under the poverty line indefinitely just because their education was so deficient," Berry said. "Becoming part of Teach for America will enable me to actually combat a serious social problem and hopefully make a positive difference for a few kids in the Bay area." Amy Rabinowitz, vice president of communications for Teach for America, explained that 98 percent of those entering the corps are not from education backgrounds. "We're looking for people who have the best and the brightest [traits] that will make them the most successful with their students," she said. She added that the program looks for seven specific competencies in their applicants ambition, perseverance, critical thinking skills, motivation, organization, understanding and respect. "We believe that [the students we serve] are our nation's greatest injustice," Rabinowitz said. "They don't have the same educational opportunities as those in more affluent communities. [Teach for America] is the belief that those kids deserve the same chance to succeed." Berry said she will receive her teaching certification at Alliant International University in San Francisco, Calif., and plans to attend graduate school at Alliant or at the University of California, Berkley. She added that after her two years with Teach for America she intends to pursue a career in school administration, social work or public policy. For more information about Teach for America go to www.teachforamerica.org. | ||||||
