Teach for America
Elevating the Conversation on Education on Campus
Teach for America is developing a movement of leaders who will help drive change at every level of our education system toward the goal of closing the opportunity gap in America. TFA works with outstanding people, trains them to apply their leadership and skills in aclassroom, and supports them to empower their students. After two years, our alumni act as change agents to tackle issues in education and beyond. This past year, I worked as a Campus Campaign Coordinator with the UW Recruitment Team which included:
-Source top applicants at the University of Washington who exemplify high leadership and academics to apply to Teach for America
-Assist in creating, hosting, and executing events with other organizations that draw people to Teach for America to learn more about the work we do
-Outreach to various student organizations and clubs on campus
-Give class presentations and student organization presentations & eet with prospective applicants
Reflection
Through working as a TFA Campus Campaign Coordinator, I have gained a much deeper perspective into TFA’s intentional strategies for transformational change. Based on my past experience, ambitions, and this job, I was compelled to apply to TFA, as I believed it would provide me with a unique opportunity to grow, connect and learn with students, and ultimately, join a lifelong network of devoted people.
In March, I was officially accepted to the 2017 Corps, and will be teaching in Memphis after I graduate!
Advocating for a Point of View
As a Campus Campaign Coordinator, my overarching goal is to advocate for UW students to think about the importance of education and the impact they could make as a teacher. From classroom presentations to a wide variety of disciplines, to coordinating campus events, to social media outreach, to talking with students on a weekly basis about TFA, I learned strategic ways to talking with students about TFA's mission and the broader movement to address the educational injustice of our nation.
Problem-Solving & Idea Generation
In both a historical and contemporary context, the field of education as not been where the top leaders in our schools are compelled to go after they graduate. As a Campus Campaign Coordinator, I was forced to to work alongside the other members of the UW recruitment team and problem-solve and generate ideas about *why* this is and *what* we can tangibly do about it on our campus to shift the narrative to ultimately encourage students to think about the impact they could make in the classroom.