Dream job

I just found out via email from one of the Indy TFA staff members that I have been invited to interview on Tuesday with Indianapolis Public Schools (IPS) administrators along with about nine other new corps members. IPS principals with Math, Science and Reading vacancies have been invited to attend.

The email said, “The interviews will last approximately 30 minutes, and you will likely interview with multiple principals. Because principals are aware that many of you have not had formal training yet, the purpose of the interviews will be for principals to assess if the skills and experiences that you bring will be a good fit with their current staff…”

Because Teach For America is trying to place so many corps members in schools by the first day of school in August, corps members are obligated to accept the first job offer we receive. So if the charter school is the first offer then I have to go with them. Or if IPS offers me a job first then I have to go with them. A TFA staff member told me that they make principals aware of this policy so they know that if they want us then they have to request us first.

IPS is the school system that I really, really wanted to work in (it’s my “dream job”). However, I am continuing to leave my placement decision up to God and being at peace with whatever plan He has for me. I don’t have any control over this placement decision anyway because of the above described policy.

First interview

According to an Indianapolis Star article, in April, Superintendent Eugene White asked the Indianapolis Public School (IPS) Board to approve a significant number of personnel moves that included laying-off 300 teachers. In addition, he asked the board to shuffle 60 administrators and dismiss 40 other employees. The board ultimately approved White’s recommendations.

In light of these circumstance, the Teach For America Indianapolis staff has been working extra hard to build relationships and secure placements in charter schools and surrounding townships. So, although, I originally thought I would be placed in an IPS school and that was my first choice of placement, I have had to be flexible and patient with the uncertainty of fall teacher placements.

This all said, I received an email notification today from one of the Teach For America Indy staff members that said six corps members (including me) have interviews scheduled with the principal of a new public charter school, Imagine West Life Sciences Academy, next Thursday. Imagine West, a K-6^th grade school, will be in its first year of operation in the fall.

The TFA Indy staff feel that “this school offers a unique opportunity for Teach For America in that the majority of the staff may be corps members who will be able to unite in one school and align around achievement goals for students of the school.”

Teaching at a charter school? A brand-new school? Not exactly what I had in mind for my placement, but I am trying to keep an open-mind and have peace that God’s plan for my placement is supreme.

As the Apostle Paul wrote, “The peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Thus, instead of worrying and trying to “control” my placement, I need to pray and believe God. Instead of being down, I need to choose to have a grateful heart in a not-so-ideal circumstance. Only then will the peace of God transcend, surpass and confound my own human understanding.  

Will I worry? Or will I pray? As author Joanna Weaver says, “We really can’t do both.” As a person who craves control, this is a moment by moment battle to choose the option that will ultimately bring me peace.

A fellow incoming Indianapolis Corps member, Steph Fedor, said, “I truly believe that we were accepted to TFA for a reason and no matter where we end up teaching, God will help us to see why we are there.”

Some TFA stats

Today, during my last full day in Syracuse, I had one final lunch at the infamous Varsity with Prof. Coplin and what he refers to as three of his “Superstars,” Theresa Walsh, Asher Epstein and me. It was fun to catch up with everyone and find out what’s next for Theresa and Asher. Asher has a job waiting for him in Atlanta with GE Energy and Theresa and I are both joining Teach For America. While I am joining the Indianapolis TFA Corps, Theresa is heading to Washington, D.C. to the Corps there to teach secondary Spanish.

According to an April 25 Wall Street Journal article, Theresa and I are some of the lucky few to have been accepted into the 2009 TFA Corps:

“Teach for America — the privately funded program that sends college grads into America’s poorest school districts for two years — received 35,000 applications this year, up 42% from 2008. More than 11% of Ivy League seniors applied, including 35% of African-American seniors at Harvard. Teach for America has been gaining applicants since it was founded in 1990, but its popularity has exploded this year amid a tight job market.”

While WSJ credits the significant increase in applications TFA received this year to the bad job market, a TFA recruiter I recently talked to said that she thinks their recruiting has also gotten better and more graduating seniors are catching the organization’s vision.

Surprisingly (or not surprisingly), Syracuse University was one of the top universities contributing to the 2008 TFA Corps with 31 graduating seniors (other top contributing schools in 2008 include Harvord University with 33 and the University of Notre Dame with 31 students). This year, SU is expected to be in the rankings of the top universities/colleges contributing to the again. The last informal number I heard was that 200 SU students applied this year and 39 were accepted and/or waitlisted.

Another exciting TFA admissions stat is that the number of faith-based graduating seniors accepted into TFA has increased, particularly those students involved in Campus Crusade for Christ. The most recent number I heard is that over 150 Campus Crusade students have joined the 2009 Corps. TFA has taken notice of this rising statistic and what awesome leaders Cru students tend to be, and the TFA Faith Community Relations Team has created special initiatives geared toward raising awareness of TFA’s program and mission specifically within Crusade chapters around the country.

I will write more about the Faith Community Relations Team and its exciting new initiatives later. But now back to packing…

Let the adventures begin

Over the past two days, I sat through all of the speeches, walked across the stage and moved my tassel from the right to the left side of my cap. It is official; I’ve graduated from Syracuse University.

To mark this new chapter of my life, I thought it only made sense for me to start a blog to chronicle this extraordinary yet challenging journey that awaits me of working to end our nation’s greatest injustice: educational inequity. For those who haven’t heard, I have joined the 2009 Teach For America Corps and will be teaching secondary English in Indianapolis.

While I am ecstatic that I have a job (especially after hearing the never ending chorus of “the economy is horrible and the job market is to” on campus for the past six months and seeing graduates at Commencement today with “HIRE ME” taped on top of their caps), joining Teach For America (TFA) is more than just a guaranteed job (although I do still have to pass the PRAXIS II exam in order to gain certification). It is something I truly believe in and look forward to dedicating 24/7 of my time to for the next two years.

For me, I am joining TFA so that I can change lives and be a part of a movement that does not let statistics, critics and bureaucracy dictate its agenda and goals.  I believe that every child no matter what his/her zip code is deserves an excellent education. TFA offers me an opportunity to not only be a part of a movement that is bigger than me, but to also start my own movement in my classroom.

Most importantly, I believe that educating students in low income communities is a ministry that God has called me to. I have always had a heart for missions and social justice, and was looking for a job after graduation that would allow me to combine this passion with my faith.  TFA is that perfect fit and provides me with the opportunity to serve and share His love with my students as His hands and feet.

In Matthew 25, Jesus commanded us to help break the cycle of poverty:

“For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.” (v. 35-36)

Providing students in a low income community with an excellent education will help them become self sufficient and more capable of breaking the cycle of poverty as Jesus commanded. I am excited to share the many blessings God has bestowed on me with my students in the intercity of Indianapolis. God blessed me with an excellent education, and I look forward to sharing this blessing of an excellent of education with my students.

I invite you to share in this incredible journey of challenges and breakthroughs, failures and successes, downs and ups, trials and joys with me. I can assure you that it will not be a boring journey, but instead one full of adventures and personal stories of a new teacher trying to make a mark on her students’ lives.