Educational Opportunity for All

For those of you who are not familiar with the program "Teach For America", I encourage you to visit www.teachforamerica.com and read about their efforts to reduce educational inequality and ensure that all students are being given the same opportunities and resources to receive the education that they deserve. Teach For America's website outlines how all too often, the future and education of children is determined by where they are born and what circumstances they are born into. The fact that 1 in 10 students in low-income communities today graduate from college is the "national injustice" that Teach For America fights to eliminate. Teach For America strives to lessen the gap between those who grow up in low-income communities and their wealthier counterparts. In fact, in the United States, the achievement gap between low-income students and their higher-income peers costs the country approximately $500 billion each year (www.teachforamerica.com). This article also talks about how children growing up in these circumstances face extra challenges that other children do not face. Also, many people do not believe that these children do in fact have the ability to learn at the same capacity that their wealthier peers live (which is not true at all).

This is only a glimpse into what Teach For America is about. I strongly encourage you to read more on the website or in recent news articles. On Thursday I got offered a position to teach elementary school (4th through 8th grade) in Dallas. I want to make sure that I pray about and consider this opportunity carefully because once I accept the position,I would plan to be 110% committed in my two years as a Teach For America corps member. It will be very exciting but also probably one of the most challenging adventures I embark on. If I accept, I will go to the Summer Training Institute in Houston, TX where I will teach summer school and go through an intense training program. Then, we will spend the next two years in Dallas (and hopefully many years after that!). The first year I would go through a mentorship class and program to get certified in Texas while I am teaching. Thankfully, Dallas was my first choice because it is where Mitchell and I are both from and where we hope to end up. Also, there are many possibilities for Mitchell to get a job in Dallas compared to other places in the country. Please pray with us as we make this big decision in the next week!

In Him,

Katherine