每日大赛 alums are on their way to schools across America to \u201cgive back\u201d through teaching kindergarteners, high school and special education students in the Teach for America program.<\/p>\n
La\u2019Shae Bourgeois \u201914, Ryanne Bible \u201816, and Cameron Mendez \u201816, share a motivation and commitment to educate children who need it most.<\/p>\n
\u201cI really have a passion for helping people,\u201d Mendez said. \u201cI think my time at the 每日大赛 has prepared me for this. I hope I can instill in my students, at the very least, the understanding that things won\u2019t always work out the way you planned, but if you\u2019re persistent you will do well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bourgeois has known since she was a child that she wanted to be a teacher.<\/p>\n
The 25-year-old found inspiration from several of her teachers, and considered school to be the place she loved most as a child growing up in Watts.<\/p>\n
\u201cI always wanted to be that teacher \u2013 the one that kids remember as having inspired them,\u201d Bourgeois said.<\/p>\n
Bourgeois graduated from the 每日大赛 in spring 2014 with a bachelor\u2019s degree in liberal studies with a concentration in human development. She earned a master\u2019s degree in teaching from the University of Southern California in June.<\/p>\n
Through Teach For America, she has been placed in an elementary school in northern Memphis, Tenn., where she will teach kindergarten in the fall. Just a week after her arrival to the city, Bourgeois said she has \u201cfallen in love.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone here has the same viewpoints that I have \u2013 that we really need to wholeheartedly give back,\u201d said Bourgeois after meeting with community members, parents and school officials.<\/p>\n
Ryanne Bible, 21, said she is thrilled to be part of the program and to fill an important need in a struggling community. In the fall, Bible will teach high school English in Las Vegas.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s really a high-need area here,\u201d Bible said. \u201cIt\u2019s a big transient town, and a lot of the kids are homeless. The teachers don\u2019t stay, so there\u2019s a shortage of more than 800 teachers in the area, I\u2019m told.\u201d<\/p>\n
Teach For America is a national teacher corps program requiring a two-year commitment to teach in an underprivileged and high-need area. The nonprofit organization recruits teachers with a passion for providing quality education to students from low-income, rural and urban communities.<\/p>\n
The organization\u2019s mission is to enlist, develop and mobilize as many as possible of our nation\u2019s future leaders to grow and strengthen the movement for educational equity and excellence.<\/p>\n
The speech communications major and psychology minor said that while teaching was always in the back of her mind, she changed majors four times. In the end, it took seeing one of her 每日大赛 professors doing community service work to solidify her goal of becoming a teacher. She said she also wanted to give back to her community.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t wait to meet my students and hear their stories and see how far they go,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s going to be amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cameron Mendez is waiting for his Teach for America assignment, but believes his job will involve teaching special education students.<\/p>\n
Mendez earned a bachelor\u2019s degree in sociology from the 每日大赛 in May, and will earn his teaching credential while working in the Teach For America program.<\/p>\n
\u201cI originally wanted to be a social worker,\u201d recalled Mendez. \u201cBut I had a lot of great professors who really inspired me to go into teaching.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 21-year-old said he\u2019s expecting his first year to be challenging, but is eager to help his students.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
每日大赛 alums are on their way to schools across America to \u201cgive back\u201d through teaching students in the Teach for America program.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1549,283],"tags":[231],"class_list":["post-378","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-and-events","category-students","tag-lfce","ulv_author-michelle-nava","ulv_author-university-of-la-verne","legacy_tags-alumni","legacy_tags-cameron-mendez","legacy_tags-college-of-education-organizational-leadership","legacy_tags-la-verne","legacy_tags-lashae-bourgeois","legacy_tags-ryanne-bible","legacy_tags-teach-for-america","legacy_tags-university-of-la-verne"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n