JACOB KONST/Arizona Daily Wildcat Faisal Amin, second year law student, studies last Friday at the library in the James e. Rogers College of Law.

When UA law student Faisal Amin entered a low-income fifth-grade classroom fresh out of college, he did not know what to expect.

"I walked in, and one of my students was standing on her desk singing the "Thong Song" at the top of her lungs while standing on the desk," Amin said. "When I asked her what she was doing, she said, ÎSinging the hot nine at nine, sir.' I knew then that I had to leave all expectations behind."

Amin, like 10,000 other recent college graduates, was part of the Teach For America program, which sends college graduates to low-income classrooms nationwide for two years.

By the time students in low-income areas are 9, they are, on average, three grade levels behind in reading than higher-income students, said Kristina Byrd Krump, the Southwest recruitment director for Teach For America, who also taught a second-grade class through the program.

Teach For America corps members face the difficult task of having to bring low-income, under-performing students up to the level of other students, despite having few of the resources higher-income students enjoy.

For example, on Krump's first day of class, she had 32 students and only 25 seats for them to sit in.

"Despite all the difficulties, I was so into making my second graders be where they should be that I would be flashing math cards at them as we walked to the bus stop," Krump said. "I took kids that didn't even know the alphabet or how to add and brought them up to the level they should be. There is nothing more satisfying than that."

The program is available to college graduates of all majors. Graduates are not required to have teacher certification, but must be working toward it while teaching.

"It is such a great opportunity for everyone," said UA graduate student Emily Wakild. "It was great to be able to graduate from college and dive right in. I wasn't reading, seeing or thinking about teachingöI got to do it first hand."

The organization was a part of AmeriCorps until this year, when funding was cut, leaving Teach for America with less federal money.

Despite the lack of federal funds, Teach For America plans on having 3,200 corps members in 20 sites, more than it has ever had.

The organization raised funds from the private sector and is working along with the Bush Administration and the Department of Education.

As part of AmeriCorps, the students were given over $4,000 a year in educational awards, which could be applied to previous student loans or used for future education.

The administration is helping Teach for America give equivalent educational awards this year by utilizing federal education grants, but the organization hopes to rejoin AmeriCorps if funding is once again replenished.

Teach for America corps members are also allowed to defer school loans during the two-year period without accumulating interest.

Only 25-33 percent of applicants are accepted to the program, Amin said.

Teach for America requires that the applicant have at least a 2.5 GPA, and strongly prefers leadership experience.

The initial application process is online, and this year's deadlines are Oct. 24, and Feb. 15, 2004.

After being accepted, college graduates go into a five-week training session on lesson plans, student assessment, organizational skills and classroom management.

Sites are located all over the country and the applicant selects sites that are most appealing and are placed accordingly, Krump said.

"I would absolutely recommend this program to students," Amin said. "I got to feel a sense of humility and achievement all in one."

Teach for America representatives will hold a meeting tonight in the Tubac Room at the Student Union Memorial Center at 6:30.