By Elaine Yaw, adviser for The Woods newspaper

Christy Wessel Powell thought she would find a job easily once she graduated from Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College (SMWC) in 2003. She studied abroad. She did multiple internships. Yet, when she graduated, she wasn’t getting much response to her resume.

She shared her experience and what lead to a life-changing experience working two years for Teach For America on Dec. 1 at SMWC’s Rooney Library. Teach For America (TFA) aims to end educational inequity. Through TFA, recent college graduates commit two years to teach in urban and rural public schools.

About 25 students, faculty and staff attended Wessel Powell’s noon presentation at Jazzman’s Café in the Mary and Andrew Rooney Library at SMWC.

Wessel Powell was always interested in education. She took classes at SMWC that were geared toward teaching and her senior thesis was based around education, she said during her presentation. She graduated in 2003 with a degree in international studies and humanities.

“I had maybe four internships while I was here. I studied abroad in Ireland. Studied abroad in Costa Rica. I thought I was so marketable,” she said. “But … for some reason, I went out there … and I wasn’t getting responses back.”

She started researching how to get into independent schools and teach. Then she ran across the web site for Teach For America. She served as a first/second grade teacher at Pope Elementary School in Chicago while serving in the in Teach for America program. TFA is sometimes described as a domestic version of the Peace Corps. Those who serve receive a teacher’s salary equivalent to a beginning teacher’s salary as well as assistance pursuing a master’s degree.

“What I liked about the program was it melded several interests I had while here at SMWC. I was interested in teaching and was really into social justice issues and being civically engaged,” she said. The social justice piece was present in TFA because it places undergraduates in any discipline into high needs areas in public schools where they can’t staff the schools.

“So, those kids are falling way behind. The achievement gap between urban, inner city schools and suburban schools that have more affluence in the community is significant,” she said. “Kids are dropping out and not going to college. It perpetuates the cycle of poverty.”

A big piece of fixing that is through education and giving kids a leg up to an equal playing field.

Teach for America melded two things she was passionate about: teaching and social justice. But still, the biggest piece of all was that she didn’t have a job. “And this was a job. You are a teacher,” she said about finding TFA.

The first year was a struggle. But, the second year Wessel Powell said she was able to get better results with the kids. Rosemary Nudd, associate professor of English at SMWC who was in the audience at the library, asked Wessel Powell if her liberal arts background helped her. Wessel Powell explained that her liberal arts background helped her be flexible, thanking her adviser at SMWC, Patrick Harkins, retired professor of English, who was in the audience.

“I am an advocate for the liberal arts. If you can be a flexible thinker, you need to be a flexible thinker when you are thrown into teaching,” she said. “I feel like I can think on my feet and … make things happen and do the kids a service. Using your critical thinking skills, and all of those great things you’ve developed here,  to effect actual change that you can see happen right there.”

“Jump out there and try something you’ve never done before,” she encouraged the students in the audience. “You really can turn a liberal arts degree into anything,” she said.

Some benefits of the TFA program are receiving state certification, a master’s degree, and effecting social change. She also said there are graduate school partnerships, which can be a full-ride or a deferment.

Wessel Powell also helped found a charter school in East Chicago with one of her previous bosses who went on to become a principal.

TFA is great for anyone interested in education and social issues. “I’d consider Teach For America a jumping off point because you are seeing it from the ground level,” she said. Recent graduates who speak fluent Spanish are in demand, as well as graduates with degrees in science and math.

A member of the audience asked if students majoring in human services would be welcomed in TFA.

“Yes. People who can work that complicated web of services people need. It’s great if you have some knowledge of what’s going on with the social services side … because half the kids’ problem is they need to go to the doctor or they don’t have a safe place to live or they are not getting food regularly. All the baggage they bring into the classroom is why they can’t get ahead.”

For more information about Wessel Powell’s presentation at SMWC, email the SMWC Career Development Center at career@smwc.edu or call 812-535-5188. You can also visit the WTWO website to see a story about the presentation. More information about Teach For America can be found online at www.teachforamerica.org.