Teach For America released its 10th annual list of the schools contributing the greatest number of alumni to its 2017 teaching corps and Hamilton College is among the top 10 small colleges and universities. This is the fourth year Hamilton has been named to the list.
This year, 11 Hamilton alumni join one of the most diverse teaching corps in Teach For America’s history.
Mali Barker ’17 is a first year teacher with Teach For America in Bridgeport, Conn. “I am privileged to work in a classroom filled with incredibly bright and driven students and to have an exceptional network of support built by my fellow corps members,” she said. Bridgeport is “filled with underprivileged students who are just as intelligent and deserving of a quality education as their affluent peers who live just across the county line,” said Barker.
Teach For America works in partnership with communities to expand educational opportunity for children facing the challenges of poverty. Founded in 1990, Teach For America recruits and develops outstanding individuals to commit to teach in high-need schools and become lifelong leaders in the movement to end educational inequity.
Barker added, “As a corps member, I recommit myself every day to advocating for and providing my students with this quality education in the hopes that, one day, quality education will be standard and guaranteed for all children.”
Teach For America’s 2017 corps is among the most diverse in its history. Nearly half of incoming corps members identify as people of color; 43 percent come from low-income backgrounds; and 1 in 3 are the first in their family to graduate college.
The 3,500 members joining Teach For America this year will impact 53 regions across 36 states and the District of Columbia. They represent more than 720 colleges and universities, and join a network of more than 50,000 leaders shaping the political, economic, and social future of the U.S.
