Spring Break
Graduates Seek Alternative Path
Melinda Fusco
Issue date: 5/6/07 Section: News
Ashley Gibson, another UConn student graduating today with an English degree was also offered a job with TFA in Houston. She will be teaching elementary education and said she is looking forward to her students and being their role model.
"I know that I have something to offer them, but I also have a lot to learn from them," Gibson said. "I cannot wait to get in the classroom and challenge my students as I am being challenged by them."
Gibson said she can really relate to the students she'll be working with while a TFA corps member.
"I was once a child who had to eat breakfast at school," she said. "I know first hand what these kids could be going through. I had a teacher who cared and a mother who was there for me. I know how important a good teacher-parent relationship is in a child's life."
Another UConn student, Elizabeth Laverty, graduating today with a degree in human development and family studies, has been accepted to TFA and will be teaching elementary education in either Hartford, New Haven, or Bridgeport. Laverty said she recently decided to pursue a teaching career and thought that this would be an excellent alternative to graduate school.
"I also strongly believe in closing the education gap in the U.S.," she said.
The most challenging thing about the next two years will be figuring out what works and doesn't work in the classroom, how to teach, managing a class - basically learning how to be an effective teacher, Laverty said.
After TFA selects a corps of outstanding recent college graduates, members are trained during summer institutes and placed as full-time, paid teachers in urban and rural public schools. They are provided with ongoing professional development to help them succeed during their two years as teachers and beyond.
Corps members are paid directly by the school districts where they work and receive the same salaries and health benefits as other beginning teachers, according to the TFA Web site. Corps members also receive a stipend each year that can be used toward getting their Master's degrees while teaching.
"I know that I have something to offer them, but I also have a lot to learn from them," Gibson said. "I cannot wait to get in the classroom and challenge my students as I am being challenged by them."
Gibson said she can really relate to the students she'll be working with while a TFA corps member.
"I was once a child who had to eat breakfast at school," she said. "I know first hand what these kids could be going through. I had a teacher who cared and a mother who was there for me. I know how important a good teacher-parent relationship is in a child's life."
Another UConn student, Elizabeth Laverty, graduating today with a degree in human development and family studies, has been accepted to TFA and will be teaching elementary education in either Hartford, New Haven, or Bridgeport. Laverty said she recently decided to pursue a teaching career and thought that this would be an excellent alternative to graduate school.
"I also strongly believe in closing the education gap in the U.S.," she said.
The most challenging thing about the next two years will be figuring out what works and doesn't work in the classroom, how to teach, managing a class - basically learning how to be an effective teacher, Laverty said.
After TFA selects a corps of outstanding recent college graduates, members are trained during summer institutes and placed as full-time, paid teachers in urban and rural public schools. They are provided with ongoing professional development to help them succeed during their two years as teachers and beyond.
Corps members are paid directly by the school districts where they work and receive the same salaries and health benefits as other beginning teachers, according to the TFA Web site. Corps members also receive a stipend each year that can be used toward getting their Master's degrees while teaching.
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