CMCers clearly like a challenge. Throughout Teach For America’s 23-year history, 126 CMC alumni have taught as corps members. Eleven of them joined this year, and about 13 percent of CMC’s graduating seniors applied to Teach For America's 2013 corps. On a just-released list by TFA, the College ranked 15th among small colleges and universities (2,999 or fewer students) contributing the greatest number of graduating seniors to its 2013 teaching corps.
Teach For America works in partnership with communities to expand educational opportunity for children facing the challenges of poverty––recruiting and developing a diverse corps of outstanding individuals from all academic disciplines. Those who make the cut commit two years to teach in high-need schools, and become lifelong leaders in the movement to end educational inequity.
Claremont McKenna made its debut on TFA's top contributors list in 2010. “Teach for America loves CMC because our students are leaders and innovators,” says Diana Seder, director of the College’s Career Services office. “Our graduates are given some of the most challenging classrooms in the country and they find a way to get the job done. Our corps members are accustomed to success, and they won’t stop until they have achieved their objectives––no matter how difficult the obstacles.”
“Leadership, hard-work, creativity, and determination are immensely valuable qualities in people who are asked to take on those challenging classrooms across the nation,” Seder says. “And Teach for America knows CMC students deliver on all of them.”
This fall, more than 11,000 corps members will be teaching in 48 urban and rural regions throughout the United States, while nearly 32,000 alumni are working across sectors to ensure that all children have access to an excellent education.
“We are grateful to the outstanding colleges and universities that cultivate graduates with the leadership skills and deep commitment necessary to expand educational opportunities for students facing the challenges of poverty,” says Elisa Villanueva Beard, co-chief executive officer of Teach For America. “Our corps members bring a vast array of experiences and accomplishments to the classroom, and they are poised to make a meaningful impact in the high-need schools and communities where they will be teaching.”
Thirty-nine percent of the incoming corps identify as people of color. Two out of five incoming corps members received Pell Grants (the most reliable indicator of a low-income background), and 26 percent are the first in their family to earn a college degree. Twenty-six percent are graduate students or professionals from a wide range of backgrounds, including veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces, financial analysts, nonprofit staffers, consultants, and participants in other AmeriCorps programs.
“Every year we strive to improve our recruiting to be more racially and economically diverse, and to broaden the pool of applicants,” says Matt Kramer, co-chief executive officer of Teach For America. “This year is no exception, and we are thrilled to have such a diverse and accomplished group of teachers with leadership potential entering classrooms this fall.”
View the full list of top contributors https://www.teachforamerica.org/sites/default/files/2013_top_college_contributors.pdf