Vernon Countian joins Teach For America

Special to the Daily Mail

Vernon County local Amanda Maxwell, a native of Nevada, Mo., has joined Teach For America, the national corps of top college graduates who commit to teach for two years in urban and rural public schools in low-income communities.

"I'm so excited to have been chosen to be a part of this great organization with such a great mission. I hope that during my two-year service I'll be able to give my students in Kansas City a glimpse of what opportunities lie outside their neighborhoods and instill in them a desire to discover them," Maxwell said. Maxwell is a 2006 graduate of Nevada High School, 2010 graduate of University of Missouri, and will teach in Kansas City beginning this fall.

Teach For America received a record-breaking 46,000 applications this year, and admission was more selective than ever before, with an acceptance rate of 12 percent. Teach For America recruits on more than 350 college campuses, seeking top graduates from all academic majors and backgrounds who have demonstrated outstanding achievement, perseverance, and leadership. At more than 120 colleges and universities, more than 5 percent of the senior class applied, including 12 percent of all seniors at Ivy League schools, 7 percent of the graduating class at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, and 6 percent at the University of California-Berkeley.

This fall, more than 8,200 first- and second-year Teach For America corps members will be teaching in 39 urban and rural regions nationwide. They will reach students in more than 100 school districts in 31 states and the District of Columbia.

Teach For America corps members go above and beyond traditional expectations to improve the educational outcomes of children growing up in low-income communities. Beyond their impact as corps members, two-thirds of the 20,000 Teach For America alumni across the country remain in education. More than 450 Teach For America alumni serve as school principals or superintendents, more than 500 work in government or policy, and nearly 30 serve in elected office.

For more information visit www.teachforamerica.org