Most seniors graduating from Ohio University this year will transition into a full-time job, internship or pursue advanced degrees in graduate school. Some, however, may apply for increasingly popular service programs such as Teach For America.
This week Teach For America will be tabling at Baker University Center and hosting different events on campus Monday through Thursday to spread awareness of its organization and increase discussion of educational disparities and their impacts.
More than 20 OU alumni are currently working as Teach For America Corps members, according to a news release.
“We really want to raise awareness about the achievement gap and different things that are facing children in our country, but we also want (Ohio University) students to realize their role in closing that achievement gap,” said Kayla Hardimon, a senior studying journalism and the campus campaign coordinator for Teach For America. “One of the things we talk about a lot with Teach For America is that, unfortunately, only one in 12 students who grow up in a low-income community will graduate from college before the age of 24.”
Teach For America will host information sessions on Monday and Thursday, but has also developed some more unconventional ways of attracting students’ attention, Hardimon said.
On Tuesday, the organization will hold a session called “Just Like Me” that aims to relate college students to students in primary and secondary education by pointing out similarities they may be unaware of, she said.
“You can be a role model for students because, in a lot of ways, you're just like them,” Hardimon said. “And I think for students on campus, they don't always realize that they have the capability of being leaders and being role models for people on campus, and on a broader scale, for (younger students).”
Teach For America has become more visible on OU’s campus during the past few years, Hardimon said, even if students aren’t fully aware of the problems the organization is trying to fix.
Many students still don’t understand the achievement gap and its effects, even in the Appalachian region and Athens County, said Brianna Savoca, Teach For America recruitment manager for OU, University of Pennsylvania, Oberlin College and Case Western Reserve University.
Savoca, who was a Teach For America Corps member before joining their administrative staff, said she didn’t understand the extent of the achievement gap until she arrived at her school to teach seventh-grade English and discovered the school had no novels for the students to read.
“I did not realize how bad it was and what the realities of the achievement gaps are,” she said. “So I hope that this week enlightens that fact to a lot of other students at OU.”
bv111010@ohiou.edu
WHAT: Informational Session
WHEN: 6-7 p.m. Monday
WHERE: Grover Center e205
ADMISSION: Free
WHAT: Just Like Me
WHEN: 6-8 p.m. Tuesday
WHERE: Multicultural Center
ADMISSION: Free
WHAT: Viewing of Waiting for Superman
WHEN: 6 p.m. Wednesday
WHERE: Grover Center e205
ADMISSION: Free
WHAT: Art Display
WHEN: 12–1 p.m. Thursday
WHERE: College Green
ADMISSION: Free
WHAT: Informational Session
WHEN: 6-7 p.m. Thursday
WHERE: Grover Center e205
ADMISSION: Free
