By Nini Edwards

[email protected]

Teach for America is an organization designed to place students into a teaching position educating kids in a low-income community.

“We believe that providing a great education for all is the most effective means of ensuring equal opportunities for everyone,” said Andesia DeJesus, a UK campus coordinator with a focus on Public Relations and Diversity Recruitment, in an email sent to the Kernel. “All kids in this country deserve the chance to reach their full potential. Educational opportunities should not be determined by your family’s income or the neighborhood in which you live.”

After being accepted to TFA, there is a two-year commitment teaching the students. A placement test is taken to determine what to teach.Then, the accepted applicant is placed at a school around America that is chosen by TFA.

“I am excited to live in a new city in Indianapolis,” journalism senior Jana Milan said. “I am also excited to start teaching. I never thought I would be a math teacher.”

“People get confused, they think (of TFA) as a service. You get paid as a first year teacher. We are apart of AmeriCorps,” said OJ Oleka, Teach for America recruitment manager. “We have partnerships with some of the top graduate programs in the country.”

After TFA, 60% of participants stay in the teaching field, Oleka said.

To qualify for TFA students must be in their senior year with a minimum 2.5 GPA. By the time the student is teaching in the classroom they must have earned their bachelors degree and be a U.S. citizen.

“UK is the flagship university for Kentucky. There are a ton of great leaders that come from UK,” Oleka said. “We knew that we had to pinpoint the top schools for recruitment.”

TFA is looking for passionate, high-achieving individuals who will do whatever it takes to help their students achieve success, according to the TFA webpage.

“We seek out the best of the best to educate kids that have not been getting a quality education,” Oleka said. “We are saying that there are exceptional teachers, but they are not prevalent in certain communities. We need to give people the tools and skills to give other people the opportunity to be a quality teacher.”

Last year about 50,000 people applied for TFA. Twenty-seven people were accepted from Kentucky, which was the most accepted from one school in the state.

“Teach For America corps members and alumni are helping lead an educational revolution in low-income communities across the country. We recruit a diverse group of leaders with a record of achievement who work to expand educational opportunity, starting by teaching for two years in a low-income community,” Andesia said.

The deadlines for students to apply for TFA are Jan. 11 and Feb. 15. “People look at TFA to find their next leaders,” Oleka said. “They want people who are quality workers and quality people.”

“You take this opportunity to do right for kids, and it changes your life. Your view on life changes dramatically.”