Teach for America (TFA) is a nonprofit organization which recruits fellows and potential teachers to be trained and have them work in communities in need of better education. According to their website, TFA’s mission is to “find, develop and support equity-oriented leaders — individually and in teams — so they can transform education and expand opportunity with children, starting in the classroom.”
Quincy Bloem, a recruitment director who works with students at UCR, the University of California, Irvine and California State University, Los Angeles explains that her main focus is to “build relationships with students and professors on campus to bring them information about Teach for America [for those] who may be interested.” To garner this interest, she “host(s) things like equity talks” which are virtual events with “vast” topics, participating in career fairs and doing classroom presentations.
Bloem explains that one of the reasons that the organization exists is because “it’s clear the U.S. education system is built on racism and classism. We know that not all of our students have access to an excellent education, and not all of our students have access to the same opportunities for success as others. So what we are really working towards is achieving education equity, because obviously all of our kids deserve access to both of those things.”
To combat this aforementioned inequity and work towards the goal of education equity, Bloem elaborated that “we have our short term strategy, the Ignite Fellowship [which] is for folks who are currently enrolled in an undergrad or graduate school program. It is paid part-time and virtual tutoring. Before you start working with your students, you receive training for Teach for America. Then you transition into working with your small group of students, and you’re paired with a veteran teacher so that that individual can continue to support you in your growth as a tutor so you can best support your students.
“Our next program that is part of that short term strategy of achieving education equity is our Core Program. This is for folks who are in their final year of either their undergrad or graduate school program. It is a two year commitment with Teach For America during which you are a full time fully salaried educator in the classroom. Again, you receive training the summer before you enter into your classroom. You go through a paid training run by Teach For America where you’re developing best teaching practices, you have the opportunity to implement those skills because you’re teaching a small summer school class. You’re also getting to know other teachers with TFA and you’re doing a lot of identity work. Over the course of your two years, you’ve really committed this time to working towards being the best teacher you can be for your kids.”
Data that Bloem compiled revealed that TFA has 127 UCR core member alumni. She remarks that based on the data that “out of those 127 Riverside and [TFA] alumni, 38 stayed in LA and 89 went elsewhere [for their regional placement service]” and within the Inland Empire itself, “at least nine of them are still working in schools.”
Bloem continues, “One of our main goals is to really bring folks into the core who share experiences with our students, who share identity markers with our students, and so on. So what we see is a lot of the students that we work with are students of color and from low income backgrounds. As of now 48% of our current core members identify as people of color … and 59% of our board members come from low income backgrounds.
“These are our students [who] are living [in] communities that have been historically silenced and have not received the resources that they deserve. The funding that they deserve. And so having teachers with similar backgrounds and experiences, who have the ability to really connect on this particular level is super important.”
Francisco Flores, a UCR-TFA alumni, reflects on his journey through UCR and TFA, “I had several majors during my time at UCR, but graduated with an education major. What bolstered my interest for TFA was my passion for teaching. TFA looked like a really good program that was looking to change lives in communities I wanted to serve that started right after college, which was best for me, since I found I like to keep busy.”
Currently an Algebra II teacher in his first year in the TFA Corps, Flores considers that “teaching is a roller-coaster. You are gonna experience a lot of ups and downs throughout the day and throughout different days. After having one of the best days of your life one day, the very next could be one of the hardest you’ve had as a teacher. I do intend to continue teaching after obtaining my teaching credentials. I’ve found that teaching, although hard work, is a very fulfilling job. There’s nothing like contributing to the success of the kids of the next generation.”
Considering plans for the future, Flores states that “I plan to stay in the area I’m teaching for another couple of years. The students I am currently teaching have had first-year teachers in math all of their high school career, so I want to ensure that future grades at the school I’m teaching can receive a better experience.”
