Teach For America: An Interview with Aaliyah El-Amin

Today's guest on The New Service podcast is Aaliyah El-Amin, an alumna of Teach For America's 2000 Atlanta corps. Teach For America is the national corps of recent college graduates who commit to teach for at least two years in urban and rural public schools and become lifelong leaders in expanding educational opportunity. In the 2008-09 school year, 6,200 corps members taught in over 1,600 schools in 29 regions across the country while more than 14,000 Teach For America alumni continue working from inside and outside the field of education for the fundamental changes necessary to ensure educational excellence and equity. In 2000, at age twenty, Aaliyah El-Amin graduated from Davidson College and joined Teach For America to teach 4th and 5th grade in Atlanta, Georgia. It was through her corps experience, that Aaliyah found her calling. During her time in the classroom, Aaliyah received her Masters degree in Elementary Education from the University of Georgia. By the time she was twenty-three, she'd received her principal certification and had become an instructional facilitator at her placement school, providing professional development to veteran staff members. Aaliyah then became the executive director of Teach For America--Charlotte when she twenty-four. She is currently at Harvard University working on her doctorate in Educational Policy and Administration.    Idealist's Amy Potthast talks with Aaliyah about the impact corps members are having in underserved classrooms across the country, how applicants can demonstrate the qualities Teach For America seeks, and how Teach For America alums are going on to become lifelong leaders in the field of education. They also talk about Aaliyah's own career path and her personal passion for creating educational equity, and how you can get involved with the movement to end educational inequity whether or not you participate in the corps.For other service opportunities, including teaching corps, check out The New Service blog from Idealist.org.