Teaching program recruits UA's graduating seniors

"Teaching with TFA has been one of the most significant experiences of my life," said Joy Wiersema, who graduated a year and a half ago with a master's degree in Latin American History. "Working with the kids every day has been an incredible challenge, but when I see I've made an impact on them, it's really rewarding," she said.

TFA is a national program that places recent college graduates in teacher-shortage areas throughout the country. It is also committed to pursuing equity and excellence in education.

"Since its inception in 1989, TFA has placed close to 4,000 corps members in 13 regions across the country," said Amy Ryan, program director for the Phoenix region.

Wiersema teaches a bilingual fourth-grade class in McAllen, Texas.

She said she attended a teacher training session at a summer institute prior to starting her position at Rio Grande Valley elementary school. When Wiersema completes her two-year commitment to the program, she said she will receive her Texas teaching certificate.

Wendy Kopp, national president for TFA, founded the organization based on principles she wrote about in her thesis while attending Princeton University, Ryan said.

Ryan said the program was able to place its first teachers in 1990 through private donations and corporate sponsorship.

She said the program has about 4,000 applicants per year, and a selective process is used to choose 500 worthy candidates.

"We are looking for a group of diverse, high-achieving individuals that demonstrate responsibility and are dedicated to making a difference," Ryan said.

Applicants must have a bachelor's degree by June 1997 with at least a 2.5 grade point average. Education classes are not required, but to teach at the secondary level, candidates must have significant course work in the subject area they teach, Ryan said.

Wiersema said she visited the campus primarily to recruit math, science and bilingual applicants because these areas are most deficient in the program.

Planetary Sciences assistant professor Christopher Chyba is involved with recruitment for TFA's math and science initiative at the University of Arizona.

Chyba said the goal is to have 25 percent of the teaching corps from math and science backgrounds. However, so far, the number of UA candidates has been low.

Chyba, who is a member of TFA's board of advisers, said an incentive of the program for science and engineering graduates is the opportunity to work in a research position at a university or government laboratory over the summer.

In addition, well established researchers often act as mentors to TFA corps, providing valuable experiences separate from their teaching, Chyba said.

Ryan said TFA is a diverse organization, employing people of numerous educational and ethnic backgrounds.

"Our organization has a 35 percent minority core group, while the number of (minority) education graduates nationally is about 13 percent," she said.

Ryan said students uncertain of post-college plans should consider participating in the program.

"A two-year commitment to the program can give students an opportunity to defer their student loans and give them a job with a salary ranging from $17,000 to $30,000 straight out of college, depending on what region they are placed in," she said.

Applications are available in Career Services and several departments on campus. The application deadline is March 3.