Teaching jobs give graduates new perspective

Teach for America aims to recruit students from all majors, with only 4 percent of teachers having an education major background.

Beginning in 1990 as a group of 500 people, Teach for America has grown to 28,000 members today, including recent college graduates of all majors as well as professionals.

These members commit to two years of teaching in urban and rural public schools.
Teach for America’s mission is to ensure that more students growing up in the lowest income communities are given a better education by removing educational inequality.

“Problems going on in the education system are affecting other issues in the economy,” Indianapolis Recruitment Director Lindsey Pittas said. “Students like the idea of changing education while they are impacting bigger issues, such as poverty, homelessness, drugs, violence.”

Pittas stressed that Teach for America accepts every major and the program is open to everyone, not just college graduates.

IU graduate Federica Lyford-Pike is currently involved with Teach for America, teaching special education for third and fourth graders at Challenge Foundation Academy
in Indianapolis.

Lyford-Pike said she knows IU has helped her prepare for the opportunity to work with Teach for America.

“The leadership experience at IU was wonderful,” Lyford-Pike said. “I was part of the sorority Alpha Phi, and through that I was able to do a lot of leadership through being on the executive board.”

Leadership values are highly stressed in the program, and Pittas said she has worked with many IU students in the past.

“At a campus like IU, it is great that students are really socially conscious,” Pittas said. “There are some great programs at IU across the board.”

Lyford-Pike, who was a special education major in the School of Education, pulls students out during the day who need special attention.

“It is an extremely rewarding profession,” Lyford-Pike said. “When you have moments when students finally grasp a concept, it is very worthwhile.”

Senior Dustin Andrus, who is majoring in political science, is in the process of applying for the program.

He has submitted his application, and he will be doing a phone interview next.
He said he knows many people who have been involved in the program, and he expects a challenge.

“I like the mission behind it, and I really do believe it has an impact,” Andrus said.
Andrus said he has gained a great appreciation for education at IU.

Out of all the corps members who have taught throughout the years, Andrus said two-thirds remain in the field of education.

“I really encourage a lot of people to consider applying to the program,” Andrus said. “It really turns people into great teachers even though they may have been apprehensive
about it.”

Teach for America continues to work on changing educational inequality. It believes that the next two decades have the potential to make a dramatic impact.

Having had the experience of teaching in the program, Pittas knows the challenges as well as the rewards.

“I was incredibly proud of the fact that, sitting here two years out of graduation, I know without a shadow of a doubt that I impacted change and added value to a student’s life,” Pittas said.