DePauw sent 14 members of the 2013 graduating class to Teach for America (TFA) and tied five other schools for third place on TFA’s list of top 20 contributing small schools.
Teach for America is a non-profit that works in low-income communities to ensure that those students receive a quality education that prepares them for college.
Across America, 16 million children live in poverty and according to PostSecondary.org, and only eight percent of those children will graduate from college by age 24.
Teach for America partners with at-risk schools to change that statistic.
“I think [DePauw] students are drawn to TFA because they are committed to making a difference in the education field,” said Shawnee Cohn, the Teach for America regional communications director who works with DePauw. “They want to give students growing up in poverty opportunities.”
Since Teach for America’s founding in 1990, DePauw students have been drawn to the organization and its mission. Over 23 years of history, 158 DePauw alumni have taught in the corps. Casie Sambo ’13, knew she wanted to join those 158 when she arrived at DePauw.
“I basically spent most of my college years picking extracurriculars and classes that would look good for TFA,” Sambo said.
She currently works full-time at a high school in Milwaukee and attends graduate school for her teaching certification.
“I love kids, and the school and TFA staff are incredibly supportive,” Sambo said. “Honestly, my school staff is so supportive that I don’t need the TFA support. Right now, I’m cruising.”
Before they can be placed in a school, however, Teach for America hopefuls must complete an extensive application process that includes several interviews and a letter of intent with the paper application. The entire process generally takes about a month and a half.
“I was a little bit of a mess on the days leading up to finding out if I made it to the next round [of the process] or not,” Sambo said. “And especially on the day I found out if I made into the program, probably because I wanted it so much.”
Sambo is one of 5,900 members of the 2013 corps and will spend two years in the program. After that, she will become an alumna.
Like many Teach for America alumni, Sambo plans to continue working in the education field.
Although students cannot join Teach for America until after graduation, interested underclassmen can intern in classrooms with Teach for America corps members.