Campus Briefs
Teach for America Only one week after spring commencement, Delta State University officials welcomed a new group of students and teachers to the campus. Over 800 people arrived on campus in June for the Teach For America (TFA) training institute. In July 2009, TFA announced it would open its first Mississippi Delta teacher training institute at Delta State University in June 2010. The Delta institute became the eighth TFA training location and the first in a rural area, joining Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York City, Philadelphia, and Phoenix. Teach For America is the national corps of top recent college graduates who commit to teach for at least two years in urban and rural public schools. “Delta State University is proud to host Teach For America’s training institute and to welcome its corps members and staff to our community,” said Delta State University President John Hilpert. “We look forward to helping prepare these bright young people to be outstanding teachers in the Delta and in the many other regions where Teach For America is helping to close the achievement gap.” Teach For America’s institute prepares corps
Teach For America members are eager to share their enthusiasm with Delta students this fall.
members to be effective teachers while they work under the close supervision of veteran educators and Teach For America staff to measurably increase the academic performance of students in summer school classrooms. During their institute training, corps members complete interactive courses and clinics to build knowledge, deepen skills, and apply their learning in the classroom. Corps members attending the Delta institute will teach in summer school programs across at least 14 area school districts while living at and attending
courses at Delta State University. “Having a Teach for America training institute in the heart of the Delta is an invaluable resource for improving education in our state’s neediest areas,” Governor Haley Barbour said. “I appreciate Teach For America choosing Delta State University to house this program. It will complement the outstanding educational programs already in place at Delta State.” Teach For America has been placing teachers in the Delta since 1991. The organization is tripling the number of new teachers it brings to the area compared with last year, as 275 corps members arrived this July. The Delta will see the biggest increase in incoming corps members of all TFA regions. These teachers are part of a national corps of 4,100—the largest incoming class in Teach For America’s history. “We’re grateful for the leadership and dedication of Dr. Hilpert and his staff at Delta State,” said Ron Nurnberg, executive director of Teach For America in the Mississippi Delta. “[They] have been passionate about working with us to create a rigorous training program that will benefit the Delta’s students and set our teachers up for success.”
The Teach for America training institute was held on the Delta State campus during summer 2010.
4 • Delta State Magazine • Fall 2010