Statement Of Purpose: Why I Chose To Teach For America

I seek to join Teach for America to give back to low income communities I have always had a passion to serve my community, rather if it was by volunteering at the local Boys and Girls Club, visiting the elderly, or lending a helping hand at Habitat for Humanity. If given the opportunity to join Teach for America I would be able to not only serve a local community but also teach the future leaders of America. I believe that a quality education should not be upon the basis of race or family income, but from the quality of the educator that comes in contact with each child. It is as if the quality of the teacher can somehow have an everlasting effect on the students that he or she comes in contact with. It is an endless cycle of an unmotivated and uncaring teacher’s coming into school districts and helping to further hinder the students. The

Teach for America has benefited the field of education. Teach for America provides an education for children in low-income communities by recruiting a diverse group of members who desire to expand their educational opportunities. The program provides an intense training, support and career development to assist members in increasing their impact and deepen their understanding of what it takes to provide an excellent education for students. Teach for America has also produced members that now work at various levels of education, policy, and other professions, to ensure all children receive an excellent education (Teach for America, 2012).

Growing up in a small town in Iowa I was unaware of the many situations involving hardship or misfortune that were around me. Therefore, it was not till college when I received the opportunity to work for a reentry program called the Transformative Justice Initiative that I became aware of the multiple factors lead to incarceration, drug use, homelessness, and other areas of hardship. The longer I was involved with the program the more I learned how mental health is convoluted in all of these situations and in all populations. Consequently, my experiences with the Transformative Justice Initiative helped me develop my future aspirations as a professional, which include a desire to work with individuals that have mental illness.

I 'm currently serving as a 2013 Corps member for Teach For America. I joined teach for America because I believe in their mission that all students deserve an equal an excellent education. I also joined because they work with schools where students are growing up in poverty and low income communities; a resemblance of my past. You see, we become our worst critics and even the mir image of success vanishes when our thoughts become clouded with fantasies; imaginative thoughts of the impossible. I longed for success, making it clear that the riches were of no importance to me. To others it appeared that I yes she, is writing her own story; untold was the beginning.

I spent most of my time at underprivileged schools. Being from a school district where every student received the same education without considering the student’s race, gender, and/or ethnicity. The one experience that has stood out to me was when I was helping a fifth grade student with his math homework. This student was really struggling with multiplication. I recalled working on more advanced math when I was in the fifth grade. This opened my eyes to see that these children were more than likely not receiving the same education I received when I was their age. After spending all afternoon with this student, he thanked me for taking the time to help him, saying that no one, not even his parents have ever invested that much time into his education. This was one more thing I did not experience; I had two parents who were constantly helping me with homework even to this

These children reminded me of the problems I too faced growing up poor in Baltimore. One consistency within these students’ stories was the lack of diversity and positivity in regards to their perceptions of the average man of color. Comparing these students’ stories to my own tribulations as a youth, I began to realize that there is a pattern of deficiency in quality representation within low income communities. Understanding that I have a gift for education, I sought to help fix this problem not only for the students in Justice for Juniors, but also many others. Since then, I have been dedicating to myself to developing my craft as an educator and continuing to educate and mentor those in lower income communities. To gain more experience, I joined Terrapin Teachers at the University of Maryland which is a program designed to teach STEM majors how to become effective teachers. Through this program I learned key organizational skills and teaching techniques such as; inquiry based teaching, investigative questioning, how to facilitate classroom discussions, and classroom management

I would like to be part of Teach for America due to my love and ethical responsibility to teaching students. I have an ethical responsibility to teach because of my in-depth knowledge of student development in the areas of physical, social/emotional, and cognitive domains of children. Another aspect of my ethical responsibility that verifies why I would like to be a part of Teach for America is that, like Teach for America, I believe that every student deserves an education that is developmentally appropriate and meets their individual needs. I would be working alongside professionals whose main focus is on the concept of equity for all. Every student has the right to education no matter their race, gender, or economic background. Coming from

I would like to further explain my interest in becoming a participant in the Teach for America program. It stems from my own personal experience of obtaining my degree and my pursuit of higher education. It is already known that one’s financial status can greatly affect how far you can go, the resources that become readily accessible are far and few, even with such advancements in technology and programs available to assist, it takes a person of fierce, stead-fast determination to navigate the systemic hurdles that were placed in my way. The many obstacles I have faced as a young African-American woman in New York are on par for the norm these days and it is because of them that I feel I would be not only a great candidate but an asset to this program.

