Impressed with Teach for America

WOW!!!!  This was my experience when interviewing candidates from Teach for America.  I, along with two administrators from our sister high school, were charged with interviewing candidates for the upcoming school year.  I had little knowledge for Teach for America, and was asked at the last minute to go in my principal's place.  However, after this day of interviews, I have a new found respect for the job they do and the people they shape and mold.  We interviewed candidates White, Black, Indian, Afghan, etc.  When I looked at their resume' I asked myself, why are they here.  After talking to them, I realized they have a passion for what they are training to do.  Most impressive, I did not get the feeling that there was a fear of working in urban districts and dealing with kids who will curse you out on minute, threaten you another, and ask you for a dollar in the same breath.
These candidates are highly motivated, they want to be a part of a collaborative environment, they bring a lot of ideas and creativity to the table.  I was also very impressed with the content knowledge of the candidates; especially those who were high school certified.  This is a big problem that you find a lot with regular teacher preparation programs.  You have to know what you are teaching.  There were candidates who majored in Molecular Biology, Bio-chemistry, Computer Science, Engineering, etc and as we interviewed them and asked them how they would challenge students in the classroom they were amazing.  In our school we are heavy on real-world connections to engage students in the learning process.  Many of the candidates were describing ways to engage students using real-world scenarios without being prompted to do so.  One candidate played football and was interviewing for a physics position and he made a correlation between football and laws of physics.

I can't say enough how impressed I am with them.  I plan to look into this organization more to see just how effective their program is.  If all teachers in this program are as passionate as the candidates we interviewed, and if they can be mentored properly, given good support to nurture and cultivate that interest, then I can see major milestones begin met in urban education.

Video courtesy of Teach for America