Seeking an opportunity to make a difference by working to minimize Amerca's education gap, eight Marquette graduates joined Teach for America in 2005.

Teach for America is a program that allows recent college graduates to serve the community by teaching in disadvantaged schools throughout the country for two years.

Marquette students were part of a record number of graduates who are working for Teach for America this year.

This fall, 3,600 corps members are teaching as part of the program, according to a Teach for America press release. When the program began 15 years ago, it had 500 corps members.

College graduates who are accepted into the competitive program participate in a summer training session. The graduates are then placed in a disadvantaged school in one of 22 regions of the United States. The regions are split between 16 urban regions and 6 rural regions, which include two Native American reservations.

The prospective teachers rank their interest for each of the 22 regions, and the program tries to match them with a school in the area.

This year, 96 percent of graduates who were accepted into the program were placed in one of their highly preferred regions, according to Justine Jones, head of recruitment for Teach for America at Marquette.

Those who are accepted teach at these schools for two years.

The program draws graduates from universities across the country. This year there was a pool of 17,000 applicants for the program, according to the release.

At Marquette, 26 students applied for the program and 9 were accepted, according to Jones. Eight of those students enrolled in the program.

Many graduate schools also offer deferrals and financial incentives for joining.

Marquette alumni now teach at schools in Los Angeles, Phoenix, the Mississippi Delta and other areas of the country.

The participation in the program at Marquette stems from "the social justice and Jesuit mentality of the university" Jones said.

"The students want to make an immediate impact on the world, and they look for where they can take that next step," he said.

Jodi Brusewitz graduated from the College of Communication in 2004 and since then has been teaching kindergarten at Cheatham Elementary School in Laveen, Ariz.

Brusewitz said Teach for America's mission and the fact that "to closing the educational gap" excited her and influenced her decision to join the program.

Similarly, John Fisher, a 2001 alumnus of the College of Engineering, said he joined Teach for America because he was looking for ways to incorporate his values into his life. Fisher is in his second year of teaching fourth grade in Phoenix.

According to Fisher, there are many advantages to participating in Teach for America. The skills required for the classroom are the same as those required for a boardroom meeting, he said.

"The skills and perspective gained from Teach for America can easily be taken into the field and help you in any profession," Fisher said.

Participants said their time at Marquette helped prepare them for the program. By working directly with the children, Brusewitz said her experiences with Marquette's service learning and tutoring helped to influence her decision to join Teach for America. Through these activities Brusewitz "saw the need to be conscious of the gap in society."

Students who apply to the program go through a two-part process. Students first submit an online application found on Teach for America's Web site, www.teachforamerica.org. Qualified students are called back for interviews, Jones said, which narrows down the field to those who are accepted.

This article was published in The Marquette Tribune on October 11, 2005.