I realized the ignorance and false accusations that the world holds on this illness. Therefore, I wish to treat, monitor, and understand mental health within the correctional system. I have taken steps to pursue this plan by having aspirations to go to graduate school and further my education. I have shown interest in the University of Wisconsin- Madison, the University of Minnesota- Twin Cities as well as, Georgia State University. All which have exceptional programs for my interests. I have also pursued my interests by applying to internships within mental health. Additionally, I volunteer at Piedmont Hospital in hopes to spark my understanding and gain knowledge of mental health illnesses. Lastly, I have worked with mental health patients within the Best Buddies Organization. This group works to assist students with differing illnesses. So far, my actions have been vast and successful. The reason I wish to work within the correctional system is because many individuals suffering from mental health illnesses unfortunately find themselves within the correctional system. As Bill Clinton once said, “Mental illness is nothing to be ashamed of, but stigma and bias shame us all.” Why the world is so blind to depression, eating disorders, and schizophrenia is beyond me. Running away from this reality is only hurting those that are suffering. Ignorance is no longer

Our organization, Nami-Wisconsin, is a non-profit that is tax exempt under the Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Our organization strives to serve individuals in the community we strive to be an inclusive organization serving African American, Hispanic, Latino and youth communities. Nami-Wisconsin served those who suffer from mental illness. Nami is a grass rooted advocacy organization; our goal is to effectively engage members from all backgrounds in order to ensure that we are the voice on mental illness. Our priorities over the last year and a half have recognized that NAMI’s growth and strength depend upon our ability to meaningfully engage all communities in Wisconsin, especially those who are underserved. It is a heavy responsibility,

This field observation was an eye opening experience. I had the opportunity to observe an interrelated fifth grade class in an urban school setting near South Fulton County. I was excited to be assigned special education class because these classes have their own issues as it pertains to education. I was not shocked at all to see how alienated this class was from the rest of the school. The classrooms were overcrowded and were serving as storage rooms. Prior to observing I had high expectations for this school because of its history in the community in which it sits. The school proved to be the epitome of a failing urban public school. As expected the walls were crawling with motivational posters yet the administration and educators were mot following through. The class was 75% African American and the latter Hispanic. Ms.F seems to have clear understanding that the school systems are failing and she has her own plan to rectify the situation. Before the formal interview, I learned that she believes that solving the cultural difference issues will aid in the students success. Through her twenty six years of teaching she has realized that in order to really teach a student you first have to appear to be reachable. Ms.F says that she came to the conclusion that her students were suffering because their surroundings are not conducive to their learning. She informed me that many of the students reside in impoverished households or shelters and she explained that their cultural

I was born in a city with one of the nation’s worst public school systems. The District of Columbia Public School district has been under an education reform for the past decade and there has been a lot of work to bring justice to the students there. That is where I started – and from there I still found myself enrolled in low performing schools without a solid budget or plan. Regardless of the status of my school and the budget it’s district has created, I was able to graduate from high school and attend a four-year university in one of the most ethically diverse cities in our country. This is the kind of opportunity I want for all children that come from the city like me. I have been inspired by all of my educators to pursue a career in teaching and I am motivated to create this opportunity for all students in my classroom.

The past eight years I have served disadvantaged students in the El Reno area. Providing these students with academic lessons, in addition to, life lessons has been a pleasure for me. The past three years I have worked with high school students who are predominantly low-income/ first-generation. Working with these students has been extra rewarding to me, because I myself was a first-generation/ low-income

Good afternoon Daniel, how are you? I'm really glad that you've found some great articles related to your topic, and I'm also glad that your touching on the topic dealing with low income students and education as well. I do believe that despite where low income students come from; I do know that they have the ability to succeed academically. Coming from experience, I do know that students who live in low income areas can definitely have an impact on how they do in school. I think for teachers and for me as a future school counselor it's my job to help them exceed their goals not only in the classroom but also outside of the classroom as they prepare for the future. After reading your topic, I did some research and I found a website article

Teaching children of poverty can be very challenging. These children are more likely than their peers to experience poor nutrition, parents with low educational attainment and underemployment, broken families, child abuse and neglect, drug abuse, teen-age pregnancies and high rates of dropping out (Holt & Garcia, 2016). It has been my experience that these students are a little rough around the edges which may cause an educator the inability to see beyond the exterior of the child thus treating them more harshly than their peers. Being employed in a Title 1 school, I have had the pleasure of working with students and families whose major source of income is welfare. They often came from a single-parent household and arrived at school improperly dressed and usually hungry. I found that meeting the child’s basic needs helped them focus on school and took some of the stress off of their parents as they knew their child was in a safe, caring place. One thing that was vital in our classroom was firmness and consistency. Unfortunately, many teachers and schools do not possess the knowledge and experience required for success in these more challenging schools. Impoverished students often do not care about their education nor did their parents seem to care how their children perform in school (Holt & Garcia, 2016). I feel this can be attributed to distraction from just trying to survive. In order to have greater success in the classroom of impoverished students, teachers need to