Recently, the non-profit organization Teach for America declared the Unviersity of Massachusetts a top resource for applicants for its controversial program.
From last year’s graduating class, Teach for America selected 29 applicants to join its teaching corps. The chosen students spent the summer training for their positions and were then sent to their teaching jurisdictions in low-income urban and rural areas around the country.
One of those 29 graduates was Kamellia Keo, who graduated from UMass with a bachelor’s degree in biology, is currently teaching an eighth-grade science class in Washington, D.C.
“I love [Teach for America],” she said during a telephone interview. “It’s a very hectic schedule; however it’s great to actually be in a classroom. It was a great commitment.”
“It’s hard to picture what it’s like to be in a classroom,” continued Keo, “but once you’re actually in one, you can actually see why people are so passionate about Teach for America.”
Figures released by Teach for America show 46,000 applicants vied for 4,500 positions this past year, making the acceptance rate a mere 9.7 percent. The 29 of these selectees who attended UMass make the campus Teach for America’s number 20 most prolific source for applicants from universities with enrollments greater than 10,000. UMass was also the only public university in New England to rank in this top tier.
“That’s absolutely flattering,” Keo said when informed of these statistics. “It’s a great feeling because I came from a state school, and it’s intimidating to realize how difficult it really is to get into Teach for America.”
Keo also praised the quality of her education at UMass as one of the factors behind the success of her application.
“Being accepted in a highly competitive program with Ivy League graduates is a true testament to the quality of state schools,” she said.
Teach for America itself is also heartened by these statistics, according to spokeswoman Kaitlin Gastrock.
“We’re really excited about seeing such a strong interest in becoming a part of the movement to eliminate educational inequity,” said Gastrock. “It allows us to be highly selective, so that we can really identify our candidates who have shown to have the most potential.”
Gastrock was also quick to point out large universities like UMass are not the only ones in Teach for America’s top tier of contributing seniors.
“We have core members that come from a very wide variety of schools,” she said. “We recruit actively at over 300 colleges and universities across the country. That includes Ivy League institutions, state schools, liberal art schools; you name it.”
UMass seems to share the same enthusiasm as Teach for America over the great number of candidates coming from its campus.
“We’re always pleased as an institution when our students are contributing to the betterment of society,” said University spokesman Daniel Fitzgibbons. “It’s an important way for our alumni to help improve education across the country.”
Teach for America describes itself as a “national corps of outstanding recent college graduates of all academic majors and career interests who commit two years to teach in urban and rural public schools and become leaders in the effort to expand educational opportunity.” Its current active teaching corps numbers approximately 8,200.
Cameron Ford can be reached at [email protected].
