Students Teach for America

By Jake Chander, contributing writer
Posted on October 8, 2007

“Be the change” is one of JMU’s better-known slogans, but how exactly does one go about becoming “change” in today’s fast-paced, complex world?

For many, the answer lies in the Teach For America program.

Teach For America recruits college graduates from across the country and sends them to teach for two years in one of 28 regions, including Atlanta, Philadelphia, New York City and Washington, D.C..

Teach For America began in 1990 as the brainchild of Princeton University senior Wendy Kopp. It started recruiting from Northern Ivy League schools, but after 17 years, it now recruits from many colleges in all regions of the U.S., including JMU.

Teach For America Recruitment Director Stephen de Man, however, thinks that the Dukes could be doing more.

“JMU is nowhere near [its] potential,” he said.  “Schools like the University of Michigan, UCLA and UVA all had over 100 applicants for the first deadline this year.”

JMU had 10 in 2006.

Sophomore Robby Bassler, a theatre major, agreed, drawing comparisons to a different, more popular organization here at JMU. 

“JMU is known across the country as one of the top medium-sized universities for producing Peace Corps members,” he said. “I see Teach For America as the Peace Corps in our own back yard. But a lot of students here just don’t know about it.”

Junior Thomas Webb, student coordinator of Teach For America on campus, thinks that JMU students are up for the challenge.

“The passion for students to join an organization like this on campus is definitely there,” he said. “The JMU culture is prime for this. We are trying to express the right view of the program and make sure people know about it. There is a misconception of it being a program for privileged people only. We have lots of amazing leaders, all with lots of potential.”

De Man agreed, citing the program’s prestigious reputation as a major source of these misconceptions.

“A lot of people are intimidated by the reputation, but they really shouldn’t be.” he said. “We want to make sure JMU has stock in the pipeline of future leadership.”

According to de Man, in Washington, D.C., 10 percent of all public school principals are Teach For America alumni and as many as half the supervisors on the board of education are associated with the program. In the greater New Orleans area, one out of every three students who go through the public school system will be taught by a Teach For America member. 

“[Teach For America] members have consistently been some of the best teachers in America,” Webb said. 

De Man said that one doesn’t have to desire a profession in education to enroll in the program. 

“The idea is for them to change throughout their experience and then apply it to their profession,” he said. “We want to make good teachers, but also good doctors and lawyers as well.”    

JMU alumna Alka Franceschi was assigned to teach at a school in southwest Atlanta after her senior year in 2005. 

“I could probably talk for hours about all the skills I have learned from being part of this movement,” she said. “I have learned how to plan, organize, build relationships with people in a community, and utilize every resource possible to be the best possible teacher for my students.”

Franceschi still teaches first grade at the school where she was placed.

“I was a marketing and management double major,” she said.  “I would say that my major and my whole JMU experience gave me skills that have helped me in terms of being committed to something and persevering in the face of a challenge.”