SMU a top contributor of alumni in Teach For America classrooms

DALLAS (SMU) – SMU is a top contributor to Teach For America’s most diverse corps in the organization’s history, with 21 of the University’s graduates working in high-need classrooms across the country. 

View the full list of top university and college contributors to the program aimed at expanding education opportunities for impoverished children here.

SMU alumni currently with Teach for America are Laura Alcorta ‘13, Antonea Bastion ‘14, Kiara Benson ‘14, Bree’Ann Berger ‘14, Adam Cavender ‘14, Emma Cepeda ‘14, Kasie Clark ‘13, Charlotte Cooper ‘14, Mariah Cowley ‘14, Hayley DeFrank ‘14, Jillian Frederic ’14, Julia Hall ‘14, Brandon Hand ’14, Sana Ibrahim ‘07, Karissa Jobman ’13, Roma Liani ’14, Anthony McAuliffe ’14, Cynthia Orta ’12, Morgan Riklin ’14, Brittani Strickland ’14 and Aleksandra Timakova ’14.

Teach For America’s 2014 list of colleges and universities contributing the greatest number of alumni to its teaching corps include graduating seniors from a range of backgrounds and experiences and a growing number of individuals with professional experience. Totals for each college and university include both 2014 graduates and alumni of previous classes who are transitioning to teaching from another field or joining the corps as experienced educators.

This year, half of corps members identify as people of color. Twenty-two percent identify as African American. Five percent are African American men, compared with 2 percent of teachers nationwide. Thirteen percent identify as Latino, 6 percent identify as Asian American or Pacific Islander, 6 percent identify as multi-ethnic/multi-racial, and 1 percent identify as Native. Forty-seven percent of incoming corps members received Pell Grants, a reliable indicator of low-income background, and one-third are the first in their family to attend college.

As the organization marks 25 years, its corps members bring an increasingly wide range of experience. More than one-third of the new corps members come to the corps from a graduate-degree program or a professional background. This includes individuals from the United States Armed Forces, law, consulting, and education, as well as from service organizations such as the Peace Corps and AmeriCorps, and a variety of other sectors.

“We’re incredibly grateful for the wide range of colleges, universities and professional backgrounds that our corps members are coming from,” said Elisa Villanueva Beard, co-CEO of Teach for America.  “This is our most diverse corps yet – we really value the breadth of experience and identity that they’ll bring to the classroom.”

This fall, 10,600 first and second-year corps members will teach in high-need classrooms across 50 regions. The 5,300 incoming corps members represent more than 850 colleges and universities and 49 states and the District of Columbia. In addition to the corps, Teach For America’s network of more than 37,000 alumni continue to work toward educational equity, with 86 percent working full-time in education or with low-income communities.

About Teach For America

Teach For America works in partnership with communities to expand educational opportunity for children facing the challenges of poverty. Founded in 1990, Teach For America recruits and develops a diverse corps of outstanding college graduates and professionals to make an initial two-year commitment to teach in high-need schools and become lifelong leaders in the movement to end educational inequity. Today, 10,600 corps members are teaching in 50 urban and rural regions across the country, while more than 37,000 alumni work across sectors to ensure that all children have access to an excellent education. 

For more information, visit www.teachforamerica.org.

###