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| Thanks to his experience with Teach for America, Tulane University alumnus Mark Bailey loves teaching and is making his career at O. Perry Walker Charter High School in New Orleans. (Photo by Cornell Carney, the Charger Times, O. Perry Walker Charter High School) |
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Mark Bailey wanted a challenging job -- but the one he found wasn't what he initially had in mind.
When Bailey graduated from Tulane in 2000 with a bachelor's degree in history and English, he had an offer to work with the Central Intelligence Agency. While waiting for CIA clearance, Bailey applied to Teach for America and was accepted into the program. He began teaching at a public school in New Orleans in September 2001. When Bailey finally was cleared to begin work with the CIA, he turned them down -- by then, he was hooked on teaching.
"Without reservation, my Teach for America experience was close to ideal, and it gave me the kind of challenge I was looking for," Bailey says.
Tulane students looking for a leadership role in the movement to eliminate educational inequality are invited to a drop-in dinner hosted by Teach for America on Thursday (Nov. 30) from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. in room 9 of Newcomb Hall on the Tulane uptown campus.
At the dinner, students will have the opportunity to hear about Teach for America directly from the source -- Tulane alumni who completed the highly selective program and those currently teaching. The national teaching corps is a group of recent college graduates who are working to eliminate educational inequity in American schools by agreeing to teach for two years in under-resourced public schools in low-income communities.
More than 80 percent of the students in Teach for America schools qualify for free or reduced-price lunches, and 95 percent of the students are African-American or Latino. All of the local education districts served, including greater New Orleans, are classified as "high-need" by the federal government.
Currently, more than 150 former Teach For America participants in the greater New Orleans area are now pursuing professional careers and performing critical roles in the region's educational reform and broader rebuilding efforts, says Mary Garton, executive director of the greater New Orleans region.
Tulane graduates have regularly been accepted into the Teach for America ranks through a rigorous screening process. In the past two years, 134 Tulanians have applied to the program, with 30 accepted.
"The acceptance rate at Tulane over the last two years is about 22 percent, higher than the national average of 17 percent," says Jeffrey Fingerman, Teach for America's recruitment director at Tulane. "Tulane University students are very much sought-after by us."
Tulane alum Bailey finished his Teach for America assignment in 2003 and opted to continue teaching at Abrahamson High School in New Orleans until Hurricane Katrina. Now, Bailey is an administrator at O. Perry Walker Charter High School in New Orleans and he still teaches one period each day. He has been successful in integrating special education students into a general educational environment.
"There isn't a single thing I don't like about my job teaching. I love teenagers and look forward to everything with the students," Bailey says. "As a teacher, I can make someone understand the material and feel good about himself or herself. I'm able to do that a thousand times a day."
Teach for America has placed teachers in New Orleans-area schools for more than 10 years, including classes at Lusher Charter School, supported by Tulane University.
The next deadline application for Teach for America is Jan. 7.
